The opening sequence of The Ring starts with two girls sat on the bed, talking about the film they were watching. The girls are pretty which automatically makes it obvious something will happen as its also the pretty ones who die first in horrors. A few minutes in they start talking about a horror tape which is like a typical horror film because they are talking about something scary. It starts as a typical horror film would, in a big house when there is bad weather, this is Wes Craven's theory. It starts with low key lighting which indicates to the audience that something bad is about to happen. One of the girls begins to joke about watching the tape, stereotypical to horror films because later on in the film she dies due to the tape. She then gets a phone call after the other girl realises she was joking however, it was her mum this indicates to the audience that there was absence of authority and parents this is Carol Clover's theory. The colours in the film are dark and mysterious which sets a horror atmosphere.
When she goes downstairs she sees that the television is on and thinks it is her friend, who is the only other person in the house. When she realises that it's not her friend she begins to get worried as the television always blurs in a horror film. This is Carol Clover's theory. This theory makes the audience believe something is about to happen as they begin to think someone else is in the house and also at the start of the film the girl mentions how she watched a film which leaves her with seven days to live. Typically she turns it off but when she leaves the room it comes back on again and she begins to hear something else in the other room. Every time she goes into a room she thinks she can hear noises from the next room she goes into. This is Carol Clover's theory.
The opening is still showing a typical horror because as you can see in this image above, it is a big house where bad things happen and also the lighting is very dark. This is the type of atmosphere that something strange is about to happen.
In the beginning of film it starts with children playing with their dolls which will come across to the audience that this scene isn't going to be a horror or dramatic also it has high key lighting indicating it isn't going to be scary. Also, it is filmed in the day and there isn't bad weather. However, some people may see this as scary due to the fact that it's little children and most horror films are revolved around children as it comes across as more scary. When the girls look up from playing with their dolls looking straight past the camera which is suggesting there is something behind the camera. This changes the tone of the film as the audience start to feel on edge. With young girls playing with dolls it makes the audience think that something is going to happen because dolls are seen as scary and even sometimes possessed.