Alien is a Sci-Fi Horror film, directed by Ridley Scott which is about the crew of a merchant vessel receiving an unknown transmission which they choose to treat as a distress call which they go to explore. This leads to horrific and bone-chilling events unfolding before the audience. The sci-fi horror genre expertly uses the unknown as a device to frighten the audience, as there is a common fear of the unknown, and/or what is not understood.
Throughout the majority of the sequence, a series of medium shots are used which allow the audience to inspect the location before characters are introduced. This creates a sense of isolation as the location of the scene, which is on board a space ship is shown to be desolate and shows no signs of life. The ship is littered with large machinery and technologies which emphasises the lack of life, and livelihood on the vessel. The on-screen diegetic sound of computers beeping and whirring additionally highlights the lifeless atmosphere to the audience, as the sounds are robotic and mechanical. The absence of life is further highlighted throughout the use of an eerie silence within the sequence, as this indicates to the audience that no life exists beyond what is framed, until the main characters are introduced.
The audience are faced with the visual image of helmets on the ship, which are used in the events or dangerous circumstances, which could be to foreshadow later events. As previously established, there are no signs of life at this point in the opening, yet the mid shot of the computer screen turning on acts as a jump scare to invoke a sudden sense of dread, because it is an unexpected occurrence, also it indicates that there is some sort of activity that is occurring, which juxtaposes the previous portrayal of lifelessness on the vessel.
In conclusion, the film opening for 'Alien' effectively sets an atmosphere and foreshadows the later events by establishing an environment that is remote and isolated, as well as using diegetic sound that is parallel to the visual images to frighten the audience.
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