Thursday 30 October 2014

Film opening research - Halloween

Film name - Halloween

Age certificate - 18

Production Studio - Compass International Pictures

Distribution Company - too many to list

Director - John Carpenter

Box office takings - $47,000,000 (estimate)

Halloween (1978) Poster
The opening begins in pitch black, with nothing on the screen with the non diagetic ident sound track, which has a very fast pace metronome mixed with a piano tune, gives the feeling of being chased, or something creeping through the dark.

The opening credits start with the production company, tis is shown in its ident typography coloured orange to fit in with the pumpkin style Halloween theme.
The main distribution company is also presented in a simple neutral typography coloured orange.

The main title of the film is presented along side the director to show it as his creation, the title is shown in a sharp vamp-uric lettering style, this works with the name of the title as it adds to the theme of Halloween.

The score escalates as a ominous pumpkin is shown at a eye level extreme long shot, the pumpkin has been lit and it glows in a traditional way, this leaves the audience feeling uneasy as it matches with the non digetic sound track, the pumpkin is the only object presented throughout the opening and is shown as quite roughly made, for example the eyes are out of align and are ruggedly carved to make it look as if crafted by a child, this has a disturbing effect on the audience.

The main cast is presented in their order of appearance in the film, and each actors/actress's name is presented with the character they play, the actors/actress's name in emphasised in bold typography, this is so its presented as important to the audience, the transition between each star's name is a simple fade in fade out.

As the casting continues the score escalates and the camera slowly zooms in towards the pumpkin, this increases the tension towards the audience, it continues to zoom in to the top right of  the pumpkins face to a extreme close up, this adds to the effect of the pumpkin staring into the audience giving the feeling of evil and tension.




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