Opening Sequence Analysis Of Halloween

How does the opening sequence of the film 'Halloween' inform the audience of the conventions of a thriller film?

In the opening sequence of 'Halloween' a variety of different techniques are used to portray different effects on the viewers who watch the thriller. Cinematography is used during the sequence and this includes the angles, movements and positions of the camera. This is very effective for thriller films because this is how suspense, shock and surprise are created and i believe that this is one of the many things that a thriller film must include to be successful and to actually be a thriller. Cinematography helps to give clues to the audience, for example if the camera is zoomed in, it makes the viewers notice things that they hadn't before, and also to witness emotions. This is done to the film because it is a key to the rest of the story which the audience will see later. The audience must keep up with the story by witnessing everything that appears on the screen because if not they will be behind with what happens next in the film. Editing is a main part of the opening and this is when you see different images on the screen. For example, reaction shot is when you see a character in the film react to something they have just seen.  It also helps to create a better story. If there are parts of the film that show locations and dates, normally at the beginning of the film, this is because the viewers need to remember these to go on and find out about the rest of the film. This is a big part of all thriller films because it shows the characters feeling emotions, this helps the audience to feel empathy, sympathy, fear etc. A good thriller will always make the audience feel this way because thats what thrillers are supposed to do. Sound is used in thrillers to create reactions out of the viewers who watch, this is because it helps to build up tension and suspense and this is what makes a thriller film good. For example, non digetic sound is when you hear something but cannot see it on the screen, so it is off screen. 'Halloween' is a psychological thriller, which entices the viewers to watch more as it makes them scared and wonder if the main character will be okay because if it is a psychological thriller, it means that the main character will be mentally unstable and will make us feel scared. This is what makes it so interesting to the audience because some of the people can relate with having a family member be ill or have been there themselves. The opening sequence of 'Halloween' shows someone peering through the window, seeing a young man and woman kissing on the sofa, the person witnesses them go upstairs and the man quickly runs out. Casually and quietly, they enter the house and creep up the stairs to stab a young woman. Codes and conventions are what makes the film a thriller, for example, sinister music and dark lighting, this makes the film more scary for the viewers because they know something bad will happen, which is what happens in thrillers.

In the opening scene of 'Halloween', cinematography is used to create different effects on the viewers. P.O.V is used at the beginning of the film to show a person slowly walking upstairs, masked and ready to kill who the audience suspect is the killers sister. The audience constantly see POV being used because this is so that we have the continuous view of the killer. This camera shot has been used in order to keep the identity of the killer a secret from the viewers. This makes the audience want to find out who the killer is. It builds suspense and tension as the viewers get closer to seeing who the killer is. This is conventional because in all the beginning scenes of thriller films, you are left asking more questions that build up surprise and shock. For example, people may ask, 'Who is the killer?', 'Who is the victim?' or 'Why did they kill that woman?'. This makes the audience want to watch more so that their questions can be answered later on in the movie. As they watch more, the tension builds up because they want to know who the killer is.

High angle is also used during the sequence as we see the killer looking down on the young woman while they are stabbing her. I believe that this makes the female weak because the high angle can connote that the killer has a higher status than the female. This is conventional because very often thriller films base their stories on young women being killed, mostly by male characters. This makes the male look stronger and more dominant. The audience feel sorry and scared at the same time because this woman has just been killed for nothing, which is what the audience will presume at the time as it is on the beginning scene of the film. As the audience presume that the killer has murdered the girl for no reason, the viewers feel scared as they don't know enough of the story to know what they are capable of. As the story progresses, the audience feel shock as they see an innocent young girl get stabbed by what the audience thinks is a grown man, they think it is a grown man because the girl says 'Michael'.

The zoom out effect is used in the opening sequence of the film when Michael Myers has been discovered by his parents as the child who killed his own sister. When the audience find out that Michael is the one that killed his sister, the camera zooms out so that the audience must quickly get over what they have just seen. This is don
e to create an emotional distance and this distance can be to show as if the child was becoming distant from his parents. This could also show how the story changes from then and we only see the future after this. The zooming out could represent reaching into the future. The viewers feel shocked because no one expects a little boy of 9 years old to kill his own sister. From the camera zooming out, the audience can infer that there will be more stories later on in the film to explain why Michael killed his sister and what happens to him after his parents find out what he did.

In the opening sequence of 'Halloween' editing is used throughout to create different emotions for the audience. The first bit of editing used is reaction shots. This is shown when the camera zooms out when the viewers find out who the killer is. The facial expressions of the parents are shown in order to make the audience see what a problem this is for the characters. We also see the Michael has no facial expression, his face is purely nothing because he doesn't seem to have any emotions regarding to what he just done. This makes the audience shocked to find out that it was a child who killed a young girl. It is unexpected which is what makes it such a good thriller to watch. It also creates shock and surprise because the viewers didn't expect the killer to be so young and look so innocent after what he has just done. Suspense is also creates as the audience don't see the killer face till the end so the tension is building up as the gradually show it on the screen.


Due to most of the opening sequence being emphasised on P.O.V ( Point of View), there are not many editing styles used because the film is trying to focus on the boy killing his sister in order to create the suspense and shock as the viewers see who the killer is at the end.

During the opening sequence of 'Halloween', sound is used to scare the viewers. The first type of sound we see is non digetic, also known as off screen. This is when the sounds are added on after the film has been created. It isn't part of the main film. This is used at the very beginning when the audience hear children singing and laughing. This is heard so that it can represent a typical halloween setting where children dress up as scary characters with masks and roam the streets with their buckets and ask for candy. However, when the singing begins, it scares the viewers as it is very sinister music and the children cannot be seen so they audience must try to picture the looks of the children as they watch on. The element of POV allows the audience to gain a better understanding of what the killer is up to and it also allows the tension of the audience to be heightened because they want to see the face of the killer.



