Opening Sequence Analysis - Miss Georgiou

The purpose of an opening scene is to engange the audience and create enigma making them want to watch more of the film so their questions could be anwsered. The opening scene is very cruical as it may introduce the main characaters; most likely the antagonist,and provides a clear narrative of what is going to happen so the audience can understand the film. In the post I will be exploring the different types of coventions in thrillers in the opening sequence of 'Hallowen 1978'. This opening scene should include cinematography, sound, conventions and editing.

Narrative 

The narrative of this film's opening scene is about a girl who's spending a night with her boyfriend who eventually leaves her, and her little brother kills her by stabbing her with a knife which is very shocking to see. The opening scene of Halloween includes a young female who is blonde, that is alone in her house with a boy, this is a real life setting which makes the audience relate to what is happening. We know that they're alone from the dialogue said by the boy " we are alone aren't we? ". This creates suspense as the audience don't know if someone else is with there with them, making the audience build a closer relationship with the couple as they're in a isolated place which is a convention for a thriller. Antagonist tend to attack their victims in a abandoned place; which implies that something bad is going to happen, so that the protagonist can't reach out for help nor save themselves. Moreover the narrative is based around the event Halloween, which is conventional to a thriller as it is well known for its frightening aspects that provoke fear and scariness.

Cinematography 

In this opening, throughout the whole scene there is a point of view shot used forming the perspective of the antagonist. The use of this shot allows the audience to connect and get an insight of the antagonist and relate to them as if they were the person walking around. This creates suspense as the identity of the antagonist is not shown, and it makes the audience feel on edge, creating tension as they don't know what is going to be around in the surroundings of the house. This is conventional to a thriller as it does help create several elements of the main elements in thrillers; shock,suspense and surprise making the audience engage more to the film.

Isolated house

In the beginning of the scene, it starts off with a long shot of the house. This technique makes the house look smaller, highlighting the vulnerability and lack of safety of the characters who may be in there as there is low-key lighting. In addition, the long shot emphasis the important of the house and makes the audience feel paranoid and anxious on what is going to happen in this house as it is the only house you can see in the shot. This is conventional to a thriller as antagonists tend to kill in an isolated house which makes the audience feel frightened and relate to the protagonist as they may be watching the film at home and think that this could happen to them.

Editing 

Antagonist walking up the stairs, POV shot

Timing of shots change between the scene, firstly when the antagonist is walking around the house and stairs, there is the use of slow editing. The aim of this technique is to focus and emphasise on the small details around the room whereas if it was fast you wouldn't be able to notice the. The slowness creates suspense as the audience don't know where the antagonist is going and what he's going to do which is conventional to a thriller as it creates enigma. This technique makes the audience build a relationship with the person who is walking around the house because they're the only person we can see, leaving the audience no choice but to relate with them making them feel paranoid on what is going to happen to the character,who is in control of the movements around the house.

Antagonist running down the stairs, POV shot

In contrast the timing of shots change to become more faster as the antagonist runs downs the stairs after killing the protagonist who is the sister. This change suggests that the antagonist is desperate to run away from the scene urgently, and makes the audience relate to them as it is still in a point of view camera shot which makes them feel on edge and panic. Faster editing used in this particular scene is conventional to a thriller as the antagonist usually does run away from the scene quickly so they can't not be seen or go to kill someone else as well.

At the end of the scene a fade editing technique is used; fade is usually used when its the end of a scene or sequence. The purpose of this technique leaves a huge amount of suspense and enigma for the audience as they do not know what is going to happen next. In this scene the fade was used after the father revealed the antagonists identity, who is his son. The fade emphasises the shock and surprise created by this dramatic discovery of the antagonist being a young boy making the audience curious and anxious, questioning how a little boy can be capable of committing such a crime. The fade helps give the audience a breather of the film so that they can relax and reflect on what just happened as they are confused, also it keeps them engage as they would want to see what happens later in the film. This also helps the audience build a closer, sympathetic relationship with the remaining characters as they can relate to them because they're in shock too on what the antagonist has done to the protagonist. Fade is conventional to a thriller as it helps create suspense and tension in the audience because they do not know whats going to happen next as the screen has turned black,making them pay more attention to the film.

Character representation 

Antagonist is a little boy

The first character representation we witness is of the antagonist who is in a hidden identity as it is shot in a point of view camera shot and he is hidden behind a clown mask. The use of the mask is conventional to a thriller as most antagonist tend to hind behind a mask and not reveal their selves as this makes the audience and protagonist more scared of them. However he's real identity does get revealed later on at the end of the scene, when he walks out of the house and the parents remove his masks and are in shock seeing their son holding a knife covered with blood. The outcome of the scene is very unexpectedly as the killer is a young child who did just kill his own flesh and blood brutally with a knife. This makes the audience question the motive of the boy, why he was observing his older sister and why he killed her.

Secondly, the protagonist in this scene was a young female, who was shockingly known by the antagonist who killed her as she shouts out his name in a surprisingly way " Michael " when he creeps up on her holding a knife. The purpose of this was to raise enigma on how the victim knows the antagonist making the audience curious and suspicious.

