Chloe Eustace
Opening Sequence Analysis
The purpose of an opening sequence to a thriller film is to engage the viewers/audiences interest and to help capture them to want to continue watching the film. An opening sequence opens the film and sets the plot, and introduces the audience to the general themes of the film. Other purposes of an opening sequence is to introduce the main character/s and to create suspense, shock and surprise for the audience in order to convince them to watch the film. Opening sequences to typical thriller films generally includes some characters and usually the main character to the film, Opening credits and Enigma. There are a number of camera shots, editing styles, conventions to thrillers, sounds, characters and narratives used within an opening sequence in order to make grab the audiences attention and make the opening sequence typical to thriller films.
Analysed Opening Sequence - Halloween (1978)
Cinematography:
Within the opening sequence of the film Halloween there is the use of cinematography, Zooming out. There is zooming out used when the dad takes the mask of the young boy, this show that the antagonist is actually a young boy and this shocks the audience because they wouldn't expect an 8 year old boy to be the killer within the film. The zooming in actually emphasises the fact that he is the killer because the camera is close up to his face and zooms in as the mask is taken off. This allows the facial features of the young boy to be shown to the audience and his expressions are so innocent and vulnerable that the audience may actually not believe that the boy is the killer. This is conventional to a thriller because shock and enigma is created within the opening sequence. There is a lot of questions left open to the audience after this shot and this helps to keep the audiences attention for the rest of the film. There is shock and suspense created for the audience which is conventional to thriller films because they are shocked that the killer could possibly be a young boy and suspicious as to why this happened and are then hooked from the opening sequence to watch the rest of the film.
Another shot used within this opening sequence is Point of View. At the beginning of the scene we don't know who the person behind the camera is, therefore there is mystery created. The antagonist is behind the camera and as he is walking through the house the camera remains from his perspective until the end of the opening sequence. This creates tension and suspense as there is the unknown behind the camera and we don't know what there going to do and what's going to happen. This is conventional to a thriller because there is the mystery of the fact that the audience doesn't know who the man behind the camera is and the audience don't know how this character is going to react. The audience may feel that this character is important, relevant and powerful as it is his point of view and because we are following him through the house, so the audience can connect with the character slightly because it gives them an idea that he is going to possibly be the main character. It creates tension for the audience that is conventional to a thriller because there is enigma created as this tension of who the character is and the mystery of why he is hidden behind the camera has hooked the audience and makes them want to watch the rest of the film. As there is the use of Point of View from the boy himself there is also the use of the handheld camera as he is essentially holding the camera himself as he walks through the house. This gives the audience a chance to build a relationship with this character becasue they are literally seeing what the character is seeing, and the audience can engage with this as he walls through the house and up the stairs. This is also mostly evident when Michael runs down the stairs in a panic becasue he knows what he has just done and maybe wants to run away, but this creates a sense of urgency for the audience as well becasue as he rushes down the stairs they may feel panicked for him.
Finally another camera shot that has been used within this opening sequence is a high angle at the end of the sequence. A high angle shot is used after the mask is taken from the boys face and when the audience find out that the killer behind the camera is a young boy. The high angle is over the house and the family as the camera essentially zooms out from the opening scene. The use of the high angle shows everyone that is there at that moment that the mask is pulled of his face, including the family who are shocked that he is holding a knife. The audience also gets a chance to see the surroundings of him and it shows really that it is a family home which makes the audience wonder about whats going to happen next. The high angle shows and starts by focusing on the boy which shows that he is just a child which the audience would think would be so innocent, this is juxtaposed in this shot as actually the boy clearly is dangerous. This is conventional to a thriller because it shows the presence of danger as the boy looks innocent but really he is the one that killed his sister and this creates suspicion for the audience which is conventional to a thriller because they are wondering why there is a young boy that is the killer and they then want to find out what will happen next. There is also other conventions within this angle shot that are typical to a thriller film because there is the use of a weapon which is used within most thriller films to create tension and excitement to the audience but also creates wonder and mystery as to why there is a young child who has the knife because he is so young and vulnerable.
