The opening of Halloween starts with credits while a camera tracks forward towards a typically carved out pumpkin which is usually associated with Halloween. This therefore informs the viewer that the film is set are the time of Halloween and consequently a film of the horror genre. The text during the opening credits changes from red to orange, red a colour associated with blood/death and orange the colour associated with a pumpkin and therefore Halloween.The camera moves to a shot of a pretty typical house. There is a high pitched sound throughout the scene which begins as a light is turned off inside the house, which is seen through a window view from outside the house. As well as the non diegetic sound which builds up the tension until the stabbing, there is diegetic sound which can be heard, ‘sounds of the night’ such as crickets chirping.
The camera then moves around the house and into the house as if from the point of view of a person. When entering the house the person goes to a draw and fetches out a knife, this creates suspense for the audience. In the house there isn't much light, especially when the boy is walking up the stairs; the only light comes from the moonlight, which creates an eerie atmosphere to the film. The person reaches for a Halloween mask on the floor and puts it on; the rest of the shot is through the eyes of that mask, a subjective point of view. The music builds up tension as the person attacks the girl with the knife taken from downstairs; the knife that the killer uses for the murder is very typical of a "slasher" movie. It is obvious to the audience that the victim knew her killer as she calls him by his first name, and does not seem scared to see him there.
The camera then moves around the house and into the house as if from the point of view of a person. When entering the house the person goes to a draw and fetches out a knife, this creates suspense for the audience. In the house there isn't much light, especially when the boy is walking up the stairs; the only light comes from the moonlight, which creates an eerie atmosphere to the film. The person reaches for a Halloween mask on the floor and puts it on; the rest of the shot is through the eyes of that mask, a subjective point of view. The music builds up tension as the person attacks the girl with the knife taken from downstairs; the knife that the killer uses for the murder is very typical of a "slasher" movie. It is obvious to the audience that the victim knew her killer as she calls him by his first name, and does not seem scared to see him there.
The camera then shows a small boy standing in the street as the mask is pulled from his face. As the killer’s identity is kept secret until this point, it is shocking as it is revealed that it is only a small boy who has committed this terrible crime.The last shot in the opening sequence is a crane shot which moves away from the house to show the boy with knife in hand, and parents standing on the pavement.The entire opening sequence is seamless editing, as it appears to be one long shot up until the end of the sequence when the boys mask is removed by the policeman.
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