Analysed horror slasher clip - Halloween 1 (1978)
In the opening scene in Halloween 1 (1978), Michael is wearing a colourful clown costume which clowns can be perceived as sinister and evil which is disguised by the bright colourful stripes which describes the child who is Michael who is evil inside but due to him being a child who are perceived as innocent and good, it disguises his true inner self just like the clown costume because the director chose this as it perfectly represents Michael of that evil antagonist in which is being portrayed.
The performance of Michael was that he showed no emotions when his parents took his mask off, even though he had just killed his sister, which is seen as shocking and upsetting in which Michael just had a blank face which shows that he has no emotions and emphasizes how evil he is and shows traits of a psychopath.
Michael's hair is blonde in which the colour blonde is perceived as innocent which due to Michael's actions he is not innocent and it is a binary opposite as he is evil and psychopathic which the colour of his hair is a disguise to his true character.
The setting is at night which brings a cold, chilling atmosphere to the audience and by it being dark it shows evil and sinister elements as night is where evil is lurking as most sins and crimes are committed at night and this brings anticipation to the audience as they may surmise that something bad is going to be committed.The trees are leafless which shows that the season is Autumn which autumn is Halloween season which adds to the sinister atmosphere by Halloween being the occasion to celebrate the dead in which is subliminally telling the audience that death is the hidden message, which is hidden in the surroundings and possibly some characters may face death in the near future as this leads to anticipation and dread to the audience. The house is big and white which is dimly lit, this shows that death is near due to the colour white symbolizing death and by the size being big shows that a problem will arise in the future that will be intense and cause harm to others,and by the house being dimly lit it has a sinister feel to it which adds to the atmosphere, and also the dim lighting could suggest that a sinister force is upon the victims within that house which is clouding over them. This will lead to anticipation and dread to the audience as they may surmise that something bad is going to happen.
For camera work, the main shot used was the point of view shot of Michael which the director chose to use this camera shot because the audience can see the world and possibly the thoughts and emotions of the antagonist.This also adds to the fear of the unknown as the audience does not see what the antagonist looks like but only small details such as the sleeve of what the antagonist is wearing, but mostly it was used to shock the audience as it tries to compare the antagonist's thoughts and ideas to the audience in which the antagonist's actions was of harm where the audience would not do that and possibly feel the evil and sinister aura of the antagonist, but overall the point of view shot was used to shock the audience as when the camera shot cuts to a mid-shot it shows the audience that the antagonist was a young boy which the audience would not expect that those actions being made from the antagonist was coming from a young boy. This straight away sets an unsettling tone to the start of the film which engages with the audience as they hooked to what is going on and will carry on watching more.
For sound, crickets can be heard in the background which this creates that ambient night time feel and also can suggest that it is the sound of conservation which indicates that all of society are a sleep or are not nearby as you ca not hear any human activities but just crickets which shows some isolation as no one can help the victims if they are in trouble which adds to their vulnerability and this makes the audience feel tense as they are vulnerable to any antagonists. A sting was used when the bedroom light went out which makes the audience startle and this shows that metaphorically that good is taken away but evil has just started as light is good and dark is evil. The sting at the start sets the tone for the rest of the film straight away and eerie piano music starts to play which is used to build up tension in a sinister tone and makes the audience surmise that something bad is going to happen in the near future which makes the audience feel dread and feel tense. The sound of the antagonist's breathing behind the mask was loud which the audience can feel and sense that he is about to do something bad, which is shown through the intensity of his breathing as he is preparing to do something extreme and through his adrenaline which will increase his breathing. The sound of his deep breathing creates an unsettling feel for the audience as it may send chills down their spine .
For lighting, there was various lighting as when Michael was in the house it was dark and had blue, purple and white tone to it which is used to create cold feel and atmosphere which also symbolizes death and evilness but when Michael's sister's boyfriend walks down the stairs it has a warm lighting which shows innocence but when Michael walks up the stairs there is dark lighting in the hallway and rooms which suggest that there is an evil aura which is being carried by Michael and suggests that something bad is going to happen which creates anticipation for the audience as they may insinuate that he is going to do something bad to his sister.
The narrative used was Todorov's narrative theory of the five stages of a narrative in which there is an equilibrium everyone is okay, a disruption to the equilibrium where the antagonist kills one victim which will therefore lead to the rest of the five stages which is the recognition of the disruption of the equilibrium, an attempt to repair the damage, and then a new equilibrium.
There was many codes and conventions throughout this clip, which there was the horror sub-genre horror slasher as slasher horrors have a psychopathic killer whom wears a mask to cover his identity which Michael wore a clown mask for the purpose of trying to scare his sister and also killed his sister , another convention is that Michael was holding a knife which is a convention in slasher horrors as knifes are used to inflict a slow and painful death upon victims, another convention used is the setting was set at night to create a sinister tone and was also set within a house to make the victims inside the house feel isolated and trapped (creates more vulnerability for the potential victims), There was the character of the promiscuous girl who was Michael's sister who was killed first within the film which is the code and convention of a horror slasher, another convention is the eerie music and stings being used which the eerie music was the eerie piano theme which was played when Michael was about to kill his own sister and the sting was used when the bedroom light seen from outside was turned off which is to startle the audience, also another convention was that the main camera shot used was the point of view shot of the killer/antagonist to see through the killer eyes to create an unsettling feeling to the audience which the audience can see the point of view shot of Michael and the sequence of events leading to killing his sister, and the last convention seen in this clip was the iconography of the colour white which is seen/ perceived as death which there was lots of the colour white used such as the big house which was white to emphasize death to the audience which the audience could surmise that someone is going to die which creates anticipation and tension for the audience.
For my main task, I would use some of these codes and conventions such as the point of view shot of the antagonist as the audience can see through the perspective of the antagonist and also can create an unsettling feel to the audience as they can see the sinister thoughts and ideas of the antagonist and the audience cannot see the antagonist's appearance which reinforces the phobia of the fear of the unknown, another convention i might use is stings which startles the audience and sets the tone for the rest of the film, i will also use the convention of the setting being at an isolated place such as a school or college instead of a house to appeal to an teenage audience, another convention i might use is iconography of the genre such as the colours black, red, and white to reinforce the sinister meanings to the audience and to include a blade/weapon which the killer holds to emphasize that it is going to be used on a potential victim and cause a slow painful death which the audience will experience dread, tension, and fear due to the build up and anticipation.
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