Halloween 1978

 Halloween 1978 Opening Scene Analysis:

The slasher film 'Halloween' is a American-based horror film from 1978. The film was based in Haddonfield, Illinois. The film is the first installment in the Halloween movie franchise. According to Wikipedia, 'Halloween was produced on a budget of $325,000 and grossed $47 million at the box office in the United States', which makes it very successful.

The pumpkin with a light in it symbolises Halloween, and the zoom in on the pumpkins intensifies the opening, and makes the audience quite nervy, which is related to the horror genre of film.  When the pumpkin fades out there are small children singing and the last words they say is trick or treat. Using little children portrays innocence, but you can't help but feel that this innocence may go against them in the film. After that they show the outside of the house the camera is a handheld sub pov which is shaking to make it look exactly like it looks we are the killer. As the killer is walking around the house you can hear owls in the background to add a realism to the scene, but at the same time it sounds quite cautious. The house is detached which makes it look like any normal surburban house, but there is a huge focus on it which suggests this house will have a big role to play in the film. The sudden screech and ambient sound of the breathe of the killer makes the audience quite nervous and quivery. As he has eye contact with his victim she is humming to herself which portrays she is happy, but as this is a horror and he is a killer, this of course is about to change.  There is a long-take which indicates that no editing is going on, which is good as it makes the film more realistic, and the diegetic whistling sound is the same a owner would call its dog, which is giving the women animalistic imagery of being a dog. The reverse Crane shot in shows we are shocked to find is a boy, which would shock the audience, as he is indeed the killer

Moodboards showing different Genres:

'A mood board is a type of poster design that may consist of images, text, and samples of objects in a composition of the choice of the mood board creator. Designers and others use mood boards to develop their design concepts'- http://www.moodshare.co/

These images fit in the Horror Genre because they provide a negative emotion to the audience such as fear and anger.

These images fit in the Rom-Com Genre because they provide a position emotion to the audience such as laughter, smiles, but sometimes it can bring the emotion of tears.

These images all fit in to the Thriller Genre, as they provide suspense and excitement to the audience.

Without these attributes, a Horror wouldn't be a Horror, a Rom-Com wouldn't be a Rom-Com, and a Thriller wouldn't be a Thriller.

Contrasting and Comparing the opening of a RomCom

How to lose a guy in 10 days:
In the titles, there are cutouts of fashion magazines which indicates that the film is a Rom-Com. Also, the pop music represents its a bubbly film related to love because most pop songs are sung about love. Soft rounded font stereotypes the film to be aimed at the female audience. There is a stereotype nowadays of blonde hair girls being quite dumb, but this film contradicts this, as the blonde haired girl plays the role of a smart magazine reporter who works for 'composure' magazine. Magazine reporting is a niche job which suggests the movie is a fantasy to the audience, making her job in New York just a dream.There is an punk rock soundtrack blending in with the characters profile as he is on a motor bike indicating he is quite rebellious, and avoiding a traffic jam indicates he is quite bright. There is a power dressing showing the womens authority over the men. They are at the top of the business ladder, and there is a glass ceiling in jobs, these women are at the top and they can't go any higher.

Just like heaven:

The title logo (Dreamworks) has a non diegetic sound over it, and this sound is an acoustic guitar which portrays it to be quite a calm and romantic film. The titles fade in and the bright colours are similar to the other film. The camera floating down from the sky could be the POV of heaven, and it floats down to this beautiful garden with flowers which could relate to the garden of Eden. There is an anchorage where the text blends with the bright image, and then Reese Witherspoon fades onto the screen. This is because she is the most well known in the film, which gives it a strong identity. The foggy atmosphere could represent fantasy, as many Rom-Coms are. Also, there is a stereotype of women daydreaming alot, and the fog could represent a daydream. The red titles link to love, the heart and romance- most, if not all Rom-Coms have red titles. Both women in the films are intelligent as Reese Witherspoon plays the role of a nurse, Kate Hudson plays the role of a reporter. Both jobs are aspirational. The songs in both films are ironically the same (Lust for Life by Iggy Pop) which is a key comparison we can make. Witherspoon says 'all you have to do is worry about work' which indicates she is career motivated, and can also imply she is single and family isnt important to her. There is a shot which shows the male superiority in the nursing trade though, as the other the shoulder shots shows the manager/head of ward giving Witherspoon a promotion.


 

Christian Metz model of Genre development:

In Christian Metz's book 'Language and Cinema' (1974) he explored the development of Genre film such as Horror and suggested that genres pass through four stages of existence. These are:

- The Experimental
By Experimental we mean the phase of early films which explored and experimented with horror themes in its narritives. Nosferatu and The Cabinet of Dr Caligari are examples of experimental films.

 

- The Classic
By Classic we mean the phase of films which established the narritive conventions of the horror genre in its most successful and defining period. Frankenstein and Dracula are examples of classic films.