Editing
There is a variety of editing styles that are used within the opening sequence of the film Halloween that makes the sequence typical of an average thriller opening sequence. An example of an editing style in the opening sequence is slow editing, this is when the antagonist is walking up the stairs in this house as he is moving slowly. This builds up the tension of the moment as the audience don't know what he is going to do next and wonder what the reason is for going into that specific room. The audience may feel scared within this because he is walking slowly up the stairs and they know almost immediately that something bad is going to happen due to the fact that there is slow editing. This allows the audience to build a relationship with the character because they are learning that he is mysterious which sort of sets the basis for the rest of the film. This is conventional to a thriller because overall there is this sense of mystery in the character and he walks slowly up the stairs to create another convention for the audience of tension and suspense as we don't know what's going to happen next.
There was also a reaction shot within this opening sequence when the mask was taken off of the young child's face at the end of the sequence. This helps to create shock to the audience as they can see the parents reaction to the mask coming of his face, the audience will assume that these are Michaels parents and they looked shocked as he is standing there with a knife of blood. This is conventional to a thriller becasue there is a weapon of whom the boy is holding with blood on and the audience wouldn't expect an 8 year old boy to be holding a knife or think about or want to murder someone. There is also another convention of a thriller in this opening sequence as the setting is dark and gloomy and makes the audience feel scared and wonder what is going to happen next.
Sound
Firstly there is off-screen sound, which is the sound of the children's voices at the beginning of the opening sequence. This gives the audience a sense of maybe this is going to be a film about a child, and the technically is a clue also of what the rest of the film will be about. The children's voices are the singing a nursery rhyme, which gives the very innocent overview and makes the audience think that there may be the death of children and that they are important, when in fact the nursery rhyme juxtaposes this as actually obviously it turns out that the antagonist is Michael who is a small child of which the audience would not expect of. This leaves the audience being, shocked and suspicious as they don't expect child music to be played and then the killer be an 8 year old boy. Children are seen as innocent and this contrasts this. This is conventional to a thriller film and thriller opening sequence because it creates enigma. Enigma is leaving a lot of questions after the opening sequence of a thriller film and keeping the audience hooked. The enigma is conventional to a thriller film becasue there is the unknown identity of the child. The off screen sound of the children laughing makes the audience suspicious and allows the audience to create a relationship of to the characters as they expect there to be children in the sequence.
Secondly there is silence in the scene where the antagonist is watching the girl and her boyfriend through the window which is actually a bit creepy and gets the audience wondering the antagonist's motives and they may be wondering why he was watching through the window. It also makes the audience want to know who it is that is watching these two and what the reason is for watching them. This is conventional to a thriller because as he is watching through the window there is a female who is blonde, which is typical of thriller films and shows that maybe she is or is going to be the victim. Immediately the audience may think that she is the victim as she is female, blonde and probably vulnerable. The audience builds a relationship with the character (antagonist) becasue they assume that he is going to kill either of the two people that he is watching. There is another convention of a thriller in this part of the scene as the silence makes the killer more suspicious to the audience as we don't know what he is going to do and where he is going to go. As well as the fact that there is a hidden identity from the main character.
Finally sound used within this thriller opening sequence to create enigma for the audience is on screen sound, when the antagonist behind the camera is walking up the stairs and there is a ticking clock, on the wall at the top of the stairs. This shows the audience or gives clues to the audience maybe that times running out, and this is mainly an indication for the girl who is about to be murdered. This sound is a repetitive tick up against the quietness of him walking up the stairs as he is creeping and there is a slow tick, this makes the audience shocked and tense as they realise that maybe time is running out for someone in the scene. This is conventional to thriller films because it creates shock and suspense of what might or what is going to happen next in the film. Sounds like on screen and off screen sound are effective to opening sequences for thriller films as it helps to create enigma for the audience.
Conventions of a Thriller
A convention of a thriller film that was in this opening sequence of Halloween, is Low key lighting. Low key lighting is conventional within thriller films, because it creates a dark and eerie tone to the rest of the scene dark and gloomy which is conventional of thriller films. There is low key lighting when the antagonist is walking towards the door of the house as there is some natural light coming from the porch lights and this helps in the dark to create shadows which helps the audience to feel tense and shocked in some places of the film. The low key lighting helps and forces the audience to focus on the house and they then know and realise that something might happen and that the house is important to what might be about to happen. The low key lighting is conventional to thriller films because gloomy, dark and eerie lighting is typical in thriller films as it creates suspense and tension for the audience and they wonder what's going to happen.
