Scream opening

Scream made in 1996 and directed by Wes Craven falls into the slasher horror film genre, it has many codes and conventions to show the audience what genre it is. The introduction has many important features that help build up the film through this genre. Everything in the mise-en-scene, the music, camera shots, plot, setting, edits and characters, all of these create the horror genre in Scream.

As scream lies in a realistic setting everything inside the mise-en-scene must be normal objects, ever thing that is shown in the shots in the opening are all normal items that would be seen in a house (television, books, shelves). Fear doesn't come from these objects themselves, however being realistic it gives the audience a sense of possibility for this to happen. The fear from the opening comes from the telephone knowing that after the first few rings it will be the main threat to the character, she holds it in her hands throughout the opening so the audience knows that she is in danger, however no-one gets to see the killer while she has the phone, this builds up the threat even more not knowing what really is going on. The popcorn also has a significant use, after putting the popcorn on the main focus pulls back the character on the phone and after a while the audience forget it is on, when the popcorn goes off at a silent, tense moment and it startles the viewers.

Like all horrors the sound and music that has been used help build up the suspense, in Scream both the diegetic and non-diegetic help to create a creepy atmosphere for the audience. All of the sounds echo showing that the house is empty and that the girl is all alone and vulnerable. The phone tone has been set to have a sudden ring, this is used to repeatedly startle the viewer, after it has been off a few times the audience the tension builds as they know it has became a threat to the girl. The killers voice has gone off the original theme normally found in horrors, it is a high pitched, crazy joker tone, which makes the audience wonder if the killer is really that bad, however sounding a bit psychotic it does give some suggestions. Footsteps are heard throughout the opening, again this shows how the main character is alone but this also starts to build up pace when she moves quicker across the rooms with the faster beats of her steps. The non-diegetic sound that has been added to the opening is very common for a horror film, it has been played with a string instrument to give an eerie effect, also it keeps fading in and out at drastic moments to startle the audience or build up pace and tension when the killer starts to get more threatening.

Each of the camera shots that are used in the opening are used frequently in many other horror films, a medium shot used to follow the main character around the house, this is used to show the characters expression and where she is in the house, this also hides what is in front of her too. The same effect is used but behind her with a long shot, this builds up suspense as the audience expect something to jump out at her also this shows again what room the character is in. Another camera shot that has been used a lot is the close up on significant items like the phone and the popcorn, this shows the audience that something is to happen with these.

From the opening scene the plot gets set out very simply to the audience, the conversation down the phone and the first sight of the main characters boyfriend does suggest how the killing will be done and the victims they will attack. On the other hand there are not any clues what the killer will really be like, in most horrors you normally get to learn a little more about the villain.

A very common setting in horrors has been used in Scream, in the opening the audience find out that the setting is in the middle of nowhere making the female very vulnerable and helpless. The house itself is very large, this is suggested by the echoes left from the sound in the film. Only a few rooms in the house are revealed, the kitchen is shown to emphasise the use of the knives while talking to the killer and for the popcorn, the other room that is used is where the television is, this is where she hides and finds her boyfriend. This location is used alot in slasher horror films as there are alot of places to hide in a large house and the interior normally has the rooms set our ready for a small chase.

The opening title slides in from the bottom and the top, then a pulse starts like a heartbeat with the font flashing red and white, then the whole font goes red and the beats stop. This could suggest a heart stopping quickly telling the audience of the genre. The edits in the film start slow, as if she was being watched, then as the pace picks up with the killer, so does the edits, doing this speeds everything up and makes the part more tense and threatening.

Finally the characters that are shown in the introduction are typical characters in a horror, firstly the female character is shown to be calm and cool, making her clueless at first of the killer. She is a typical damsel in distress who is helpless to what is going on, although the audience think that she will survive the attack from the killer through the quiz, however on the other hand, the boyfriend that has been revealed is the helpless character that the audience knows has no chance of survival, this is easy to tell by the lack of time they have to see him. The final character that is introduced is the killer however he is not seen, the killer is threatening because the audience know he is somewhere around the house but does not know where, the killer is suggested as a joker more then too serious of why the killer kills, in the conversation he talks about other horror films and uses it as a trivia for the lives of the two characters.