FC: Opening Sequence Analysis - Halloween (Carpenter, 1978)

Genre:
From the opening scene one can see that the film belongs to the slasher Horror sub genre. Conventions of the slasher sub genre are shown by Micheal's character spying on the couple and then sneaking through the house to violently murder his victim. The opening scene is effective because it unfolds from the murderers point of view, you see the murder and then find out that Micheal, who is only a child of six years is in fact the one carrying the rather uncalled for stabbing. Before the audience finds out that Micheal has killed his sister, they could be forgiven for thinking that the opening revolved around the classic horror film idea of a teenage girl being left alone and murdered in her house. In this sense it draws parallels with the opening sequence of Scream (Craven, 1996). These types of openings are now commonly used in opening scenes for slasher films, however the fact that the antagonist is only six and the way in which the sequence unravels through his eyes makes Halloween innovative and different.

Film Language:
At the beginning of the scene the slight jolt of the camera conveys that it is a POV shot, The camera movies and dips in time with some one walking which shows that we are seeing things from the potential antagonists point of view.  when the camera looks through the window the distance shows that Michael is spying on his sister and her friend, this is also shown by the dialogue "we are alone aren't we?".  panning shots are also used, to convey Michael s line of sight as he looks from side to side. The editing, or lack of it, in the scene is very unique. As already mentioned it is shot in POV format, up until 3:45 the whole sequence is one long continuous shot where the viewers see everything Michael see's. The length of the shot lures the audience into a false sense of security, they begin to feel comfortable with Michael until he picks up the knife and his intentions become clear. The mask used is the main prob/Costume item used. The sisters Boyfriend first uses it to joke around with however its visual significance changes dramatically when Micheal puts it on. The mask is worn whilst the sister is murdered, masks are often used as disguises in horror films and the fact that its a clown mask reflects many peoples ideological fears of clowns. A clown mask might of been chosen because clowns are typically meant to be funny, the same as 6 year olds typically don't viciously murder there family members with kitchen utensils, this concept might of been seen as innovative at the time. The only other notable costume feature would be the lack of it during the stabbing scene. The knife is an important prop, a standard kitchen knife would come under horror film iconography, its the type of weapon anyone can get hold of and can create very graphic and gory scenes. The location, a typical suburban house is also unusual, usually horror sets are isolated and desolate however the choice of a house in a populated area gives the audience the sense that these type of murders could happen to anyone. Furthermore from the girls dialogue we learn that she is happy and careless she is laughing and immediately agrees to "go up stairs". her screams and tone of voice during the murder convey how frightened she is, which is some what understandable, after all she is being repeatedly stabbed by some one who probably still struggles to read words with more than 5 letters. Non-diegetic sound is the first sound heard in the sequence, as the camera moves round the side of the house crickets can be heard, there sound implies that there is no one in the immediate vicinity. Non-diegetic sound is again used. this time when a light upstairs is switched off, the high pitch music is sudden and gets viewers on the edge of there seats. This high pitched eerie noise carries on through out the scene and serves as a good way of building tension as Michael moves through the house getting closer and closer to his victim. The version i watched had no title sequence, however you can see on the poster below that the font is bold and stands out on the black background. Both the first and last letters are capitals which gives "HalloweeN" a strange spooky image.

The poster and cover for Halloween.

Narrative:
The plot revolves around Micheal as things happen from his POV. The sequence starts with a shot of the house and the audience can see a pumpkin with candles inside clearly representing that it is Halloween. The antagonist then looks through a window where the viewers are presented with a young couple on the sofa, the girl says "Micheal is around some where" before they agree to go upstairs. As the shot reverts back to the front of the house a light upstairs flashes off with an accompanying noise which creates a sense of tension. After this we see Micheal walk through the house switching on lights and picking up a knife as his sisters Male companion leaves through the front door. The vulnerable teenage girl is now alone at home during the night, this is a classic example of a stock character or plot in a horror film. Micheal proceeds up the stairs and finds the mask that appeared earlier in the scene, he puts it on and this shrinks the scope of the camera to increase the verisimilitude of the shot and make it feel as if the audience really are sneaking round the house. After this he walks into the bathroom where his sister is, she seems perplexed at first, saying "Michael" in a questioning tone. she then starts to scream as she realises what is happening. the actual stabbing in gruesome in terms of blood and gore however it is brutal as she is stabbed several times, the scene is particularly effective because it is very unusual for someone so young to b carrying out such actions. it goes against common ideologies of who a murderer might be and what they would look like. the final follows Michael's journey downstairs and round to the front of the house where a man, possibly his father, see's Michael with the knife he has just bloodied and again says "Michael" in a surprised and slightly scared tone. Michael doesn't really reply and its unclear weather he was actually aware of the actions that he had just committed.
                                                                                    Representation and Ideology:
The idea of a 6 year old committing a murder is surprising, as i said earlier. Murder goes against modern day ideologies, this seems obvious to say however the fact that is so obvious highlights how negatively it is viewed. Michael seems to wait for his sisters male friend to leave before he goes upstairs, this could be perceived as there being ideological undercurrents saying that women need men to protect them. this would be viewed as regressive ideology.  The only other social group shown are the parents, who appear only for a few seconds and are quite perplexed as to why there son is holding a bloodied kitchen knife. This is probably because its never happened before, if i was in that situation I also would be a little bit perturbed and maybe even a tad worried.An interesting take on the films dominant ideologies is that it takes a critical stance on what were stereotypical problems for youths growing up in the seventies who had access to more sources of influence then ever before. This is shown by many of Michael Myer's victims being drug users or sexualy promiscuous. It attacked the way in which the youth of the time went about life in a happy go lucky manner, with out caring about tomorrow and the results of there actions. This is further shown by the Heroine in the film being innocent and conscious of her actions, many people view this as the reason for the characters survival.

Media audiences:
The horror market is generally marketed towards attracting 15-24 year olds. So the target audience for this film would be people from 15 to 24. Although most horror films are given the 18 certificate people of 15 are still watching these types of film, Halloween attracts an audience because it has the theme of Halloween. As well as this it also has an easy to follow and gory story line so whats not to love? The characters in the film are also young so young people may feel they can relate to some of the different characters various motives for doing what they do. The relateability factor is also important because it makes the film more scary, being able to understand a characters emotions makes the movie a visceral experience. My opinion as a British teenager would be that the film is old and probably quite scary so I haven't watched it, i would much rather spend my time committing to wider reading, helping the communtity and being a better human, all whilst furthering my education.
Institutional context:
Are there any A-listers in the film? No. There are not. the film mainly consists of people you might recognize from other horror films but there is no one I have ever heard of in the cast which reflects that the plor revolves around standard iconography of the slasher sub genre. Falcon international productions produced the film and was an independant film which made good on its $325 K budget, as a result it was made into a franchise which went on to be worth millions. The lack of gore and special effects in the opening sequence during the murder mirror the films low budget, this makes the mask very effective because it blocks out half the screen meaning that less graphic gore had to be shown and this meant that the scene would be cheaper.