Another typical convention of a thriller film within the opening sequence is the weapons that are used which is the knife. This is classed as Iconography also and is an element within Mis-en-Scene. The knife is the weapon in this opening sequence as the hidden antagonist opens the draw in the kitchen and takes the knife out. This shocks the audience as he grabs the knife especially as the way the knife is grabbed you would think that it is an adult who grabs the knife. The knife is an icon and a clue as to what's going to happen next. The audience will assume that there is going to be a murder as there is now a weapon which is typical to thriller films. The use of the knife makes the audience suspicious and they wonder when and why the murderer is going to kill somebody, it hooks the audience to the film. The reaction of the audience is that they then may feel sorry for the girl as the audience now assume that she is the victim for the antagonist.
Another convention of thriller films is that there is an antagonist but obviously what the audience were not prepared for is that the antagonist is a young boy. Within thriller films there is always an antagonist that murders the victim. They are stereotypically male. If there was no murders within a thriller film then there would be no plot twists or it would not be a thriller film. Within this the antagonist is the young boy who is about 8 years old and shocks the audience, they may feel shocked that it is a young boy but they also might feel sorry and wonder why the antagonist is a young boy and want to know more. This creates enigma for the audience and allows the audience to be hooked to the rest of the film. Shock is conventional of thriller films becasue it gives the audience a jump and a fright as to what has happened as they didn't expect this to happen.
Representation of Characters
The antagonist is the main character and the fact that he is watching through the window outside the house makes the audience suspicious of him. All throughout the opening sequence the character of the antagonist is creepy as his identity is hidden and makes the audience wonder why he wants to be hidden and what his reason for being hidden is. This is conventional to a thriller film becasue there is always an antagonist and it is shocking to the audience that he is just a child. It leaves the audience questioning the antagonists motives. You would not expect a child to be killing his sister and it make the audience wonder what the sister has done and why he has chosen to kill his sister compared to anyone else.
Another characters that is represented in the opening sequence of this thriller film is the victim of who is the young boys (antagonists) sister in the thriller film and is a typical victim in thriller films becasue she is a girl which is conventional and the girl is blonde and naked when he stabs her which suggests that she is vulnerable. The way that she is presented as vulnerable makes the audience feel sorry for her as she the audience know that she is going to be killed, this is dramatic irony as the audience knows that she is going to be killed but the character (she) doesn't know. The audience may have created a relationship with the character as they feel sorry for her as they know that she is going to die and they may not want her to die even thought they don't really know the character. This is conventional to a thriller film becasue there is typically a female victim for the audience to sympathise for, and she is unknown really and what her life is like which leads the audience to wonder why she is the chosen victim of the antagonist (brother.)
There is other characters within the scene as there is the mum and the dad at the end of the scene who takes the mask of the young boy and they are shocked and surprised themselves so the audience can relate to this as they are shocked and feeling what the characters are feeling. They may be questioning why this has happened and what his motives are for killing someone which again the audience can relate to and this helps the audience build a relationship with the family characters of the mum and the dad.
Narrative
The narrative of the opening sequence is that the scene is based on Halloween which is seen as a day of children and costumes. Children dress up in costume on Halloween which is probably why the young boy was in the clown outfit becasue it shows that he is hidden under the mask. This is conventional to a thriller becasue there is a hidden identity within the film as the antagonist is unknown to the audience until the end of the scene because they are all wearing masks so he sort of fits in. The audience can build a relationship with the character of the antagonist becasue he is just a typical boy on Halloween that has dressed up but for some reason has decided to murder his sister. This creates shock and surprise to the audience becasue we find out that the murderer is a child. There is shock, suspense and surprise within this opening sequence and this is conventional to a thriller but also part of the narrative as this creates enigma. There is enigma created within the scene because there is questions left to the audience to want an answer. Without a narrative which is the story line creates the enigma and hooks the audience and makes them want to watch the rest of the film. The audience of this film from the opening sequence is probably a 15+ because there is nudity in the scene when the girl is stabbed and there is blood and death as well as a dark gloomy setting.
Conclusion
In conclusion there are a number of different parts of this opening sequence that I can take and consider when I create my opening sequence. This research into an opening sequence in this case Halloween has helped me to know what to include in my opening sequence, including Iconography (mis -en - scene) such as weapons or that the setting needs to be dark and have low key lighting in order to help create tension and suspense for the audience.