Scream Opening Sequence

Scream is a 1996 horror film directed by Wes Craven.

Narrative Context

The film scream is about a murder who dresses in a mask in robes who slowly murders different members of a group of Friends. As well as being a horror movie, it is also some what a mystery, due to the question of who the murderer is, which is answered in the climax of the film.

The narrative of the opening starts with a young female character getting a phone call whilst she is making popcorn. It seems like the caller has the wrong number, but the call proceeds to show that the caller is in her garden watching her. Throughout the opening he slowly makes him self seen by her before killing her as well as her boyfriend. The most intriguing part of the opening for me is when she is killed and pulls of the murders mask. The audience does not see the face but does see the girls facial expression, this leaves the audience wanting to desperately know who the murderer is.

Enigma Codes

The main enigma code raised bu the end of the sequence is 'who is the murderer?' this question is raised more and more by certain factors, such as, how did he get her phone number?, how did he know so much about her?, why was he asking her so much about scary movies? and of course , does the murderer know the victim already?. The entire opening sequence is very mysterious. I found the part where the murderer was quizzing the victim about horror films really intriguing and made me want to watch more. I think the way they were talking about horror movies in a horror movie made the film seem a lot more realistic as it was separating its self from fiction.

Characters

The main character at the start is very stereotypical of a victim in a horror film. She is a young, blonde, attractive, sweet girl who seems very innocent. She is making popcorn and is about to watch a horror film, these things make her seem very innocent. At first on the phone to the murderer she acts flirty towards the un known man, this is also stereotypical of a female in a horror film. The other main character in the opening is the murderer, the antagonist. He is very mysterious throughout and the only real part of him the audience gets to find out about is his voice on the phone. He has a very low, slimy, manly voice. Creeping the audience out instantly. When the murderer is seen he is presented as a typical horror villain- as he is wearing a mask. He can be linked to several other horror villains such as the clown from Stephen King's IT and Jigsaw from SAW. This mask is a very creepy symbol of horror and straight away scares members of the audience. The particular mask has now become iconic in the horror industry.  The only other character that is seen in the opening is the girls boyfriend who has been tied to a chair by the villain. Although this character is not explored or showed to the audience very much at all, he does show something about the setting and the girls life and lifestyle.  He is wearing a baseball jacket and he looks like what Americans would call a 'jock' this shows the audience about the average suburban American life that the characters in the film are living. This is usual for a horror film as they often start in a normal looking town which totally contrasts with the abnormal events happening in the characters lives.

Locations

The location is all in the females characters house. The house is well furnished, quite large and has a pool, so this shows the audience about the females current lifestyle. The setting is very important as when she is running around the house trying to see where the murderer is she goes past several rooms, including the hall way which has a big window in as well as the living room which has large french doors- this is important as all these windows give the audience many places to guess at as to where the murderer is watching her from. When the parents are seeing driving down a long drive towards the house it makes the house look quite out of the way, therefore quite far from any service- such as the police.

Editing
Editing in this opening contrast with the Se7en opening as camera angles take a bigger role in creating an effect than editing. In this particular opening, the editing does not vary very much. The cuts between shots are mostly normal length and straight cuts- there are no dissolves or fades. The straight cuts are effective though as it makes the opening seem quite normal and un scary at the start so the following events are un expected. There is some cuts later that do make the opening more scary. At one point she is in the hall way, and they quickly cut between her looking at the door , than a shot of the door, they do this more than once to create suspense. Towards the end of the opening the cuts get quicker and sharper as the scene builds up and up.

Camera

Camera techniques are used very effectively in this opening scene. They use continuity editing alot, specifically at the start when the female awnsersthe phone. They also use close ups often. Near the start they show the phone ringing, than they cut to a shot of the female and the camera slowly zooms in, this creates suspense to the audience.  They also use close ups later to show expression on the females face, when she realises that the caller is not being innocent. The camera often follows the female from behind using a dolly. Following the female from her back with out cutting links to her being watched as it is as if the camera is following her like the murderer is. The camera pans alot also to show the females point of view, when she is looking out the window the camera pans left than back to right, this is a typical horror technique as the audience will think that when the camera pans back there will be someone there. A long shot is also used later, another typical horror convention, it is used to show isolation as it is a long shot of the house. This isolation means that the victim is far away from help. This long shot was also used to show someone watching her from her garden.

Sound

The sound in the opening is mostly diagetic, as the audience hears everything that the people in the scene hear. This is effective as the editing has sometimes been used to accentuate certain sounds, such as the scraping of a knife when the girl is in the kitchen, the popcorn popping, and the eerie sound of the garden swing swinging back and forth during the long shot of the house. The sound of the phone ringing is also used to make the scene more scary. This is a typical convention of a horror film. Later, when the opening becomes more chaotic, music starts being played over the action. The music, non vocal, is orchestral, and makes the happenings much more scary. Is used typically to create suspense, and changes dynamics drastically at times to make the audience jump along with the live action. At the start when the film name Scream shows on the screen a loud scream plays over. This is an iconic horror sound and also fits the name of the film and fits the hole theme of the movie.

Genre Characteristics
This opening has many conventions of horror. Although it shows them it tries to use them subtly, as this movie is trying to show that that it is real, and often mentions horror films throughout. One of example of a subtle convention is when the female fiddles with a sharp knife whilst on the phone, although she is innocently doing this, the audience straight away thinks of this and the connotations surrounding it. Other conventions used in the opening are the sound of a swing, the phone call, the empty house, the young girl, and the use of mirrors and windows. Mirrors specifically are effective as the audience expect to see someone behind the female in her reflection.

In this opening the credits are no used normally. As the only thing that actually shows is the name of the film at the start, the title is in the font was used throughout all the advertisement for the film and it shows straight away and than fades into the first scene.