Analysis of the opening sequence of Jeepers Creepers, directed by Victor Salva.

The movie opens with a black screen and no sound. The institutions logos show, Capitol films, Cinerenta and American Zoetrope to show the audience what film companies were involved in making the movie. There is a pause with spooky sounds and music. An atmosphere is set up. The title of the movie comes up. The title is white, gothic on a pitch-black background. The background dissolves into a wideshot of the countryside. A car appears in the distance and the camera pans to follow the car. This shot takes 16 seconds to shoot. As the car follows the road, the audience can hear the conversation inside the car. This scene is very effective because it creates suspense with out the audience even knowing it.

Trish (the passenger) says that Derry (the driver) just drove past a stop sign. This also creates suspense, as the road is deserted give the opening sequence a feeling of isolation.

Trish Murphy

Trish doing 360`s

Trish sliding down hill

The feeling of isolation is increased when Derry says he hasn't seen another car for 50 miles.

For reasons currently unknown to the audience, Derry puts his foot down. The camera goes to a first person view from the front of the car just above the road, as the car speeds up behind a camper van. the camera then goes to a shot of the inside of the car from the outside. the fast pace of camera is a convention of the horror movie genre. The car slows down for a close up of the camper van's license plate. It now becomes clear why Derry put his foot down, Trish and Derry are playing a game where they make sense of whatever is on the license plate and try to make words out of them. The license plate reads 6A 4EVA. Trish wins because it...