Opening Sequence Analysis 2 – Scream

Scream first of all opens up with the creators of the movie and then this suddenly enters into the title with a sudden reveal of the name of the movie and plays an immediate sound of something like thunder which we would associate with fear and this shows us that something bad is going to happen at the start. The background is black and the text is white which creates the atmosphere of a horror as we associate it with darkness and this creates vulnerability in the victim as it obstructs the victims view, the font also adds to the horror theme as it is quite jagged. The text has a blur around it which the audience could also associate with some type of mist or fog which also links to this idea. You then hear a phone ringing which then ties in with the first scene of the movie, still during the title the white text flashes red with the sound of a heartbeat as red usually indicates blood and so therefore this links in with the horror theme we then hear a gunshot sound and the text turns red with a Scream afterwards which we would see as a woman being murdered.

The thick, jagged text that adds a misty/foggy effect with the blur. http://puu.sh/c4At2/fed748254b.png

The text then flashes red on the outside.

The text then turns a dark red colour to indicate death.

The first scene of the movie opens up with a close up of a phone that is ringing and the furniture suggests that we are in somebody’s home. The lighting is high key and is bright to show that it is a homely and comfortable atmosphere. We see a female character answer the phone she is wearing clothes associated with the fashion that was back then and it was the casual type of clothing that we would expect that shows us that she is in the comforts of her own home. We get shown a medium close up shot of her face to show her facial expressions whilst she is talking to the unknown caller on the other end of the line. The man’s voice contrasts to the females, his is a deep voice whereas the female has a higher pitch voice which makes her look more innocent and vulnerable compared to the unknown caller we then get suspicious as he asks who the person is even though he was the one who called her.

When the phone rings again the camera zooms into the woman’s face to add to the horror atmosphere. The shot then changes to the outside of the house, this changes the atmosphere a lot from being high key lighting and a comfortable atmosphere to being dark, low key and uncomfortable, we then get a pan down to reveal a swing that is attached to a tree swinging in the wind which again adds to this atmosphere as it also makes a sound like a noose being pulled or some type of stretching. We also then get a shot of the house that we suspect the woman is in and we get this feeling that something bad is going to happen.

An image of the phone that was ringing, with high key lighting and the furniture.

Image of the woman who answered the phone, example of a close up shot – wearing casual clothes and makeup.

When she is in the kitchen there are many different camera angles, we first of all get a close up shot of the oven and the popcorn that she is making it then zooms out till we get a long shot of the character when she picks up the phone to answer it, we get various pan shots as she moves from the oven to the phone and back. At this point the character is happy as she is normally having a conversation with this caller and doesn’t look uncomfortable at all as shown with her body language.

Another example of a shot is also then a tracking shot as she walks into the next room. Afterwards it is then revealed that the voice on the phone is actually watching this female and this comfortable feeling suddenly changes as random piano keys are pressed to show a change in atmosphere and the fear on the face of the woman is shown.

A dog is then heard barking which adds to this horror and makes the audience notice that something is out there in the darkness moving about to make the dog unsettled. After she turns on the lights outside we get a good

Example of a close up shot.

shot of the outside due to the darkness of the night there is low key lighting with only a couple sources of light and there is also an added effect of steam which adds a foggy/misty affect to impair the audience’s and the woman’s vision of the outside to make it even more atmospheric as the person outside cannot be seen.

The camera jitters about from side to side to act as the woman’s point of view for frantically searching about outside to see where the caller is, the piano noises in the background also add to the atmosphere of tension. She then turns off the light and we then get a close up of the woman locking the door to add to this increasing tension, the music then picks up some speed as she says she is hanging up the phone and the caller has a rougher tone in his voice as he warns her not to hang up. We then get another close up shot of the popcorn that is crackling loudly and has expanded, this adds to the increasing tension that something bad is going to happen and the audience expect for the popcorn to explode and for everything bad to happen at once.

She then

walks into a room where the lighting is a Close up shot of locking the door Close up shot of popcorn

lot lower key and this is where the caller phones her back so this adds to the horror.

The tension continues to rise as the popcorn that she left on is now smoking and this shows us that things are starting to get worse and that things are beginning to get more chaotic. The face zooms on to get a close up shot of her face when the caller rings back and the way they talk is a lot rougher and the facial expressions of the woman show the fear and the caller begins to talk more smoother which creates this sense of uneasiness and disturbance. The music then gets very fast paced as she runs to all the doors to lock them which adds to the sense of urgency and the movie begins to speed up with the pace of horror, we get a point of view shot of her looking through the window in the door and panning from side to side to see who she is talking to.

The use of the doorbell ringing adds to the horror as it confirms that he is actually out there and is close.