Mise-en-scene
The text that appears on the screen as a part of the credits appears first orange and fades into a red color. Orange has the connotation for warning and red has a connotation of danger, so the text is used to warn the audience that they’re about to be whipped into a film containing danger and unpleasant scenes. This helps to get the audience on the edge of their seats.
Sound
At the beginning of the opening sequence creepy, mysterious non-diegetic music started to play using mainly piano’s. This makes the audience feel uneasy and on the edge of their seat, as they are waiting for something to happen. The non diegetic music then intensifies when a pumpkin appears in pitch black surroundings, which implies to the audience the time of year the film is set around and also provides evidence to the title of the film, but also the fact that it’s low in pitch suggests to the audience that there is something wrong. This is a common feature in horror films. However this is a code and convention due to the dark black surroundings, connoting danger, evil and death. All of these aspects are very common in a horror movies. The use of the diegetic sound in the last shot of this opening sequence is used to show the audience that the house is not located in a busy area and that the likelihood of someone going to the house is unlikely. Therefore highlighting to the audience that the person walking towards the house is not going to be expected by the people living in the house, so this creates the enigma code: Do they have good or bad intentions? And are they evil?
Editing
The first shot used is of the credits of a company involved in making the film, at first it appears to be red then turns orange and finally back to red again, connoting fire , anger, blood and danger. This implies to the audience that there will be a threat and danger to the characters in the film, which is a common code and convention of a thriller. This information combined with the music allows the audience to realize that they’re watching a horror film.
Camera
A slow motion zoom in shot is used to get a close up on the pumpkin, as this occurs the non-diegetic sound gets faster and deeper, giving the audience the sense that they are being confronted with a problem they have to face, this further involves the audience and makes them want to watch more. A point of view shot has been used upon the house to highlight that there is no one around, which is a code and convention of a horror movie as the settings used in this genre tend to be quiet and not very busy, this is done so that there is no chance that the characters in danger can get any help. The fact that it’s a point of view shot implies to the audience that someone or something is walking up to someone’s house. This creates the enigma on whether the person or thing is known by the two people in the house or whether they are going to be put under threat because of it.
2020 Film Blog 