Opening sequence analysis - Miss Georgiou

                                       How does the opening sequence of the thriller film
                       halloween, inform the audience of the conventions of the thriller film

The purpose of an opening sequence is to introduce the narrative to the audience and the type of thriller genre it is, for example a crime thriller. The opening sequence also normally introduces the antagonist in the film, it can foreshadow what the rest of the film it going to be about or who the victims may be. It should include credits and clues about the rest of the film, it shouldn't give to much away about the film, but it should still intrigue the audience to continue watching. Cinematography, sound, editing and mise-en-scene should be used in the opening sequence to make the small amount of information given away more effective.

Cinematography is used effectively throughout the Halloween sequence, it involves various angles, movements and positions to make the audience react to the film. An example of a cinematography element is the zoom out  movement at the end of the clip. When the antagonist leaves the house he is greeted by his parents who removes his mask, as it shows Michaels face and that he is just child the camera backs away from him. This shows his threat to the other characters and that the audience should be cauious of him. This Zooming out shows surprise and shock of the audience, that he is not an adult instead someone so young and fragile they do not expect that he could murder his own sister.  In this section the camera is also positioned at a high angle looking down on the house as it zooms out. This shows the audience Michaels innocence even the he is killed his sister he is still a young boy who is scared about what he has done. It could also show his parents possible danger as they are in the shot too, it could portray them vulnerable to his next actions, or foreshadow that they could be in danger later on in the film. The is also a point of view shot (P.O.V) which is through Michaels eyes. This is when he puts on the mask and begins to walk up the stairs, The audience can see though the eyes cut out of the mask and they can see what the characters sees as he is moving round the house. The audience can feel part of the character because they are seeing his P.O.V, they almost feel asif they are in the film making it more realistic. All of these examples relate to how the audience as they add to the emotions already being created, the zooming out adds the shock and surprise off Michaels hidden identity being revealed. The high angle allows the audience to relate to micheals innocence, but they are still aware that he is dangerous and unpredictable. And the last cinematography that demonstrates emotions is the P.O.V of Micheal it gives the audience and insight of what Michael is feeling, they can understand his movements asif the were actulaly him.

Another micro element which adds to the effctiveness of the thriller genre is the editing, its about how the camera shots change on to the next and the pace at which they move. The Halloween sequence uses the editing techniques extremly well they make the audience understand the fillm in more depth. One of the styles used is slow editing this means the shots last for longer before changing onto the next on and so on, it keeps doing this continuosly to create slow editing. The is used when the antagonist his making his way up the stairs, the shots dont change often to show the pace of Michael whislt he is on his way too kill his sister. The slow editing being placed here prolongs the sequence just at the right time to let the suspense build and make the normally boring part of someone walking up the stair actually useful and effctive. This is so that the audiecne can see how descreat Michael is trying to be when he is preparing to murder, it shows his slow walking and sly movements. Another editing element used effectively is a reaction shot. This is when he shot changes to emphasise an important part of the film or one of the characters actions or their reaction. The audience can see the reaction shot when Michaels mask is take of by his parents out in the front garden and the camera starts to zoom out. This used here to show the shock when the antagonists identity is revealed. His parents are shocked to see that is Michael under the mask and that he has the bloody knife in his hand, it also is there to show the audiences shock when they find out it is him. As they learn that it is Michael who has killed his sister the camera change to zoom out from Michael and his parents. It makes the moment more intense and makes the shock even more dramatic for the audience. The tempo also increase in parts of the film, which could be known as a timing shot because it gets faster. One time the audience see this is when the antagonist is trying to escape from the murder scene, he start to make his way the front door after he has killed his sister,. During this scene the tempo builds and everything gets bit faster to show his panic when he is trying to get out of the house. The editing technique creates excitement for the audience as they want to see what happens when Michael gets out of the house, they want to know what happens next. All of the editing techniques build the suspense, shock and surprise with in the opening sequence they all make the audience feel more involved with characters and how they are feeling. The editing styles make the emotions more intense and they emphasise on the actions taking place in the film.

