THE BIRDS - CROWS ON

THE PLAYGROUND
SEQUENCE ANALYSIS
1963 Psychological Thriller

Sound

The non-diegetic childrens rhyme that is playing

in this sequence makes for an eerie and
mysterious feeling for the audience due to the
echoing of the piece and the obvious innocence of
the children singing, yet with a sinister tone to it.
The particular rhyme that is featured in this
sequence is one of the main aspects that builds
up suspense, as with every verse, there seems to
be a climax that is about to happen, but there
never is, the verses seem to just fade out until the
next verse is sung.

Camera shots, angles and movement

The wide shot of Melanie in front of the background scene of the playground
with the empty climbing frame as its most prominent feature, sets the
scene and also indicates that something important is about to happen
involving the climbing frame and Melanie. When the first bird lands on the
climbing frame, there is a hint that all of the space still left is most likely
going to be filled by something, creating mystery and suspense.
As the camera gets closer and closer to Melanie through a long shot/mid
shot, mid shots and a close up as the inevitable happens and more and
more crows join the first, more and more suspense is built up. As the
camera alternates between Melanie and the birds, the camera shot nearly
always stays the same when filming the birds a wide shot. This highlights
consistency within this sequence.
When Melanie spots the last bird in the sky as it flies over to land on the
climbing frame, a tracking shot is used to follow the bird until it lands
amongst all of the others, then revealing Melanies appalled reaction to the
realisation of what has been occurring behind her the entire time. The
suspense has reached its climax at this point in the sequence.

Mise-en-scne

The setting of the school playground not

only links with the non-diegetic nursery
rhyme (as they both have children in
common), but it also creates a sinister
atmosphere due to how dark, old and
abandoned it looks. The playground
juxtaposes as to how it is meant to look
colourful, attractive and full of life and
laughter. This alone creates some
mystery.

Editing

The shots of Melanie and the birds

cutting alternately creates mystery when
there are only a few birds displayed on
the climbing frame, but as the sequence
progresses, more and more birds appear
and the camera gets closer and closer to
Melanie, the continuous cutting of the
shots creates more and more suspense,
building up to the climax.