Team Textual Analysis (Scream 1996)

Scream (1996)

Scream was created by Wes Craven in 1996 that is widely recognized for his horror genre work in scream as well as ‘A nightmare on Elm Street’ and ‘The Hills have eyes’. Scream is recognized throughout the world for its iconic mysterious killer, using a recognizable mask which gives hints away as to who is the killer, especially from the voice behind the mask. The opening presents an attention grabbing use of mise en scene, sound and camera shots and angles to produce a high amount of tension, building up to the rest of the film to create fear and awareness to the audience that there is form of threat. The continuous edit makes the audience receive suspense and captivating images of fear, which are sustained in the rest of the film. This cliff-hanger entices the audience to watch the rest of the film.

Stock Settings

In The beginning of scream we instantly notice the setting of the film. From a long shot, the house appears to be in a stranded part of the forest, isolated from urban areas at night time. This is highly significant as ‘scream’ is a stereotypical horror movie with the expected techniques of slasher, and the idea of it being at night is definitely associated with mystery and evil. The combination of the forest and night shows it is isolated from the world, and the murder about to take place will not be heard by anyone when it happens at night.

A forest is a place for nature which is purely associated with beauty and peace, so it shows the clear juxtaposition and contrast towards the norm which challenges the idea of this horror being stereotypical. The house is very similitude, and is showed to us by quick cuts and mid-shots. This allows the audience to see the atmosphere the characters live in, and in this case its very typical in the sense it being generally untidy.

Overall this setting before we see and understand the characters allows us to pin point and identify this realistic family setting, clearly being an isolated house and a rich family which stereo-typically are very vulnerable in horrors as they are portrayed as weak.

Themes

In scream, the main theme is death. However it is played through different themes like fear and mystery. Expanding on the theme mystery, the house Casey lives in is isolated from urban areas, adding to the mystery of outside characters as the voice even states, "they wouldn't make it in time; we're in the middle of nowhere. As with most horror genre films the theme will always be death as it is the main aspect of a tragedy and if it weren't to happen in a horror film, the audience would be disappointed. Violence is also a key theme as the man behind the voice is very similitude and doesn't have any supernatural powers, showing the fight scene as a true battle. Eventually he murders Casey, showing what themes we as the audience should expect throughout the rest of the film.

Narrative 

The main narrative within scream is the fear it creates for the rest of the film by building up Casey’s death. The opening itself has Todorovs narrative theory within it. Firstly there is the equilibrium of Casey making popcorn which is definitely a non-threatening normal occurrence. Then the theory is out of order as the disruption recognition swaps with the actual disruption. Casey gets constant phone calls, and the voice states, “who are you, I want to know who I’m looking at”. We recognise the disruption as well as Casey as she runs to all the doors and locks them. The disruptions then happen when the voice becomes a figure and Casey’s boyfriend is tied up and the voice attacks and kills Casey. There is no attempt to repair disruption or a new equilibrium as it is the opening and it purely to create suspense for the rest of the film.

Iconography

In scream, the main iconography is the phone as it is used as a symbol to represent Casey’s life. This is because as the threat increases, however when she initially answers the phone, the call is calm and short but the intensity increases when the phone calls are longer. Eventually when she dies, the phone dies showing that her life was represented as a visual image being the phone.

Another form of iconography is the mask on the voice when we eventually see this figure. The mask is a very unusual face and very stretched out as if he is screaming at you, and it creates fear for the audience and characters. Another form of iconography in the opening sequence is the knives that Casey holds whilst speaking to the voice that eventually killed her with a knife, showing it foreshadowed her death. In my opening sequence i could use the form of murder weapon beforehand, hinting to the audience that it is there as it foreshadows how the protagonist gets murdered.

