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First person POV in Halloween

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from Halloween (1978)
Created by John Carpenter
Posted byAla' Diab

An interesting use of POV to put the spectator inside the head of a killer

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Halloween 1st Person POV

by Steve Anderson

Comments on the use of first-person camera in the opening scene of John Carpenter's Halloween

This scene from John Carpenter's Halloween offers a rare instance of extremely effective use of a first-person camera to show the brutal murder of the main character's sister. Now a cliche of Hollywood slasher films, the shaky, hand-held POV was accentuated by masking around the image that was supposed to depict the mask worn by the killer. Whereas first person POV is ordinarily thought to distance spectators from the action on screen, Halloween places its audience in the uncomfortable subject position of both voyeur and murderer.

Copyright 2010, by the Contributing Authors. Cite/attribute Resource. ironman28. (2009, April 08). Halloween 1st Person POV. Retrieved July 31, 2010, from Critical Commons Web site: http://criticalcommons.org/Members/ironman28/commentaries/halloween-1st-person-pov. This work is licensed under a No Copyright; No Rights Reserved.