Δευτέρα 27 Αυγούστου 2012

Creating the slasher sub genre the production of Halloween


The shooting location of Halloween



According to script the plot of Halloween is about a family in Midwest states and especially in the fictional city of Heddonfield Illinois. However the Halloween film was shot almost entirely in Southern California. The legendary Mayers house was filmed in South Pasadena and the Halloween film sequence was filmed in Hollywood and especially on Sunset Boulevard. There was also another obstacle the production of the film began in May 1978 and the Halloween story line is about the autumn of 1978. John carpenter had to make Southern California in the spring look like a Midwestern town in autumn, actually it was a very difficult task. John Carpenter avoided to shoot palm trees and painted fake leaves were blown along the streets with a fan used to create the autumn illusion.

The shooting format of Halloween film

John Carpenter took advance of the latest technological innovations of the period and he filmed Halloween by using a widescreen format. Actually the widescreen format was also another one factor to Halloween success. John Carpenter by using a widescreen format create an illusion to audience that villain was always behind them. Halloween was like a fairground ride, a ghost train encouraging the audience participation that later became a key part of the slasher popularity.

The Out - of - Sequence shooting of Halloween


Donald Pleasence received $ 20.000 payment for his participation and his availability for the Halloween project was very short and actually all the shooting was adapted on the time schedule of Donald Pleasence.

The Opening Scene of Halloween


Halloween opens with an unforgettable long dolly shot. The source of inspiration for this dolly - shot was the opening Orson Welles’s “Touch of Evil” (1958) and it proved an audacious scene for a such a low budget film.

Point of view (POV) shots


Halloween has a large number of Point of view shots. Latter, POV shots became a recognized trademark for slasher horror movies. I need to highlight that in Halloween the POV shots are related with children characters due to difficulty of working with children , Debra Hill, who had the smallest hands, held the knife during the most of POV shots.

The spirit of Halloween


As I have already mentioned  the low budget approach of Halloween the cast and crew were paid minimal wages but everyone mucked in. After Halloween release John Carpenter announced that Halloween was the most fun film he has worked on.


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