Mise en Scene// Halloween- Maddie Quirke

Horror/Thriller- Halloween

The genre of the film 'Halloween' is a Horror with a secondary genre being a thriller. The film's description reads 'A psychotic murderer institutionalised since childhood for the murder of his sister, escapes and stalks a bookish teenage girl and her friends while his doctor chases him through the streets'. After looking at the genre and film description we automatically know that the film is going to be thrilling and scary. The front of the DVD also creates fear before even watching the film. 

Setting: Mise en scene is used in the film on various of occasions. One thing that it is used for is the settings and props. In the film it is set in a typical American neighbourhood where you think no bad can happen. However later on in the film this all changes when the main character 'Michael' escapes from the institution that he has been in for 15 years.

Props: The only prop that you see Michael use is a sharp kitchen knife, which is seen as something threatening and dangerous. When you see the knife you know that somebody is either going to be killed or injured, showing the film is going to be frightning and maybe gory.

Costume, Hair and Make-up: For the costume the film have gone for a masked man. He wears a blue over all/ jumpsuit, which is typically seen as something you'd wear to a certain job e.g. a mechanic. However an over all can also be worn in an American prison but are usually bright orange, so this shows that the character is dangerous and unstable. The film takes advantage of using a simple costume that can really create many different and elaborate thoughts and feelings towards it, creating a scary and creepy atmosphere. He also wears a plain white mask which seems simple and normal but as a character it is presented as a psychotic murderer. This becomes more scarier and as a typical white colour we'd associate it with innocence, however in this case it can create the sense of evil, which he is. 

The film chooses not to wear make-up but instead uses the white mask. His hair is brown and slick back which doesn't create an affect on the audience but overall the way in which Michael is presented really shows the typical scary and creepy serial killer look.

Facial Expressions and Body Language:

Michael's facial expressions stay permanently the same throughout the whole of the film due to the mask that he is weaaring. I think that this has a bigger affect on the audience as they will have a set image of that mask in their mind, that they won't be able to forget. It creates a scarier atmosphere as you don't know Michael's real identity.

Lighting and Colour

The film has a lower budget than other films made today, so the lighting that they used was natural light and artificial lighting for the night scenes. The night scenes featured Michael murdering the main characters friends and then later chasing her in the streets which automatically created

that tense and scary feeling. In various of scenes Michael dissapears and is hidden in the house which creates a bigger affect on the audience as they're waiting for him to jump out, therefore waiting to be scared.

Positioning of Characters/Objects in the frame

In the camera shot to the left you can see a mid shot of the main charcter but a long shot on Michael. You can tell by the positioning of both characters that she doesn't know that Michael is behind her and that she is hiding from him. The relationship between the two characters is that she fears Michael and is trying to get as far away from him, unknowingly aware that he is behind her.