Opening Sequence Analysis - Miss Georgiou

Halloween Opening Sequence Analysis
An opening sequnce is imperative in any film genre because it gives the audience a taste of what the film is about and gives the audience an idea of the genre of the film. An opening sequence is important in a thriller film as it usually makes the audience want to carry on watching the film and make them become hooked and intrigued. However not too much can be given away in the opening sequence as thriller films usually want the audience to gain interest in the film very early on and usually creates an enigma. This is making the opening sequence mysterious so the audience want to carry on watching and find out more.

Cinematography

There are different elements of cinematography used in this sequence to create effect in the thriller genre. One of the shots I noticed whilst analysing was a "shallow focus". There is a shallow focus on the knife as the killer pulls it out of the drawer. This is conventional to the thriller genre as it creates suspense as it makes the audience question the antagonists reasons and purposes of what they will do with the knife. Another element of cinematography used in this sequence is a "high angle shot". The high angle shot is of the house as it zooms in and out at the end of the sequence. This is conventional as it makes the house seem less superior, dull and gloomy. This is because the audience can understand that a murder has just been taken place in the house and it is also the house of the murderer. This gives the audience negative thoughts about the house and this could be used to an advantage in the rest of the film.

Editing

There are many different editing techniques used in the opening sequence of Halloween. One editing technique used in the clip is "wipe". This is evident at the beginning of the scene to introduce the house into the setting and to introduce the location. This is conventional to the genre as the setting is usually a key element and there is a lot to show to make the audience feel scared and frightened. Another editing technique used is "slow editing". This is used when the antagonist is looking through the windows outside the house at the beginning of the scene. This is conventional as it creates suspense as it makes the audience anticipate why they are looking through the windows at the other characters and makes the audience wonder about their intentions. Another editing technique used in this clip is "timing of shots". This is evident throughout the clip but especially when the antagonist is running down the stairs trying to get out of the house quickly. The shots were edited quicker so that it seemed to the audience that the antagonist was trying to escape quicker. This builds suspense as the audience anticipate whether the antagonist will get caught or not.

Soundtrack

There are many different elements of sound used in the opening sequence of halloween. These include elements such as diegetic sound, non diegetic sound, silence and parallel sound. The use of diegetic sound is used in different parts throughtout the clip. I think that the clip uses very good use of diegetic sound. There is an element of diegetic sound when the clock chimes as the murderer makes his way to kill his victim. This is conventional because it seems as if it is chiming down a countdown to the characters death and it also builds up tension. This is an element of thriller as there needs to be a build up of tension before a jumpy or scary scene to make it seem more frightening.

There is also the use of silence in this scene, this creates tension and suspense which are key to the thriller genre. The silence is used as the killer walks round the house in a POV shot. This is a perfect place to have no background music as it builds up suspense as we don't know who is looking through and we don't know what their intentions are. Also the silence makes the audience not know what to expect and makes them anticipate what will be the next part of the scene. The is also aspects of parallel sound used in the clip. This is evident at the very start of the clip as we hear children chanting the words "trick or treat". This is an example of parallel sound because this is what we would expect as it is Halloween and this is a time where children are excited and go out trick or treating.

Codes and Conventions

There are many different codes and conventions of a thriller film such as an unidentified murderer, setting, lowkey lighting and the soundtrack. The codes and conventions are things that help the audience recognise what type of genre a film is from. These things help us to recognise that the film clip is from a thriller genre as we would associate most of the elements with dark, gloomy and painful things. There are different types of conventions included in this clip such as the isolated setting. This scene is set in what looks like a deserted forest late at night. This is conventional to the thriller genre as we would expect the characters to be in a place where they are vulnerble and usually alone without any signs of help. This would make the audience feel on edge and sympathetic for the characters as they are hopeless and things dont look good for them.

Another code and convention used in this clip is the low key lighting. The characters are in a dark forest late at night. This is conventional as we usually associate the dark with unknown precenses and mysterious things. This makes the audience anticipate what may be lurking behind the characters in the shadows, this makes them feel nervous for the character as they build a relationship with them as they are helpless and don't want anything bad to happen to them. 

Representation of Characters

There are only three characters that consist in this sequence, these are a boy and a girl couple and a hidden identity killer which is revealed to be a young boy. The use of having a young boy as the unidentified murder is not very conventional to the thriller genre as we usually wouldn't expect the murderer to be a child as we doubt that they have much power and don't really find them very intimidating so therefore it isn't very common in the thriller genre. However there is elements of convention in the use of this character as it creates an enigma and is very mysterious. This is because the audience are usually surprised when they find out a child has the ability to do something like that and therefore they want to find out the reasons for it and also find out what else they are capable off.

However having the female as the victim is conventional to the thriller genre. This is conventional because we usually expect the men to be the murderers as they are strong and powerful and we usually expect them to go after the helpless female victims.

Narrative

The narrative of the clip is conventional. This is because we understand that the film is based around Halloween and we immediately know that this is associated with scaring people, masks, dressing up and all things scary for one night. Therefore focusing the narrative around this season will automatically make the audience think of the negative aspects of Halloween. The narrative of the film is different murders taking place on Halloween. This is conventional as we expect there to be death and murders in the thriller genre. The audience expect to be scared by the different scary costumes and characters on Halloween. This is also a good narrative to base the thriller film on as it is the one night were people can get away with things without others getting suspicious, the audience can guess this which will make them anticipate some of the things the characters will do. The narrative thats based in the opening sequence of the film leaves us on a cliff hanger. This is because the audience are lead to believe that a murderer is walking around the house with intentions of death and murder. This is conventional because this creates an enigma and it makes the audience anticipate who it is walking around the house and also the reasons and the intentions of the character. This is because in the thriller genre cliff hangers were used so that the audience stays hooked and wants to carry on watching the rest of the film.