The Reimagined "Halloween," Part 3, High and Low Cameras

The third of four posts looking at the cinematography and themes of Rob Zombie's "Halloween." Read Part 1 and Part 2.

Another technique used by director Director Rob Zombie and cinematographer Phil Parmet for "Halloween" was their camera placement for certain shots. Not only did they place the camera very close to the ceiling, but they used wide enough lenses capture the ceiling in such a way that it dominated the frame. This technique was primarily used to add unease to establishing shots (including an inverted framing, with the camera low, framing the floor in Smith's Grove), but it was also used in the nail-biting scene of Laurie hiding inside the ceiling of the Myers' house. In that case, the ceiling isn't simply negative space to fill the frame, it's actually masking where Laurie is hiding.


In our final post, we'll look at the filmmakers' framing of faces in "Halloween." Click here for Part 4.