Sound is also used in the opening sequence to show the emotions throughout. The sound can the in the film world or out of the film world e.g. music. The first sound right at the beginning of the sequence is off screen sound , which means the audience cannot see the source of the sound. There is faint kids laughter when the house is being zoomed in on. The is off screen sound because there are no children to be seen in the shot, they are not visible to the audience so therefore are off screen. This sound informs the audience the  possible age of the antagonist as he is the main focus at this throughout the sequence. The antagonist much be very young in contrast to the typical thriller antagonist. This make the audience intrigued into what he is going to do and why he is watching his sister though the window. The other effective sound technique used is then silence, it used when Michael is watching through the window at his sister and her boyfriend, it is very quiet and slow. There is very little sound at all to make the scene more eery and unpredictable, it emphasises the antagonists stalking and his hidden identity.  The silence hooks the audience into watching the rest of the film as they want to find out who the antagonist , it cause suspense for them as they are intrigued about the outcome of Michaels actions. Diegetic sound and parallel sound are also used in the Halloween sequence, which means the sound is in the film world and is expected to be heard by audience an example would be car engine, the car would be visible and the audience relate the sound to the object, making it diegetic and parallel. These sounds are heard when Michael stabs his sister the knife is heard when it hits her. The knife is being seen so it makes it diegetic and the fact that the antagonist placed on front of the victim the audience automatically assume that it is going to be used so the expect to hear the knife stabbing her. These sounds are used to emphasise on the antagonists sister being injured, it make the situations actions more obvious to the audience even through they do  not see the knife getting her they can hear that it has. The sound of her getting stabbed makes the audience feel sympathetic for and makes them want her to be okay. The different sounds are effective because they add to the actions in film, they intensify the reactions of the sound and make the shock surprise and suspense effective and strong.

Representations of characters are important in a thriller film to make the narrative more exciting. There are two characters in the opening sequence which make the film more effective when they audience are watching, they are Michael and his sister. Michael is the antagonist with the stereotypical hidden identity, he is drees in a fancy dress  clown outfit with the mask on. Having the antagonist with a hidden identity and the shot through his P.O.V makes the audience want to find out who they are, he remains a secret until the end of the scene to make it more dramatic when he gets revealed. It creates an enigma for the whole opening sequence and a shock when the audience find out that it was Michael who killed his sister. The audience are shocked to find out that a little boy is capable of killing his own sister and it makes them want to find out why he did it and what his consequences will be. They other character of Michaels sister is good to having in film as she represents the stereotypical female victim. Having a female as a victim is stereotypical especially as she is blonde, these assets both show the innocence and weakness of the character, the male usually meant to rescue them woman as he is powerful and she weaker.o having her as the victim allows the audience relate to her position with other film that have stereotypical characters. The representations of both these characters suspense as they can predict that they victim os going to be killed and they will surprised how the identity of the antagonist. They can feel the suspense and tension being built and expect bad things to happen and shcok them.

The narrative of the opening sequence shows that it is based on the night halloween. Halloween is based on costumes and evil, which relates to the thriller genre because of the hidden identities, antagonist, evil and murder. The opening sequence shows the murder of the Michaels sister and and his costume relating hime to the night the film is set on. The audience immediately expect for something bad to happen involving  the halloween theme. The murder narrative is stereotypical for films genre, there is normally some sort of killing in a thriller film to show the power of the antagonist. The murder of Michaels sister gives the opening sequence a element of shock. As the sequence ends in surprise it make the audience excited to continue watching the film, they want to find out what happens in the rest of the film. Halloween has a target audience of 18+ because of the gore of the murder and the death, which could be harmful to anyone of a younger age. There is also nudity involved when Michael walks into his sister room she is naked, so ages younger are not aloud to view the film. The audience watching the film should expect it to be intense, they will feel tension throughout the opening sequence because they know what sort of things are going to happen. The narratives are the most important part of the film because it is what the whole film based on an built around, it needs to be effective and easy for the audience to relate to.

The opening sequence for Halloween informs the audience of the conventions of thrillers through all the different elements i researched in the film, editing, cinematography, sound, representations of characters, narrative and conventions. They all show different conventional assets of the film by using stereotypical thing such as a death in the narrative or the female victim character. Informs the audience by having lots of conventions linking in with the 6 different sections i analysed.

All the sections i analysed are used to emphasise on the three main emotions needed to be created when making a thriller film Shock, Suspense and Surprise. These three are needed to make the film more effective for the audience and to make situations more intense. I am going to be using the same sort of conventions in my thriller film to create the emotions it needs to be effective, i want to have the stereotypical female victim and the hidden identity of the antagonist to make my film intense and to make the suspense and tension build. If i achieve this the audience will want to continue to watch and find out what the rest of the film has in store. The halloween sequence has given me some inspirations about what i am going to use in my film to make it effective and conventional. I am going to be using non diegetic sound, like music which builds tempo so that that tension is increased. I am also going to use slow editing so that some sections are prolonged to cause suspense. The analysis has helped me to plan my thriller by showing me what actually makes the film realistic and what adds shock suspense and surprise. It has helped me understand what assets are needed to actually make the film look professional and what lets the target audience relate to the film.