Digetic sound is used in the sequence and this is when music or sound that belongs within the frame is considered to be a natural part of the narrative. For example, owls are heard as the scene is being set. I think this is heard so that the audience can infer what part of the day it is. Owls only make noise during the late evening. So, there were hardly any children or parents around, so that no one could see Michael entering his home. This keeps the secret hidden for a bit of time, so that the child has enough time to kill his sister and no one can stop him. The sound of leaves is used during the opening as well to show the footsteps of the killer coming towards the house. It shows the killer coming to murder someone and this makes us as the audience feel tension because it is very slow. Another example is when we hear the clock chime. This is a good example because it plays just before the stabbing. I believe that it represents the amount of time that the victim has left before dying. I think it is a warning to her that no one can hear except the audience. This creates suspense because it is the loudest noise in the opening sequence so I think it represents death. This is conventional because there are always deaths in thrillers. The sounds allow the audience to be even more scared and shocked than they were before because they don't know what the person is capable of. Therefore, when the killer murders the young girl, the audience feel sympathy because she was so young and she had her whole life ahead of her.



Parallel sound is used in the opening and this is when the sounds and images compliment each other on screen. My first example is when the creepy piano is playing whilst the killer walks up the stairs to murder their first victim. This can represent the killer walking slowly and quietly as the victim is upstairs and has no idea what is going on. This makes it scary for the audience because the audience are not sure when the killer will strike. It creates tension for the viewers because they know someone is going to die soon just by hearing the different sounds. The audience can also hear the sound of the weapon being used against the girl to kill her. This is used to show us that she is dying and that she is the killers first target. It also shows us what weapon was used, I believe it was used instead of a gun because this is the only object that the killer could find. I also think this is because it is more quiet as the killer didn't want to be caught. This makes the viewers feel sorry for the girl because as far as the audience know, she hasn't done anything wrong to deserve to be killed in such a way.

During the opening sequence, codes and conventions are used. This is when the audience see things that they expect to see in the type of film they are watching. In the scene, the viewers can see a knife being used. When the audience see this knife, they automatically know what will happen next. The knife shows the audience that the killer is prepared to kill. Knives are only used for one purpose and that is to kill someone. This is the murder weapon that the killer will use to get their victim. This signifies the death of the girl. This makes the audience scared for what will happen next.

Another example is the fact that the killer is unknown until the end of the scene, the audience see this because the camera uses POV (point of view) so the viewers can't see their face. They find out at the end who the killer is and what they look like and this creates a build up on tension as the audience want to know who the killer is.

Also, the film is set on Halloween day. This is a typical setting because it's supposed to be the scariest day of the year. This also makes it easier for the killer to blend in with the others as he is young, wearing a mask and is less likely to be a suspect to a murder. The audience feel scared already because of the 'halloween' theme so this creates even more of an urge to watch it.

Another is the oblivious woman. She is on the couch with her boyfriend and he asks her where her brother is since she was supposed to trick or treat him. This is our first clue that something bad will happen because he was mentioned and so far hasn't been seen. She goes upstairs with her boyfriend and then he leaves her house. Someone, who's face we cannot see is walking into the house holding a knife. This person walks up the stairs and then walks into the girls room where she doesn't suspect a thing, she turns around and sees Michael standing there holding the knife. She is then stabbed to death. She is oblivious to what is surrounding her because she is with her boyfriend. She is too busy concentrating on him that she doesn't realize that her brother is there behind her waiting to kill her. This is conventional because in every thriller film the female is killed first, because they are portrayed as being the weak ones.

Other conventions include the unexpected killer. The audience find out the killer at the end of the opening sequence. This makes the viewers build up tension only to realize it was the little boy which triggers the shock mode. The audience are also left with more questions that they had before.





In the opening sequence of 'Halloween' the characters are represented in various ways. The stabbing of the girl is a typical scene to have in a thriller because the young woman is portrayed as being the weakest of everyone there and is shown as the damsel in distress. She needs to be saved but it is too late. It shows vulnerability and the fact that she has to shield herself shows that she is trying to protect herself but isn't doing a good job. This is conventional because the female is always the one in need of assistance. This makes the audience feel scared but they would still expect something like this to happen because it happens often. Another is the killer grabbing the knife. This makes the killer look like they are the superior figure because they are the one with the murder weapon. It is unexpected that the brother would do this to his sister, so it makes the story even more interesting and makes the audience want to watch more of the story to see what happens to the boy later on. The knife also helps the viewers to connote that the knife will be used badly, as the audience know it's a thriller, it is very likely someone will be killed with it.


In conclusion, the opening sequence informs the audience of how the story will go. The opening is a preview of what the whole storyline will be about, so it gets the audience ready. Watching the opening prepares them to understand and gain knowledge of what is yet to come in this film. If the viewers didn't watch the rest, they would be confused as to what they were to watch. I thin what the audience will find the most interesting is the fact that a little boy is capable of such a thing. This entices the viewers to watch more.


When planning my own thriller sequence, i have learnt that i must have an interesting story line, if i don't, no one will want to watch it. I must add sinister music to my piece, if i want viewers to feel scared and watch on to find out the plots. It must be conventional, such as have a variety of devices, like a 'damsel in distress' where the woman needs help to get away from the killer. I need to include a running scene where the victim is stressed and focused on escaping. This thriller must be captivating and can relate to the audience, these films are the most popular because they really bring out the emotions of the viewers.