Textual Analysis - Opening of Halloween (1978)

Textual Analysis of opening of Halloween (1978)


Before we even see any footage from the actual film, we have a two-minute induction sequence of title credits. The only Mise-En-Scene there is, is a vicious looking pumpkin. Slowly throughout the sequence we zoom into the pumpkins face. This and the Title itself already provides the audience with enough information, to establish what the movie is about. The fonts in the title credits all start of orange, symbolising the pumpkin, again representing the idea of Halloween. But what’s interesting is once appearing orange, they gradually fade into red. When relating to the horror genre, the audience always associate red with the idea of blood, envy, gore and death. So this simple yet purposeful font colour, now presents the true meaning of this movie. Yes it's to do with Halloween, but not with how we usually interpret the occasion, this time there is blood and death. So, without seeing any footage of the film the audience can already begin to raise questions. A great use of enigma codes which is exactly what the movie intends to do.


The scene starts off with an establishing shot of a house in the night; there is a jack-o-lantern which shows that it is Halloween. The camera starts to pan around the house and the movement is as if someone is waking, so it is a point of view shot. The director uses this shot to make the viewer feel more involved and curious about the scene. From the way this is filmed the audience would know that they are watching the film through the eyes of a killer or criminal. There is very low lighting in the scene which creates suspense as it makes the audience feel like something bad is going to happen as it suggests the house is occupied. However, someone confronting the house could connote danger as they could be disrupting the equilibrium , also the low key lighting use around the house makes it the centre of attention, almost as if nothing else is important at this point but this house, connoting its significance.The only sound is diegetic ambient background noise, this makes the scene feel more realistic and create suspense. The camera stops in front of a window and shows that the killer is watching a couple make out on the sofa. Once the couple go upstairs the killer watching them goes back to the front of the house. The pace of the scene is quite slow which adds to the suspense and creates a realistic feel for the audience.



Music is a massive input, in this opening scene. For about the first minute, we’re greeted by absolute silence, this builds tension and prepares the audience for something to make them jump, stereotypical of a horror film. As assumed a high-pitched non-diegetic sound then shocks the audience without their being any action within the movie. In a way the film is now toying with you, there hasn’t been any gore/death but with this sharp sound effect we are already on the edge of our seat. After this we then begin to engage in the track, for a horror movie I found the music very loud and obvious, however similar to Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Psycho’ the music isn’t subtle, they blast it in a way that resembles the antagonist themselves, they don’t sneak around, they don’t attempt to hide, they simply go in loud and fierce. This link between antagonists and music is a technique directors don’t seem to use enough, one I believed worked very well in this opening.



As well the music was very repetitive, once it started there were no pauses. Throughout the build up the only thing that would alter would be the pace and pitch of the music, also with constant outbursts of high-pitched sound effects, making sure the audience are still fully engaged. When approaching his sister, with every step Michael takes, the chord goes a note lower, once again not the usual approach to the penultimate climax in the horror genre but once again it's purposeful, as these low monotonous chords are symbolising death, we suspect Michael’s sister isn’t going to last much longer.



For editing at the beginning we have a zoom which is used to get closer to the house to again signify a person getting closer to the house which shows an audience that something might happen , this attracts to the target audience that likes the building of suspense , so typical horror and thriller lovers usually at the age of 15-24 , also the narrative structure used is a linear structure as the opening shows as well as my knowledge of the rest of the film, the story unfolds in chronological order so beginning to end.



Mise-en-scene is very effective in this opening. The first character who is seen clearly and is focused on is a child wearing a clown costume, which links in with the film title Halloween, goes with the typical convention of young children dressing up on Halloween, the bright colours of blue, red and yellow connote different things as red can be seen as blood and danger whereas blue is a calming colour also at this point the audience is unaware as clowns can be represented as bad or good. The use of props are also important such as, the knife was held by the person of the POV shot we experienced. Therefore, the audience expected it to be a murderer, so would have expected a full grown man. However, when we saw the ending of the opening you see it is a child holding this knife which is a counter type, attracting the audience to watch the rest of the film now, due to being intrigued by this unusual event. The lighting begins as low key with emphasis on the white house centre frame which looks like it is glowing, the lighting connotes it being night time at this point. It lastly goes to low key as the setting is inside a house and there is no artificial light, this is used to create an effect as there is action between the antagonist and what looks like the protagonist.


When the light goes out in the room upstairs, non-diegetic high pitched music starts to play, this music creates tension and would cause the audience to be on edge because the sound was so sudden. The killer then goes round to the back of the house and when the killer enters the house, the music changes to create this suspense. The killer turns on the light and grabs a knife from a kitchen draw, whilst this is happening the camera loses focus, which is typical from a point of view shot, as it adds realism into the scene. The way the killer holds the knife is also stereotypical in horror movies as it makes the character look powerful and scary. You can partially see what the killer is wearing and later on in scene you see that it is a clown costume. This again is another typical thing you see in a horror movie, as the fear of clowns is very common and they are usually seen as evil too. As the killer walks through the house you hear the voices of the couple and the boyfriend is walking down the stairs. This would make the audience feel tense as they might think the killer is going to be seen or attack the young man. But as the boyfriend doesn’t notice him and leaves the house, the killer then continues his way through the house by going up stairs.


The sound of a clock starts when the killer walks upstairs, this added further tension and increases the pace. It would make the audience think that something is about to happen. You can hear the young woman singing which shows that she hasn’t noticed the killer’s presence yet, it also shows her innocence. The killer also picks up and puts on a clown mask; this would put the audience on edge as the mask makes it hard to see what’s going on. The killer walks into the bedroom and we see the young woman again but this time naked and brushing her hair. The fact that she is naked makes her look weak and vulnerable. The woman finally notices the killer and shouts “Michael!” which shows she knows the killer. He then stabs her multiple times; this would make the audience feel shocked. You can hear Michael breathing heavily which works really well with the POV. He then runs down the stairs and out the house and you can see a car pulling up in the driveway. The parents come out of the car and the dad says Michael. At this point the camera changes to show that Michael is in fact a child, which is a complete counter type and shock. This is a shock because children normally represent innocence and love. More lighting is used in this shot to show that the killer has been exposed and caught.


Lastly something very rare in horror is a such a long continuous shot, even once the murder has taken place we are still in the P.O.V shot of Michael. Despite expecting this to happen, the audience are still full of fear, the main act has now ended but the music still carries on being very loud. Music in my opinion is the scariest aspect to this scene, it may be repetitive but it works effectively, throughout the opening the audience are on edge simply because the music doesn’t allow you to rest. Its different but it works very well in this scene.