RESEARCH: SCREAM ANALYSIS - MISS BEGUM

How is the opening sequence of Scream conventional to a thriller opening?

In this essay I will be analysing the famous opening from the classic thriller film ‘Scream’. I will look at the use of the microelements and how they are combined to provoke a response from the audience and make the sequence conventional. The scene begins with the female protagonist, Sidney, receiving a call from a stranger. It ends when she escapes to the kitchen and tries to protect herself from the intruder in her house.

The sequence begins with a non-diegetic sound of people screaming and shouting as their voices are filled with terror. This compliments the title sequence of ‘Scream’ which is apparent on the screen. In addition there is an off-screen sound of a phone calling which makes the scene distorted and threatening for the audience; making them feel immediately insecure. This is conventional of a thriller as it allows the viewer to infer what genre the film is and what the possible narratives that could occur are. As the film starts, the use of slow paced editing allows the spectator to familiarize with the female protagonist who has blonde hair and is wearing a white jumper. White connotes purity and innocence which suggests that she is a good person and the audience should sympathize with her. This compliments Barths’ theory of semiology because the audience is able to infer what kind of a character this is basing on signifiers and symbolism. This is a conventional representation of a female because stereotypically women should be portrayed as vulnerable and innocent which helps to empower men, making the female victim being perceived by the audience as fragile and exposed to danger; reinforcing gender stereotypes. The slow paced editing allows the spectator to feel relaxed which helps to convey the calm atmosphere of a home which is where the protagonist is based in. The location of a house has connotations of warmth and makes the viewer feel welcomed and feel the comfort and stability of their own house. This is conventional to the thriller genre as the audience feels almost too relaxed and can start to tense up knowing that this environment can be quickly put to an end because of the crumble and fragile female nature which is destined to be disturbed and the fact that the house seems isolated from any neighbourhood just emphasizes on the exposure to danger and makes it an easy target. This creates tension and insecurity; building a pre-climax. As the protagonist talks on the phone to the antagonist there is a use of a zoom in which is evident when the on-screen voice coming from the phone changes. Now, the call is more of a threat to Sidney as the voice is low and horrifying for the viewer as well as the female in distress. This proposes Todorov’s theory of narrative structure because the event that just occurred is the disequilibrium which has distorted the scene.  The theme of threat is very usual in thrillers because it can push the narrative forward as well as withdraw an emotion and reaction form the viewer. This draws the spectators’ attention as they see the fearful facial expression of the female who is disturbed by the rapid change and doesn’t know what is happening; being oblivious to the situation. The spectator reacts psychologically as they are played with their minds by the antagonist just like the female victim. This is conventional as the director has put emphasis on the reaction of the female allowing the viewer to react in the same way too and we are almost placed in the females shoes which draws more sympathy and pity for her from the spectators.

Moving on, the female leaves the phone after she hangs up hoping that the danger has passed, however there is another off-screen call and the female is yet again insecure and she goes to lock all the windows, trying to conceal the feeling of safety. The insecurity within the damsel in distress originates from the violation of her privacy and the fact that she is oblivious to the intruder but he seems to know everything about her. However as the audience, we know that the idyllic home atmosphere is now disturbed and we are tense and worried for her. As the terrorized female character approaches the door to look out of the small window, a point of view is used to show that the damsel in distress is hoping that the calls are a silly prank which would give her relive and inner stability. At this point the audience feels panic because they know that this is not a prank and the female is in a life threatening situation right now. This allows the viewer to be placed in her position making us see how fragile and vulnerable she is. The panning shot is used to make the viewer realize that she has small area at her sight and therefore she cannot possibly secure herself from all the danger that could be awaiting her. This saddens the spectator as we can infer that she has very little chances of survival from the antagonist since he is in a more dominant position and has control over her by playing with her mind and petrifying her. Later on a reaction shot is used as the doorbell rings and the female protagonist jumps in shock and horror. Simultaneously, there is another off-screen phone ring which makes the scene quite chaotic and compliments the fast paced editing to create distortion and fear for the viewer. This allows the audience to see the juxtaposition of the atmosphere which was calm and relaxing at the beginning and now is tense and threatening. The low key lighting helps to create a sense of fear and terror to the scene and is another aspect that helps to show how superior and dark the house is although it seemed safe just a moment ago. This also helps to show how things are dismissive which is usually a generic convention and proposes the idea of a plot twist that is typical of a thriller genre. In addition the theme of corruption is shown from the character of the antagonist who is evil and manipulative, which makes the audience loathe him. This theme often occurs when the protagonist is in danger in order to show how dangerous the antagonist is and that the spectator should fear and dislike him.

