BJ: Opening Sequence Analysis - Scream (Craven, 1996)

Genre



Drew Barrymore in the opening sequence

From the opening sequence we can see that this film belongs to the sub-genre of slasher horror. The conventions of slasher horror present in this opening sequence is the use of a teenager alone in her house, and a killer stalking her. The graphic depiction of violence is also conventional of slasher horror. The audiences expectations of this film are met because the clichés are reinforced. The clichés in this opening is a teenage girl left alone in her house. Some of the conventions used in this opening are similar to those used in Friday the 13th (Cunningham, 1980). These aspects of the opening are now widely used in all slasher films. The clip treats the opening sequence ironically, as it plays with clichés and does what you would expect in an unexpected way.

Film Language

Establishing shot of the house

Through dialogue we can tell that someone is using phone calls to particular people to threaten potential victims. At the beginning of the scene, the lighting is bright, however when the protagonist becomes more scared, the lighting becomes darker. This implies that she is scared and creates a scarier atmosphere. The camera is tilted at the start of the film which creates a sense of confusion


Playing with knives foreshadows murder

and nervousness, the slow zoom onto her face also creates tension. This makes us think this phone call could turn dark. The slow pan of the camera, revealing the windows looking through to outside, also creates a nervy atmosphere, as you don't know what is going to be out there. The young teenager then proceeds to play with the knives on the table, and diagetic sounds of the knife is heard. This could be a foreshadowing of the weapon that will be used to kill her later. The dialogue is quite ironic, because they begin talking about scary movies and stalking, which is exactly what is happening to the teenager without her knowing. Through the character's non-verbal language we can see she is beginning to get a bit more worried, as she walks past a door and locks it. We can also see by her body language that she is becoming more distressed and suspicious, as she no longer is finding this game funny. When the antagonist says "I want to know who I'm looking at", the teenager becomes more worried, and the soundtrack becomes more dark and mysterious to anchor these images. Then non-diagetic sound of a dog barking is added. This is added to show that maybe someone is outside and has disturbed the dog, adding to the mystery. Then POV shots from the teenagers view are used. This adds to the tension as we don't know who is going to be there, and the audience may be anticipating a jump scare. The use of the popcorn sounds on the hob is significant because as the teenager becomes more worried, the sounds of the popcorn become louder and faster, adding to the suspense and tension. This could also be a visual signifier of a climax about to come. When the antagonist loses his temper with the teenager he says "blondie". This emphasises the fact that he can see her. Then the teenagers start running to lock all the doors whilst loud music plays building trepidation. The titles of the opening scene are significant. The title of the film is in white writing on a black background, this he turns to red with a screaming noise in the background which is iconography of the horror genre.


Scream Titles

Narrative

In this opening, the plot is that there is young woman alone in her house who receives a phone call from a strange unknown person. She dismisses the call as just the wrong number, but he keeps calling her back. They then go on to talk about scary movies, with the caller asking "what's your favourite scary movie?". From there the conversation turns darker, with the caller now threatening the young girl with death. The caller then reveals that he has her boyfriend hostage and tells her to turn on the patio light and he is there. There are many stock things in this opening sequence. Firstly, the teenager is a prime example of a stock character in horror. She is quite flirty at first with the caller and is alone at home. A stock situation present in this opening is the situation of a teenage girl being home alone, who suddenly starts to hear strange noises and becomes suspicious. However, the film treats this ironically as the caller says, "you may as well check outside because you heard a strange noise", therefore acknowledging the clichés of horror. In this opening, sequences are organised in a normal way, until the teenager starts to get nervous, the scenes then become faster cut and louder sounds are present. In this opening the audience are positioned with teenager, as we don't see who the caller is. We see the teenager throughout the opening and we see her reactions. This makes us think that this girl is going to be the protagonist, but she dies shortly after the first 5 minutes. The main themes in the narrative are that it is ironic. This is because they talk on the phone about scary movies, while this is in fact a scary movie. Tension is created and maintained through the use of fast cutting rate and sound. Also, as the scene becomes more tense, the lighting gets darker.

Representation and Ideology

In this opening, teenagers are represented. Teenagers are represented in this sequence through the use of dialogue. At the beginning the teenager is very flirtatious with the caller, although she doesn't know who it is. This presents teenagers as very promiscuous and risky when it comes to unknown calls. The teenager also becomes very panicked towards the end of the scene, this presents teenagers as incapable of protecting themselves.
Women are also represented in this opening scene. The teenager in this scene is a female, and she is the one being targeted by the killer. This represents women as easy targets for murderers and weak and unable to protect themselves. The teenager says during the opening, "my boyfriend will be here, he's big and he plays football", showing that she relies on her boyfriend to come and protect her. This is a regressive ideology because it portrays women as relying on men to help them whenever they are in trouble.

Media Audiences

The target audience of this film would be 15-24 years old. I would expect this to be the target audience because the film is all about teenagers. This means that the teenagers that watch the film can relate to the people and the movie and can make the film more visceral for them because it makes it feel like the same thing could happen to them. The possible audience readings of this is a negotiated reading. This is because the audience can understand what is going on, but will challenge the reasons as to why the person is murdering them. As a British teenager, my reading of this is negotiated, as I question the motive and structure of the film because it doesn't make much sense as to why the murderer is doing this.

Institutional Context

In this film, the A-listers present are Drew Barrymore, Courteney Cox and David Arquette. However, Drew Barrymore is killed in the first 10 minutes so is not significant, and Courteney Cox and David Arquette play a less important role than the main character, played by Neve Campbell.
The film was produced by Dimension Films and distributed by Miramax Films so therefore it is an industrial film. The institutional context is not too evident in the production values of the opening, because there is not much special effects. However, the presence of an A-lister in Drew Barrymore shows that it is an industrial film.