DVD Cover Analysis

Shallow Grave

Camera

Signifiers	Signified
VLS of people	Shows costume, action and gesture codes
3 people in the shot
CU of foot & spade	Shows a comedy element with the foot sticking out of the grave – linked to title
Low angle	Shows expression on character’s faces, but they are still slightly blurred faces

Mise-en-scene

Signifiers	Signified
Dark colours (sky & ground)	Dark colours suggest a dark storyline
Title is highlighted	The effect is like the glow given off from an angel, which is connected with death
Foot is sticking out of the grave	Hints at a comedy element
Old outfits	Again hints at a comedy element
Tall trees	Look daunting & scary
Cloudy sky	Shows that the film will be set at night for at least part of it
18 rating	Shows the film will have more grown up content than a 12 or 15
Actors are named, not the director, and there’s no review quotes	The film isn’t being sold off the director’s name, only the actors, and not from anything said by critics
Light has been made to look like natural moonlight	Creates a sense of mystery
Foot & spade in the foreground	Them being on the foreground suggests that they will be prominent in the film

People

Signifiers	Signified
3 people – 2 male, 1 female	Identifies them as the main characters
Middle aged
White
British	Shows it’s likely to be a British film
Can’t clearly see faces	Makes audience want to know what their faces look like
Watching the grave	Shows the characters are connected to the body in the grave somehow
Can only see dead body’s foot	Signals that they might be dead near the start of the film

Exploration of the narrative image of 'Shallow Grave' and the way this is constructed through the DVD cover


The DVD cover for 'Shallow Grave' has two different features that immediately attract your attention; the spade and the foot. These are more prominent than the title, which suggest that they will feature heavily in the film. The title sets up an expectation that there will be someone killed and buried in a shallow grave, which is supported by the foot and spade in the foreground. There is also the expectation that the other three people will have some relation to the dead person, and will attempt to cover up the death because of the way they are looking at the grave.

The title itself takes two seemingly unconnected words to create 'Shallow Grave'. One definition of shallow, as defined by dictionary.com means "superficial" and grave immediately makes you think of death, raising the question is there a real death, or is the title a clever creation by whoever thought it up? However it could just be a film in which a body is placed in a shallow grave.

The character's faces being unclear doesn't reveal much about them or the film, but enough is shown about them to show that they will feature in the film quite prominantly because they are shown in full on the cover of the dvd.

The cover causes the audience to ask many questions including:

Why is the grave shallow?

What relationship is there between characters?

Who died?

Who killed them?

How did they die?

Why bury them in the woods?

This sets an expectation for the film to answer these questions, and the only way that they can find out the answer is by watching the film.