Protagonist on floor after being attacked

It is very unusual as in thriller films the protagonist is often unknown to their victim however when the killer enters the room, the female is shocked and embarrassed because she is not fully clothed but this changes when the antagonist displays his knife and begins to attack her as she is in pain and shock on why "Michael" is doing this to her.The use of this character is conventional to a thriller as it  shocks the audience because the victim knew the person who was killing her. This created tension and curiosity on why the antagonist would kill someone they knew making them more engage with the film and carry on watching. 

Parents and antagonist look in shock

Lastly were then introduced to two more people in this scene. Where a man and women look at the masked little boy and whilst removing his mask they look in shock. The man says " Michael" which was said by the previous character who was the protagonist who got killed, this suggests that the the man is the father of the child and the little boy killed his sister. This plot twist excites the audience shockingly as you wouldn't expect a child to kill their own sister, this is conventional to a thriller as it makes the audience want to carry on watching and see why a child would do such a thing. 

Conventions 

One very known convention for a thriller is the use of a isolated place/house

Isolated house 

which was shown at the beginning of scene where the camera shows the outside of the home through the antagonists point of view. Isolated places/homes are used regularly in thriller films which is conventional as the protagonist do not have anyone to call for help or no one to run to. This makes the audience feel anxious and weary of themselves, as when they're alone they could think that the same things that happen to the protagonist in the film could happen to them. However this artificial setting cannot relate to the audience as in real life no one would live in a isolated house in the middle of no where by themselves, but this creates shock and surprise elements as the audience do not know what to expect in this unrealistic environment. 

Antagonist holding up knife

Another convention in a thriller is the use of iconography, in this scene it was a knife which is very stereotypical in a thriller film. We see this when the antagonist gets it out of a draw because the camera focuses on this weapon it creates an importance for it and makes the audience suspicious on what its going to be used for. As a knife is a self controlled weapon; unlike guns where the bullets are what hurts the object, the use of this shows that the antagonist is in control and is powerful in the situation and has every intention on using the knife. The reason why knifes are conventional to thrillers is because they are weapons that are easy to access and they have more of a huge impact when used because its a self controlled object. 

Sound

The scene begins with a Non-Diegetic sound of children, talking and laughing at trick or treating.This relates to the theme of the night and the actual film title exaggerating the time of year where fear is dominate and "evil spirits" come out. Non-Diegetic sound in this scene is conventional to the thriller genre as it connects with the theme of Halloween making it seem more realistic. The use of the children's voices is conventional to a thriller as it foreshadows the characters including in the scene; a little boy who is the antagonist. The use of this makes the audience relate to the characters that are going to come as they may have children of their own or younger siblings. This makes the audience feel tensed and worried, questioning whether children are included in the film, are they going to be harmed and what is going to happen to them. 

Lights are on

Furthermore, non-diegetic sound is used in this scene when the camera looks up at the top window where the couple are. Before the lights are on in the room where the window, here it is silent and nothing is going on.This builds tension as the audience do not know whats going to happen.

Lights are turned off

However it changes when the lights are switched off as a diegetic screechy sound appears when that happens making the audience jump as it is shocking as it is sudden after the silences.Also it is a loud, striking noise that could symbolises a persons scream hinting that something terrible is going to happen in that room. This suggests that this is a warning for the audience that the two characters upstairs in the room could be in danger as they are vulnerable. It even shows that they're possible victims of the antagonist creating a closer relationship with them as you sympathise them as they are unaware of what is going to happen to them. This sound is conventional to a thriller as it is a dramatic noise that makes the audience more alert of the scene, also it makes the audience feel nervous and anxious on what is going to happen.

Many would think that silence isn't a sound technique, however it is and it is used in this thriller opening. Silence is used when the is panning and zooming into the couple inside the house. The purpose of this technique is to create suspense and tension as it builds up what could possibly happen in the scene. The anxiety and curiosity is built in the audience making them on edge of their seats and weary on what is bound to happen to the characters indoor and whether they're in danger. Silence is conventional to a thriller as it helps build more suspense,tension and anxiety in the audience because there is no sound supporting the scene making the audience question what is going to happen. Also it helps create a relationship with the two characters indoors because as it makes the audience feel worried and have a gut feeling that something awful is going to approach their way. 

Overall, this particular opening sequence illustrates the conventions of a thriller genre, which make the audience engage more to the film and what to carry on watching even though it is only the first scene. It also produces different types of impacts that effect the audiences thoughts and feelings throughout the whole scene, identifying what the causes where for these emotions 

In summary, this post will assist me with planning on my own thriller opening as it has provided the many different conventions that are use in thrillers in such a limited time. I will consider to use some aspects from this opening such as : isolated places , point of view camera shots, iconography e.g knifes as these will provoke the 3 main elements of thrillers which are shock,surprise and suspense for the audience. Furthermore i have learnt the different types of ways of engaging the audience by using conventions that affect mood, emotions and feelings when creating enigma. I believe that if i reflect back on this piece of research ill make a successful thriller opening that will grab the audiences attention and make them want to carry on watching.