Film Analysis: Scream (1996)

FILM ANALYSIS: SCREAM (1996)

dir. Wes Craven

BBFC 18 , MPAA R 

Opening Length: 12 minutes

Budget: $14/15 million     

Box Office: $173 million 

Theatrical Distribution: worldwide

Production Company: Woods Entertainment

Distributor: Dimension Films

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

Trailer: 

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Possible Influences For My Film: The opening characters being separate from the remainder of the film, having a party, a masked killer. Elements of postmodernism and genre irony.                                 

Companies/Idents: 

This was the only ident shown, and was 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. 

Opening Shot: 

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. 

Titles:

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. 

Mise-En-Scene/ First Five Shots: 

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. 

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. 

Sound: 

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.