 

- The Parody
By Parody we mean films that have mimicked the horror genre in some comical way. Scary Movie, Abbot and Costello meet Frankenstein and Carry on Screaming are all examples of parody films.

 

- The Deconstruction
By Deconstruction we mean films which have taken the generic elements of the horror genre and amalgamated them in to varying sub genres. Scream, The Sixth Sense, Se7en and the Blair Witch Project are all examples of deconstruction films.

  


There can be limitations using the Christian Metz model of Genre development. For example, where would you position films like Psycho and the Slasher films of the late 1970's and 80's. Also, where would films like Halloween and Friday the 13th fit in the development model?

Task 2: Research into existing products

At the start of the movie, there is a pre title sequence. This could represent that the past has some part to play in the future in this film. The location is an orchestral theatre, this indicates that characters in this movie will be middle-class. The red and white titles then combine to signify the rivalry of good and evil. Red relates to blood, whereas white represents purity. The dark background and chunky font give this movie and identity of horror.

There is an establishing master shot so we can see all the theatre, and the caption screen gives us important information on where this scene is set. On this occasion, it is set in Maryland in the US. The low angle shot shows the control of the composer over the orchestra, this is otherwise known as a juxtaposition. Then a crane shot focusses upon the protagonist. The body language of the protagonist is concerning, as there is a slight tilt of the head. You could relate this to the way a predator looks at its prey. The dress of the audience is very formal as they are wearing suits and ties, which also indicates that they are of middle social class. The pillars of the house and the fact it is white makes the house stand out from the rest, which could signify that something is peculiar. There is an establishing master shot so we can see all of the dining room, and we get the impression that its quite an old and elegant house, in fact it feels more like we are in a London mansion, rather then a Maryland house. In the dining room scene, the word 'herd' can be recognised. This is victimous speech, and when Lector says 'I'd like to see you on my couch', this is a foreseeing of what could happen. After Special Agent Graham arrives there is a period of dialogue exchanged, concluding in Lector patting SA Graham's shoulder. This shows compassion and a bond that is going to be corroded soon. After the stabbing, there is a low angle shot looking up at Hannibal, showing his dominance and control in the situation. But this is lost, when a two shot shows that they are both as powerless as eachother. But, you could argue that Hannibal is still of higher rank and importance than SA Graham, as he collapses on to a table whereas SA Graham collapses on the floor, so Hannibal is still higher up. The non-diegetic sound of an orchestra builds up to a crescendo showing 'The Red Dragon' title.

The titles fade in which hooks the audience in, as its quite curious and mysterical. The classical music is synchronized to the edits and cuts, making it more seamless. The newspaper articles make the film more realistic, and it has been used to identify what has happened after the dinner table scene. The censoring of certain article words and images makes it look like the creator of the scrapbook has taken offense.  On one page, there is an image of a young boy but you can not see his face as the creator of the scrapbook has scratched it off. This could portray that the creator cant bare to look at himself when he was younger because he has changed in a negative way, or it could just imply death. The images change with the tempo of the music, making it more seamless. There is an extreme close-up of the images in the scrapbook, so we can see the fibre of the image, which could indicate the creator pays attention to detail, like we learn later on in the film when Special Agent Graham realises all the killings that have occured have been carefully planned out in detail. Its clear that the person making the scrapbook admires Hannibal Lector, as he has cut out or scribbled words out that he doesnt want to see that involve Hannibal, and there are many images of him. 

(The Red Dragon Trailer)

Preliminary Task:

In our preliminary task we were asked to produce a short film that consisted of the 180 degree rule, match-on-action, a shot reverse shot, an eyeline match and a dialogue exchange between 2 characters. The 180 degree rule was very important in our video, because it gives the audience an insight to what characters are in what position, and then enforcing the 180 degree rule will make sure these characters stay in this position:

 
Here is a diagram of the 180 degree rule. As you can see, if the camera is placed on the right hand side, the character in yellow is on the left side of the screen and the character in blue is on the right. If you change this and put the camera on the left, the characters are in opposite positions. This would confuse the audience, so that is why the 180 degree rule is important.

A Shot reverse Shot is two or more clips that focus on two different people. A shot reverse shot is often used to show conversation between two people looking in opposite directions.

Here is an example of a Shot Reverse Shot (SRS):


Match On Action
A Match On Action shot is 'either an action commenced in shot A is completed in shot B, or an action in shot A is mirrored by an action in shot B'.


An example of a Match on Action.

Finally we were asked to incorporate an Eyeline match. An Eyeline match is when you can clearly see in a scene that two people are directly looking at eachother.


An Example of an Eyeline match.

We then used iMovie to edit the clips we had created to form a 2 minute clip that ran smoothly, and contained all the criteria we were asked to include: