2. TITLE
Title goes from big to small in bold on a black background, twice once in the colour red
then in the colour white. This suggest that the word scream has
great significance within the film suggesting that there will be a lot of screaming going
on from the characters but also from the audience. Also the colour of
which it is being displayed in also connotes bad atmospheres where red can be seen to
connate danger and white can be seen to connate ghosts. Within
the opening of Scream it is only the films name which is shown which may express
how low there budget was in terms of not having a company presenting
the film. However it could express how quickly they want to get straight to the action.
3. CAMERA SHOTS AND ANGLES
Tracking shots were used in Scream to build momentum and intensity for the on screen moment and to allow the audience
to get into the frame of mind of the character. This was done when tracking the main character where she is hiding from
the suspected villain in which she is portraying emotion shown from facial expressions and actions. Then in Halloween this
shot was used to create momentum of the movement and to express the characters aggression, shown by the movement.
Also this shot linked to the sound in terms of what mood it was used in (images in the bottom right hand corner)
Panning shot used in Scream to allow the audience to see what the character is viewing but also in this case builds
intensity because we see what the villain is viewing but the audience still doesn’t know who the suspected villain is.
Close ups were used to portray facial expressions and to introduce the characters so the audience can get a sense of their
personality from the off, if they might be the villain or the victim in Scream the audience get the feeling that the main
character is a goody and is going to be a victim. This links to Propp’s narrative theory because a close ups enables you to see
facial expressions which then allows the audience to tell by the expressions if the character is a villain or victim.
Zooming shots in and out, were used to get the audience into the moment and when zooming into the image it stresses the
importance of the image. This was used frequently in Scream. Also the pace of the zooming is either slow which suggest
that something is going to happen at that moment where as, fast zooming which loud non diegetic sounds brings a moment
to where the audience may get scared and jump.
4. SOUNDS
• The most commonly used type of sound was silence overall which adds intensity and
builds up momentum that something is going to happen. Also non-diegetic sounds
were used, for example a piece of music which always matched with the on- screen
movement or atmosphere. This allows audience to get more in tuned into the
moment and movement. Also with the use of spooky non- diegetic sound, it gets the
audience slightly scared also it enables the audience to anticipate that something
may suddenly happen.
5. LIGHTING
• Darkness was used in the scene, this captures the fact that these will be
scary/horror films with a connotation of darkness which is danger and evil. The dark
mise en scene immediately alerts the audience to the genre of the film, which is
important to get across in the opening minutes. Also, what allows the darkness to be
effective in that it is foreboding something dramatic to happen and sets the
atmosphere of the thriller theme.
6. COSTUME
• In Scream the look of wealth in terms of the material of the clothing suggesting that
the victim is portrayed to be better in term of money and class and stereotypically
its the upper class who do not seem to cause trouble but however trouble seems to
find them. However, the use of ordinary clothing in terms of what people may wear
daily in this case polo-neck and trousers was used in Scream to portray innocence
within the character.
7. CHARACTERS
Scream there is 1 character on screen another via the phone this actor having a
distorted voice portraying that suspected villain doesn’t use his natural voice instead
uses a reformed voice making it seem more mysterious and forces the audience to
ponder on who it maybe and why but also most importantly how far this actor may go
to torturing the character. The character on screen was a white woman seemed to be
in her late teens like eighteen or nineteen. This actor seemed to be chosen to connect
with the films targeted audience where this film is aimed at the age of 18 to 25s.
8. LOCATION
• Scream is set in a house starting in the kitchen, in the middle of nowhere
surrounded by big trees and nearby a field showing that within these horror slasher
film they are staged within an area where the surroundings are bare and less people
are there to witness the potential violence and torture which happens to this
character. In the scene, you do not see any other houses within sight from where its
set location which in this film may suggest that this character is only and keeps
himself to himself. As well as this Halloween starts by setting the film in a messy
kitchen suggesting that the characters are any normal family and the film starts off
as an equilibrium.
