Horror Opening Scene Analysis: Scream 1996

    Horror Opening Scene Analysis: Scream 1996

The first scene shows the title “SCREAM” in block letters in the colour white which could represent ghosts or fear then it turn into colour red which suggests death and danger

The opening scene starts with the protagonist receiving an unknown call from a stranger who then starts to become odd and suspicious, he begins to manipulate her in the beginning by asking questions, which she rejects to answer. The director uses enigma because it teases the audience, as they want to know why the stranger is calling. They begin to chat about horror movies however the situation starts to escalate slowly and tension starts to build up once he states that he can see her which worries the protagonist so she ends the call as she feels uneasy. The antagonist becomes very aggressive and threatens her so she becomes very scared; this is seen through her body language, she is frightened that he’s going to kill her. The Narrative is predictive because she’s home alone, the house is located in the countryside, which is far away from any close neighbours and the event is taking place at night.

Genre is horror as it includes elements for that genre; the setting of her house is in an isolated place so she can’t receive help or escape the antagonist. Low-key lighting is used to in some section of the house, it creates a dark setting and the event takes place at night to create a tense setting. There is a clear binary of the character, the victim is the woman who is receiving the call and the antagonist is on the other side of the call. The audience can only hear the antagonist voice however the face isn't show in the opening scene to create suspense.

In the title scene non-diegetic sound is used, such as the phone ringing which relates with the opening scene, soon after we can hear the heartbeat which could represents the protagonists heart rate and finally a scream is heard this signify the death of the protagonist. As the scene introduces itself we can hear the phone ringing and the protagonist speaking on the phone, this is a diegetic sound as the noise is originated from the film world. This is carried out until she gets anxious then it changes into a non-diegetic sound this is shown when she locks the doors, the background sound begins to get louder and faster to create intense and dramatic atmosphere.

At the beginning of the scene a close up of the phone is shown so the audience can see where sound is coming from and straight away it pans towards the main character so we are able to see her facial expression when she receives the call. The scene is cut into a long shot of the house so the audience can see the setting and realises that there is no one who will be able come to her rescue when she’s in danger later. The shot zooms into a medium shot of the protagonist moving around the house so the audience will be able to analysis her surrounding and suspect where the antagonist could appear from. When she gets threatened the camera zooms in to a close up so the viewer can see her worried expression.