Furthermore, as Sidney comes back to the living room and walks up to the large window, still talking on the phone, there is a non-diegetic beating sound. This could be a metaphor of her heart beat which means that the female in distress is scared but determined to feel safety. The non-diegetic sound also helps to build up to the climax which keeps the audience in suspense knowing that soon something terrible will happen. As she looks out of the window in her living room, we see Sidney’s terrified facial expression which alerts the audience because they are aware that something bad has happened. The non-diegetic sound is loud and has a dark tone which helps to reflect the terrible and serious situation. The use of a long shot exposes the viewer to a teenage boy who is strapped to the chair with blood coming out of his body. His body language shows that he is uncomfortable and in pain which implies that it is not a joke and he is in danger of death. The audience learns that it is in fact the protagonist’s boyfriend and the viewer sympathizes for him as well as feels sorry for the female knowing that now there is no one who could save her out of oppression. The theme of violence and murder is conventional in the thriller genre as it is usually the key moment or helps to build up to the climax. Also it helps to reinforce that the antagonist is in fact dangerous. The killing of the boyfriend could be a foreshadowing for what might happen to Sidney. The audience suspects that the attack was committed by the pranker because he was threatening Sidney and her boyfriend which reinforces his bad intensions and evil nature. Moreover another long shot displays Sidney’s body language who is in shock and slowly moves back to the corner of the room and crumbles up, showing she is afraid. The almost baby-like position emphasizes on her female nature and gender stereotypes of women who are the subordinate ones and always have to rely on the opposite sex. This proposes the theme of 'good vs evil' which can be inferred by the contrast between the characters as the antagonist is extremely evil and the female victim is very innocent and vulnerable. On the other hand this symbolizes that she is trying to find peace within herself and longs for safety which she was deprived of.  This is conventional of a thriller genre as often the characters are afraid and try to seek for their well-being which makes the audience feel pity and helpless as they cannot help to provide the necessary safety for their character in need. On top of that the on-screen sound of the antagonist’s evil laughter shows that he has pleasure in his tortures and hauntings which makes the audience loathe him even more knowing that Sidney is a vulnerable and innocent female. This is conventional to a thriller opening since the spectators are allowed to establish their opinions on all characters and get to decide who they like, dislike or pity which is important because they can react in different ways and engage with the character in an emotional way. This is another conventional trait of a thriller openings the different representations help the audience to construct their opinion on each character and decide who they want to survive.

Following on the non-diegetic sound gets to its optimum and the high pitched, yet dark music creates a superior feeling making the audience feel intimidated and doomed. As Sidney enters the kitchen there is a use of a long shot which helps the audience to see the new location that she has entered. The spectators can notice that Sidney is holding a knife which does help to restore the viewer’s faith in her a little because a knife is a dangerous weapon that can help the victim protect herself form danger. However knowing that she is so vulnerable and a bit naïve still makes us feel sorry for her. It is also a matter of the female representation and gender stereotypes as women are usually presented as subordinate characters which makes it harder again for the spectator to believe that Sidney will make it out alive in one piece. The long shot also allows the viewer to notice the iconography of popcorn which is burning on the cooker and looks like it could explode any moment. The popcorn could be another metaphor for the climax and help to represent Sidney’s short life which will end soon but not allowing the audience to infer when exactly. The tension created is very nerve provoking and thrilling for the audience which is conventional of this genre because thrillers are famous for creating fear and excitement for both viewers and characters making it a prime genre for adrenaline lovers and people who like a dose of adrenaline which makes it an effective opening.

In conclusion I believe that this thriller opening is one of its kind because it follows all the necessary codes and conventions which trigger the right audience response and create an accurate representation of different characters such as a victim and antagonist. ‘Scream’ was one of the first horror movies which caused controversy in its time because of the explicit brutality and murders that it has involved. It has won the International Horror award for best film and a Guild Saturn Award for a best horror film.  I personally felt many emotions during the viewing such as fear and pity because of the credible use of the different microelements which has been combined to create a successful opening even though many years have passed it is till effective.

Conclusion.
I think that looking at such a famous thriller opening was very beneficial because it has gave me a fundamental idea of what my opening sequence should look like. Looking at different micro-elements was also highly beneficial because I now have a much clearer idea of what suits a thriller opening best.  Therefore from this analysis I now know that I would like to use a high pitched hunting non-diegetic sound in order to create fearful atmosphere. On top of that I will precisely chose the cinematography techniques especially when it comes to angles in order to distinguish clear character representation and their status. I think this is very significant as the audience needs to know exactly who they should loathe and who support.