ANALYSING FILMS: Scream

 Film Analysis: Scream (1996)

Director: Wes Craven

BBFC 18  MPAA R 

Opening Length: 12 minutes

Budget: $15 m 

Box Office: $173 m

Theatrical Distribution: Worldwide

Production Company: Woods Entertainment

Distributor: Dimension Films

Starring: Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Drew Barrymore and David Arquette.

Synopsis:  A year after the murder of her mother, a teenage girl is terrorised by a new killer, who targets the girl and her friends by using horror films as part of a deadly game. (IMDB)

LINKS: wikipedia , IMDB , Box Office Mojo , the numbers

Trailer:

Key features of the opening:

• Only one ident shown, on screen for 9 seconds, which is unconventional and fast for being the only ident. Due to the time of the film being made, it was common to only have one production company, and therefore only one ident. 
• The opening shot is of a telephone, which is heard ringing through an audiobridge over the title. This is unconventional to have the close-up of an object, as a typical opening shot is an ELS. This denotes the object as a signifier, and could be relevant later in the film. 
• The titles start out expanded, then zoom in to reveal the name in white. A red border appears around the title, then turning it red. The title zooms into the letters and the screen turns red. The sans-serif font and same case connotes humour, but the spacing of the letters creates a sense of unease for the viewer. 
• The audience is introduced to the protagonist, a conventionally attractive, blonde, teenage girl. The blonde hair is a common signifier of a scream queen. 
• The shots are fluid, and track her movements. These long shots are unconventional for horror, as it typically uses shorter shots (Barthes' action codes) to create suspense. 
• A dutch angle is used here, to denote something is wrong. Following the rule of thirds, the scream queen is in the right third of the frame, with the window/door on the left third. This creates a vulnerability for the protagonist, also due to the high angle of the camera.
• The shot of the trees is used to show the dark and nighttime, as well as connote the supernatural or horror. 
• Becker’s tone of voice changes throughout each of the anonymous phone calls, at first her voice is soft and friendly then progresses to flirtatious then when Becker realises she is being watched she turns frantic and the caller turns malice.
• At first the camera pans from the phone ringing to Becker lifting to her ear then holds on a mid-close up of her throughout the conversation this is used to focus the audience on the dialog. The phone itself is an important prop in the film it’s what starts the next set of events off. The close up of her locking the door shows the audience that she doesn’t feel safe this also happens when she runs through the hallway locking the doors and windows as she goes. While the camera tracks Becker around the house when she is flirting with the caller this is giving the call a false sense of security making it seem normal and she isn’t taking to a stranger. The use of the POV shot while she is looking out the front door window, is slightly shaky giving the feel of frantic urgency like the audience is in Becker’s position.
• Roland Barthes’ narrative codes include enigma codes meaning things that raise questions for the audience. This applies to film by making the audience first question ‘who is calling?’ with the help of the diegetic sounds of the phone rings. Also towards the end of the scene the loud doorbell makes Becker jump leading the audience to mimic the action. The tension also is helped built by the use of non-diegetic sound for example when the caller says ‘can you handled that, blondie’ there’s a beat that replicates the sound of loud footsteps like Becker is being followed and also the use of camera linking as well that the camera is tracking her as she’s running giving the audience the feeling that they’re chasing her. The ELS of the exterior of the house shows the isolation of the character. The use of windows along the sides denotes vulnerability, and voyeurism. 
• The titles include screams, and an audiobridge of a phone ringing. This is a clear genre signifier for horror. The protagonist is heard speaking to the caller, who is heard replying. When showing exterior shots, the foley sounds of crickets and leaves are heard, further creating suspense and isolation. The protagonist puts popcorn on a stove, which is heard popping until it bursts. There are sounds of slashing when she picks up a knife, which is another genre signifier. A non-diegetic piano chord is heard, which builds up and becomes a series of drawn out chords, increasing tension and audience heart rate. 
• The opening credits uses non-diegetic sound effect of a knife slash and a scream linking with title to the film and the rest of the films narrative.