Discuss How Genre Is Communicated In Halloween

Halloween: An introduction.

"Discuss how genre is communicated, whilst simultaneously confirming audience expectation and offering gratification. (Halloween)"

Halloween was originally a movie directed by John Carpenter in 1978. It is one of the most renowned original Horror Movies. It as also been considered as a 'slasher' movie regardless of the actual amount of violence and gore, or little of, involved in production.

The opening credits do a lot in establishing the mood and giving a slight indication of the genre of the movie. A pumpkin is used, indicating that the movie is related to the time of Halloween. Its position on the screen also generates a sense of uneasiness for the audience. The flickering candlelight also relates to the background music, impulsive, frantic and edgy, giving the whole introduction scene an absolute sense of great mystery and fright, implying more to the genre of horror. The text also fades out into red, a connotation of blood and a typical property of the horror genre.

Suddenly after the credits, there is a silence. This is a shock to the chronology of the film as it was unexpected, and you re thrown into a POV shot. This is effective in the sense that the audience becomes the protagonist at that moment, thus provoking eagerness and a new found awareness of detail, whilst holding suspense to the role the audience is actually playing. This is another foundation property of horror.

Most of the setting is hidden with an effective use of chiaroscuro, again adding to the suspense and adding another property of standard horror.

As we progress through the movie we notice that the sound volume increases, giving the movie an 'edge' or making the audience aware that something is about to happen. This is effective with creating anxiety, fitting to the newly established genre