Analysis of the Opening Sequence of "Halloween" .

Shot 1

In the beginning of the credits the audience is introduced to an image of a pumpkin, the camera movement slowly comes closer and closer to the viewer. In this frame the pumpkin has an equal size to the lettering, this is done to portray to the audience that the pumpkin is going to be a important part of the film. Further on it progressively takes over the whole screen and grabs the viewer’s attention automatically. The sound that is accompanying this frame is a non-diegetic sound of a piano playing creepy notes to create and build up tension furthermore into the opening Sequence.

The black background is contrasted with the use of orange on the writing and the pumpkin; from these codes and conventions the audience can tell it’s going to be a film about Halloween. The colour orange is a typical colour for Halloween as it has connotations of fright, terror and evil. The black background denotes mystery and emptiness. The the left side of the pumpkin seems to fade into the black background, making it seem secretive and unknown, the pumpkin has a smile carved into it which has connotations of spookiness. Pumpkins are made to be scary but it has a smile making it feel like a mixed emotion.

Throughout the opening sequence the candlelight in between the pumpkin is flickering, representing a ghostly flicker of lights turning on and off. It makes the audience focus on the features of the pumpkin and gives a glow to the lettering as there isn't any other lighting involved in this frame. 

Shot 2

This is a close-up shot of a young lady on a Halloween night, as you can see this close-up is used to emphasise her emotional state. The camera also zoom's in on her face to see specific detail, as you can see her face is covered in blood and there's hockey puck in her mouth, these signs could suggest that she's in a painful situation. We can also see that the girl is blonde and in stereo typical code and conventions this sign could suggest that she is vulnerable which could be the reason that she is portrayed in this way. Her facial expressions are mixed on one side from her eyes and eyebrow she looks like she need's help and she's trying to tell the viewer something, but because of the hockey puck she is not able to. On the other hand her dis portioned mouth suggests she is trying to scare everyone on purpose.

The colour scheme used in this frame are mainly different shades of oranges and reds, these colours have an overall meaning of horror fro example orange is the typical colour of Halloween which again links back to the name of the film Halloween, whereas red has connotations of blood, fear and death. Also there is quite ghostly effect with a glow from the lights highlighting the blood on her face, it fits in with the typical effect of telling a horror story at night.

The music in the background is non-diegetic orchestra music, it gives an intense beat and feel to the audience, it also helps builds up tension as we zoom in on the girls face. There are typical horror genre sounds used they consist of screechy-ness violins, these types of sounds are good to create a spooky atmosphere and to also build up tension as to what might happen in the next frame

Shot 3:

The opening of Halloween starts with a long shot, which establishes the building and the setting of this part of the film. Within this establishing shot we see that the time of day is night and everything is dark, this has connotations to the generic themes of a horror film, the darkness symbolises horror, mystery and fear. This works together with the non-diegetic music to create fearful tension within the audience. The sound switches from non-diegetic music, to diegetic sound which is dialogue. This use of diegetic sound over the establishing shot draws the audience into the film.