Conventions of a thriller film within Halloween - Miss Georgiou

I am going to be discussing how the audience are informed of the genre of the film through the conventions used within the opening sequence from the film 'Halloween'. Conventions are the typical elements that make the audience aware of what genre the film is, typical conventions within the thriller would be things such as suspense and death.

One of the conventions used within the opening sequence that informed the audience of the genre was the dark, quiet setting of a large house which was shown at the very begging of the sequence. Low key lighting was also used in link to the setting, this gave the audience an idea of the thriller genre as it set a erry atmosphere and an element of enigma. Being in a dark, large house on halloween night would scare the audience as they could relate to this type of situation and the low key lighting used creates a sense of mystery as shadows are visible in the shots, this kind of enigma would be feared by most viewers. This is because they cannot clearly see the characters identity or intentions through body language.

Another convention within the opening sequence of Halloween was the loud, fast music which was used when the killer was walking up the stairs before he killed his vicim. The music was used to create excitement and build up adrenaline for the audience as they could tell something bad was going to happen. As the killer became closer to the victim, the music became faster and louder, this effect is used to create an unstable atmosphere therefore a bigger shock was made once he started to murder the girl. The music also makes the victim seem even more vunreble to her death, as the audience could all predict her murder however she was oblivious to it.

The killer had his identity covered with a mask, this is another convention of a thriller as it is a use of enigma. Not knowing who the killer is creates a lot of suspense and mystery which keeps the audience entertained and interested in carrying on watching the film. The enigma started when the killer was watching the girl through the window of the house, the shadows from the dark setting do not allow the audience to see the killers identity. Once the killer is approaching the girls room he picks up  mask from the floor and puts it on, it seemed as if the killer was being taken over by the mask and it gave him a motive to kill his own sister.

Iconography is also another convention that was used within the opening sequence, as the killer approaches the house he opens a draw and takes out a knife which he uses to murder his sister with. The representation of the knife is death and danger, which is what is used within all thrillers. While the killer is walking through the house with the knife, the audience become aware of his intentions and this creates suspense.