Setting up plot

In the opening scene of scream, the audience receives a feeling of the mood and the film and how the story line may flow. To start off; the first thing the audience see is a phone ringing and then a young innocent  blonde girl comes to pick it up.  This instantly introduces the first character which a lot of the audience may consider her to be the protagonist. Later on we then realise that this girl is home alone in a large isolated house, making the audience confused as they question her age and whose house she is in. The audience notice a lot of the dialogue, which suggests this woman may have a good job and her own house, and perhaps just look young for her age as looking young is a key part of fashion. However we also consider if she has done something wrong or done something to affect the person behind this mysterious voice. Eventually the threat becomes more apparent as the tension gradually builds among the audience and Casey herself as the voice becomes threatening as he says he wants to know what her insides look like. As the scene progresses the audience get a shock as the prior denied boyfriend is seen tied up by the voice, yet the mystery still occurs because we still can’t see the voice. Once scene the girl becomes hysterical and the voice makes the women answer questions to save her boyfriend’s life. The boyfriend is murdered when she answers incorrectly; showing that this is no game and that it is very real. Eventually we see the character behind the voice as he appears to wear a black cloak with a white ghost mask. He proceeds to kill Casey and leave her body hanging from a tree for her parents to see. The entire plot as just the opening not only creates an enigma but sets up a plot and general idea for the audience for the rest of the film.

 Pace and Rhythm(editing Mise en Scene)

In Scream, the pace and rhythm differs as it goes from calm and collected to very intense with quick cuts. The mise en scene helps this. The Woman's costume is very basic and common, showing the normality of her easy life. This is interrupted by the distressful outfit of the person behind the voice on the phone whom is wearing a ghost face mask with a dark cloak. These two colours highly contrast, and these two different colours suggest the difference in his personality in the begging to the end. The mise-en-scene for the location of the house is very typical of horror films and specifically chosen by Wes Craven as it is very dark and we can hardly see anything outside because it is very foggy where the swimming pool is which gives it a scary effect and a sense of mystery. The darkness and bad weather give off an unsettled feeling to what may happen and foreshadows the ending as the weather, is negative just like Casey’s death. It is set very typically as there is a big house in the middle of nowhere, isolated, and there are lots of windows and doors which brings the fear to life as we know the killer is outside and the window suggests we can see everything outside but we can’t which makes us feel uneasy as the audience. There are many props which play a big part in the opening sequence; this gives the audience an idea for what may happen in the future. Just like the knife used that Casey held, as it is used as iconography which foreshadows her being killed with a knife. Also the prop of the phone which rings and rings then eventually dies, which ids an extended metaphor throughout the sequence for Casey’s life

Mood and tone (non diegetic music)

In scream, as well as the setting, the characters are very much stereotyped. The protagonist in the opening appears to be a white, blonde female which is highly stereotyped as being weak and vulnerable and it is portrayed through her death as she was unable to defend her. The young adult is very flirty on the phone and the back and forth conversation with this scary voice is almost cute banter, which contrast to the ultimate outcome. Casey appears to be portrayed as a typical older teen/young adult as she is making popcorn enforcing her personality as lazy and she also responds to the voice in a perhaps sexual way, associating older teens as sex orientated. The Voice behind the mask is very deep and deep is linked to more manly and violent as men are stereotyped as more dangerous. If the Killer were to be a woman, it is suggested that the audience would be less scared. Casey's parents are also highly significant. They are very stereotypical and protective and there fear show the emotion in the film is very similitude.

Non diegetic music is heard when the man states "I want to know who I am looking at", as it builds the tension up and shows the audience that Casey knows this man is not just a random person and could potentially be a threat. The non-diegetic music almost is used to signify a turning point because from then on the whole mood and tone becomes negative and scary compares to the equilibrium of her just speaking on the phone. The non-diegetic music is also an indicator to Todorovs theory as it introduces us the recognition of disruption as Casey knows this man could be a threat and looks outside and locks her doors.

Creation of enigma

The creation of enigma in the opening was the constant phone call. This is because it created mystery and suspense. This is because it was out of the ordinary for a unknown number to ring constantly in a scary voice. Another enigma was the popcorn. The popcorn created suspense as the packet rose and rose until it was too late, as if it represented the whole scenario. The non-diegetic sounds definitely lack compared to the diegetic as it doesn’t give the realism affect. The mood is definitely causing anxiety towards the characters and audience. This is because the noise of the popcorn increases and the diegetic phone keeps on ringing and the voice behind the phone is very deep. Also the quick cuts between different shots create a very intense mood. The tone is often silent to portray the suspense and that is very possible that a jump scare will occur.

Institutions

Scream is produced by: Woods Entertainment
Distributed by: Dimension Films

'Scream' (1996) opening sequence- Part 1-  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgKukhIw5eY
                       Part 2-  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78gEp7mJVH8
                       Part 3-  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-Q41b1lwPQ