Opening scene analysis- Miss Georgiou

The purpose of an opening sequence is to create the idea of a narrative and to introduce the genre. Also, the opening should interest the audience to make them to want to continue watching. An opening sequence should contain Mise-En-Scene, characters, suspense and an enigma. In this post, I will be analysing the Halloween opening sequence and will discuss the cinematography used, editing, the use of sound, conventions, the narrative and the representation of characters.

Cinematography:
The Point of View camera shot is used when the killer is killing the victim. This specific shot gives the audience an in depth view of the situation and shows how the characters think and feel. The point of view shot is very personal, which could link to the killer's relationship to the victim as we later discover that they are siblings. The point of view shot is typical to a thriller as it used to involve the audience and make the scene look less structured and adds an eerie theme.

Handheld camera work is used when the killer walks through the door. This is used to make the scene more personal and to make the audience feel uneasy, like we are the prey as this killer is in charge. Also, this foreshadows the killers identity as he confidently walks through the house, highlighting the fact that he lives there. This links to a conventional thriller as the handheld aspect causes the killer to seem very strong and a higher and more terrifying status as apposed the the victim.

An eye level shot is used when the boyfriend leaves. This causes the audience to worry about his girlfriend's fate as she is upstairs alone as he leaves. Also, the killer is close to him in this shot therefore, we worry about him too. This shot also confuses the audience and foreshadows the brother being the killer as the boyfriend looking straight at the killer, not suspecting a thing. This links to the typical thriller as this shot creates a sense of fear and suspense.

Zooming out is used at the end when the parents and killer are standing outside the house. Zooming out causes the house to now look small, highlighting the fact that the sister is dead inside. As the house and family are now looking small, it could highlight the killers past and that he may kill again. Also, the effect of zooming out shows that family meant nothing to the killer and highlights the death of his sister. This links to the conventional thriller as zooming out can be used to make certain objects look small and to create as sense of misfortune.

Editing:
A jump cut is used when the killer takes the mask off. This could either highlight the end of something terrible i.e the killing of his sister or the beginning of him going on a murdering rampage and the mask being a motif. This further worries the audience and causes the feeling of uneasiness. The jump cut helps the mask signifying danger and the killer taking the mask off causes him to become a child again for when his parents return. This links to the conventional thriller as the editing used helps to show the motif of hidden identity and the killer's thoughts and actions, causing the audience to react to what the see on screen.

Timing of shots is used when the killer goes to stab the victim. The pace was slow but was then picked up as the girl was being stabbed. The slow pace builds suspense and the audience worries for the victim.The picked up pace as the girl is stabbed makes the whole situation worse and makes the girl's death more violent and meaningful. This surprises the audience as the editing was a slow pace before hand.
This links to the conventional thriller as timing of shots is typically used in death scenes and chase scenes to make the mood tense and shocking, making the audience feel the same.

Sound:
Parallel sound is used when the victim screams. Parallel sound means that the sound fits what the audience is seeing. Therefore, we would typically hear screams if a person was being hurt. Furthermore, the audience feels empathy towards the victim and realise how tragic her death is and sense the power in which the killer possesses. This relates to the typical thriller as parallel sound is used to highlight the situation and the significance of the character's death.

Contrapuntal sound is used when the girl is singing. This type of sound is the opposite to parallel. This is used when the sound does not link to what the audience sees on screen. Therefore, we do not expect her to sing before she gets killed. We could also debate that the contrapuntal sound foreshadows the killer being the brother as that is the complete opposite of what we thought would happen. This highlights the lack of safety in her own home and the fact she believes she was safe but she is not and that her brother is the killer. The audience feels uneasy about this as the setting and typical female character it too familiar. The audience is now aligned with the victim as both she and the audience are unaware that her brother is the killer. This links to a typical thriller as the use of different aspects are used to make the audience connect with characters in this case, sound.

