Halloween is a 1978 independent American horror film, directed by John Carpenter, starring Jamie Lee Curtis in her début fil role, and Donald Pleasence. It is credited as one of the first in a long line of slasher films (Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Nightmare On Elm Street) and was inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. It grossed $47 million at the box office, which is equivalent to $150 million in present day. It is the most profitable independent film of all time.
Mise en Scene:
The credits are an orange text on a black background, which is a colour connotation for Halloween itself, and to the left of the titles there is a pumpkin in the dark that gets bigger as the titles progress. The titles then change from orange to blood red, and finish on a blood red title, which could signify blood and what is about to happen. There is a caption screen then, to set the scene of where they are, and the date and time of the story. The setting becomes very house and there is a shot of a house and a couple sitting inside. We then follow someone around a house as if its there POV and they pick up a mask and wear it. We then look through the mask with this person and enter a room, where a girl is brushing her hair. She is then stabbed and we leave the room, running down the stairs and out through the front door. A car then pulls up and a man speaks to the person who's POV we have been viewing. The shot then flips round and we are in a sense, looking at ourselves and it is revealed that it is a young boy, in a clown outfit who is carrying a large butchers knife. The scene then ends.
Camera Angles
To begin with we have an extreme long shot of a pumpkin, which slowly zooms in to an extreme close up. As we get into the actual film, the camera changes to a handheld camera and it stays as one, throughout the whole scene, until the very end. We are also looking through this person's point of view, and it gives the illusion that this person is an adult. There is and extreme long shot of a house. When we have entered the house the person puts on a mask, which makes our vision distorted. As we leave the house, still wearing the mask, a man de-masks us. And there is a reverse tracking, crane shot at a high angle, showing a child with a butcher's knife.
Sound
The music that accompanies the credits, is traditional of a horror film, and is ominous, repetitive and eerie. The caption screen is accompanied by children chanting a halloween song. A high pitched noise, that emphasises that something bad is going to happen sounds, very loudly. As you look in on the couple, the clock is ticking and then chimes, as if time has run out. The ominous, high pitched sound starts again, as we make our way through the house. A girl is humming which represents innocence. Volume builds to a crescendo as the girl is stabbed, and then the sound stops and church bells sound, in the distance. You can then hear footsteps, and an increased breathing rate as we go back through the house, and outside. A man then says "Micheal?" and a high pitched sound breaks out once more, to increase tension.
Editing
The editing is continuous and seamless.
