Opening Scene Analysis - Miss Georgiou

I will be researching the conventions within the opening scene of Halloween and how the audience are made aware of these conventions.

One convention within the scene would be the use of hidden identity of the antagonist, this is created through the use of a clowns mask which the killer uses to cover his face and the use of a Point Of View camera angle, which hides the killers face as the audience are seeing the world through the killers viewpoint, the use of hidden identity creates tension as the audience are eager to find out what the killers real identity is. Both masks within the Halloween film could be deemed as disturbing or scary which is traditional when a killer is hiding their identity, this is to create a shock factor as there can often be jump cuts the zoom in directly into the antagonist's face and the mask is can scare the audience even more as it is a motif throughout the film that is intentionally something that is disturbing such as a clown or a disfigured face. A hidden identity is a very traditional feature within thriller films an has remained as arguably one of the most important within the genre, it has remained consistent within films as it has only slightly been affected by advances within technology, as other features such as gore of suspense and the introduction of special effects which meant that several traditional feats of a film where scrapped.

Another convention within the scene is the victim, the victim is blonde and attractive which is extremely traditional within all films in modern days, the convention can be appealing to the male viewers of the film, and the actress has been intentionally cast for not only her acting but her appearance. There is often a romantic sub plot within the films between the protagonist and the victim. The killer could also be conventional as it is portrayed to be a child and children are used in several thriller films as they are seen as non violent and can be disturbing towards an audience. An audience would be able to engage with characters if they are more visually appealing and can distinguish the good people and the bad people within a film as good people in a movie are generally attractive and bad people generally unattractive.    

Within the opening there is a strong use of iconography, the knife within the opening is made a point of interest when the killer grabs the knife out of the drawer, there is a focus shot and the surroundings are blurred so that the only thing that is in good contrast is the knife, the audience can anticipate that the knife will result in somebody being murdered. A knife or blade has always been a traditional weapon used in films as they are violent and can result in several gory ways of death such as decapitation or stab wounds, an audience will always be associate a knife with murder and a murderer. Iconography is important within a thriller film and the use of motifs through thrillers can create an inevitable sense of tension.

Overall this clip uses several conventions familiar to a thriller film and resultantly creates tension and makes the audience engage with characters better.