Diegetic sound is used when we hear the clock. This creates suspense as the audience
want to know what will happen next and the clock sound creates a nervous and tense atmosphere.The sound of the clock could also mean counting down to her death which makes the audience fear for the victim. This is linked to a conventional thriller as without the sound, the scene would be pointless and would have a lack of effectiveness. This relates to the conventional thriller genre as this certain sound builds suspense and fear.

Conventions:
The dark settings for example the house, signal a lack of hope and loneliness. The fact that the house is dark and the killer is the brother shows a lack of trust and shows the audience that everything isn't as it seems. This relates to a conventional thriller as typically, settings like houses are uses to create a lack of safety or to create a sense of fake normality to the audience. The fact that the setting is dark is also conventional as it adds to the lack of safety and our amount of empathy for the victim.

Another convention used is the use of costume for example, the masked killer. This highlights that the killer's identity is hidden adding a mysterious theme and causes the audience to worry. The characters in the opening sequence act normally towards the character which therefore shows their closeness and can later link the killer to being the victim's brother. This relates to the conventional thriller opening as more often that not the killer's identity is hidden as it adds to the feeling of suspense and would surprise the audience when the killer's identity is found.

Narrative:
The enigma is that the killer is a child as that is surprising and isn't really used in thrillers often. The fact the child is the killer raises different questions and theories for example, the point of view camera work is too high up for the killer to be a child. But, it is most likely that the child was the killer as he is holding the knife at the end, wearing the costume and the characters for example victim's boyfriend, allows him to walk around the house openly. This is conventional to the thriller genre as the enigma is strange and makes the audience want to continue to watch the film once the enigma is presented in the opening sequence.

The mask is used again highlighting the killer's hidden identity. The killer turns out to be the child and when the child wears the mask, the he seems to be taken over. Therefore, the audience would want to continue watching as the mask and child are presented in the opening, therefore the film will follow his story and the audience would want to find out more about him. This links to a conventional thriller as the mask signifies what is yet to come and foreshadows death and a lack of safety and possibly the child finding safety and a wanting to murder people.

Lastly, the setting for the opening sequence is an American, suburban house which we believe will be safe and would portray as sense of innocence. But it does the opposite and creates a sense of false security. This makes us feel sorry for the victim and highlights that everything isn't as it seems. Also, as the house is typical is shows that everything else is the opposite, foreshadowing that the meaning of family means nothing to killer and he goes against it. This is conventional to the thriller genre as the use of a normal setting scares the audience as they may believe that this could happen to them.

Representation of characters:
The use of the couple is stereotypical. They are obliviant to the killer showing their status compared to the killer's as showing a sense of uncertainty and lack of security when the couple are in the house. The are typical to the thriller genre as usually a couple is added in some way or the idea of the romance sub-plot. The male of the relationship knows the killer as he acknowledges him in the hall, foreshadowing that the killer is the girlfriend's brother. The female is the typically pretty and has blonde hair, showing her as being innocent and the typical target.

The parents arrive at the end at the typical American house, which furthermore creates a sense of fake normality as we see that they come home after the killing of their daughter. The parents are confused at the situation as are the audience.

We discover that the boy is the killer which is new to us as he is a child that has just murdered his sister. The killer usually has an air of confidence and brutalness which the boy strangely now needs to possess as the killer. The child wears a stereotypical clown mask, which is ironically childlike and almost shows that he is hiding who he is to his family and the audience and in fact, he is not childlike, he is a killer which confuses the parents at the end. The hidden identity relates to the conventional thriller as the audience and characters which are the parents in this case, are surprises and are left wanting to know who the killer is.

To conclude, from this research I have identified what a good opening sequence to a thriller should include and this research has helped me and influenced me to make my own thriller. I uncovered different micro elements that are extremely important to a narrative such a representation of characters and the belief that characters should be conventional yet unique/interesting to the audience and have a back story.  Also, I now realise what my opening should contain which I didn't really before therefore, I now have a much clearer outlook due to my detailed analysis.