The document provides an analysis of the opening scene and techniques used in the 1978 horror film Halloween. It notes that the film is set in Haddonfield, Illinois to make the small town setting feel more ominous. The opening credits use an 'old styled' font and orange and black colors that set a creepy tone. Iconic music plays during the opening credits along with an image of a carved pumpkin, signifying the themes of Halloween and fear. Through its use of lighting, camera angles, props, and facial expressions, the film establishes the technical and symbolic codes typical of the horror genre.

1. HORROR – HALLOWEEN
(1978)
Daisy McDonald

2. LOCATION
• The plot is set in the Midwestern town of
Haddonfield, Illinois
• The setting gives a direct approach and feel to
a community that we have yet to learn about.
• Makes it scarier at it is based on a town which
could be easier for a horror figure to be seen.

3. AAPPEARANCE
The general appearance from the opening scene
is mainly themed around typical ‘Halloween’
The colours are orange and black which presents
darkness and the vibrancy of orange in
comparison to this.
The opening credits are ‘old styled’ which gives
the film a creepier effect straight away.

4. MISCELLANOUS
• In the opening credits of the film, the background
music is iconic and high pitched, with sudden
changes to the tone, This links to the film title
and the general meaning of Halloween and the
fear of it.
• A pumpkin is also alongside the text which is also
a key focus for the audience as the carving is
fearsome and compliments the film title.

5. THE SIGNIFIERS AND SIGNIFIED
• From the opening scene, there are a lot of semiotics
which the audience can interpret in various ways, for
example; The carved pumpkin is the most iconic
denotation linked to Halloween, it could be seen as
creepy, autumnal due to its vibrant colour and iconic.
The use of this in the opening scene is clever as it gets
the audience thinking and linking signifiers to the title
and film.
• The black background used could also be there to
represent the boldness and harshness of the film and
the title, black is a very mature colour and could also
be there to contrast the autumnal colours clearly to
further present the opening scene of the film.

6. TECHNICAL CODES
• The main technical codes in Halloween is the lighting, because it is under the
horror genre, dark lighting is key to set the mood and theme of the film, because
there is a murder villain involved in the plot and the main focus is on him, in order
to create a scarier representation of him and the film plot, the lighting is dark,
dramatic and moody.
• The focus in the film is selective, mainly focusing on the killer and the victim, and
tends to ignore other parts of the film, just to jump straight into the point.
• The props used is the iconic knife the killer uses as his weapon, because it is a
simple yet effective item, it creates more of a dramatic feel to the scenes and the
film as a whole.
• There is a variety of camera angles and shots, including POV; following the victim
around in the eyes of the killer, and also close up shots, giving the audience a more
intriguing version of what is actually happening.

7. SYMBOLIC CODES
• The symbolic codes used in the film is the
characters facial expressions, used to present
their emotions particularly fear and anger as it is
a horror film.
• The characters actions tells us a lot about how
they are feeling, for example screaming shows
distress and riddled with fear, this is normal to
see in a film under this genre as it sets the scene
and a film without these emotions would not
necessarily fit the ‘genre’.

8. BUSCOMBES THEORY
• Buscombes theory suggests that genres
differentiate from each other, The key factors
that make a genre are the technical and
symbolic codes, the location and the
appearance of a film and how it is over all
presented to the audience and how they react
to it.

9. OPENING SCENE
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_tGvktfj
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