Scream

Synopsis 

'The sleepy little town of Woodsboro just woke up screaming. There's a killer in their midst who's seen a few too many scary movies. Suddenly, nobody is safe when the psychopath stalks his victims and taunts them with trivia questions, then killing them. It could be anybody, Sidney, the quiet high school beauty with an ugly past, Billy, her faithful boyfriend with a frustrated relationship, Tatum her cute best friend with an answer for everything, Casey the lovely blonde who knows her thrillers, Geeky Randy, the scary movie fanatic, Stuart, the wild partier, Gale, the overeager TV reporter or even Dewey, the syrupy-sweet police officer. The only hope is to stay one step ahead of this crazed slasher and know your trivia. The clues are there but are you good enough to see them? ' n.d- Wikipedia 

  

Producers: Woods Entertainment  

'Woods Entertainment was founded late in 2003. The company is primarily a music management company but serves as a small promotion company as well. Woods Entertainment works mostly with bands based out of Atlanta, GA and Athens, GA. The company was founded by Tim Sweetwood, who has a background in music/entertainment promotions and band management. He has worked with several bands in Georgia as well as Ohio throughout the years. Woods Entertainment has also produced a number of movies.'- Wikipedia  

  

Films of note:  

Wide awake (1998), directed by M. Night Shyamalan. Budget:$6million. Gross:$282.175  

Cop Land (1997), directed by James Mangold. Budget:$15million. Gross:$40, 862, 187.  

Scream (1996), directed by Wes Craven. Budget:$14million. Gross:$173million.  

Beautiful thing (1996), directed by Hettie MacDonald. Gross:$3,072,738.  

Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead (1995), directed by Gary Fleder. Budget:$8million. Gross:$529,677      

  

Distributors: Dimension Films  

'Dimension Films is an American film production and distribution studio formerly owned by The Walt Disney Studios and now owned by The Weinstein Company. It was formerly used as Bob Weinstein's label within Miramax Films, to produce and release genre films. The Weinstein Brothers took this label with them when they departed the Disney-owned Miramax in October 2005 and paired it under their company, The Weinstein Company. It is one of the American "mini-majors", i.e. small to medium independent television and motion picture production studios. All films released by Dimension Films prior to October 1, 2005, remain the property of Miramax Films; half the profits of sequels made to Miramax-era films went to Disney until Miramax was sold to Filmyard Holdings, a joint venture of Colony Capital, Tutor-Saliba Corporation, and Qatar Investment Authority in 2010.The studio's movie franchises include the later Halloween films, later Hellraiser  films, Children of the Corn, Scream, Spy Kids and Scary Movie. Its films are currently released on DVD and Blu-ray by Beverly Hills–based Anchor Bay Entertainment under The Weinstein Company, due to the Weinsteins' 25% purchase of Starz Media, which is Anchor Bay's parent. Before the purchase, they were distributed by Genius Products and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. The pre-2005 Dimension films were originally released to home video through Buena Vista Home Entertainment while Miramax was owned by Disney. They are currently distributed on home video through Lionsgate (with the exception of the overseas rights to The Brothers Grimm, in which is now owned by Disney as of 2015), with Echo Bridge Home Entertainment briefly handling some as well. ' - Wikipedia

  

Timeline, up to 2.28

0.00-0.10- A black screen appears with the production company name, Demension Films in blue and white font and fades to black, then we see the word Scream in a large font in the colour blue which decreases to a smaller font in the colour white while behind the font there is a flash of red which already tells the audience that the film is a horror, the red has connotations of death and blood. the colour of the font changes to red while a larger font of SCREAM appears behind as well as the colour red still flashing behind the font. we see the font zoom in, in large font with the background colour changing to red. in the background we hear a high pitched scream. There is also a non-diegetic heartbeat and a phone ringing. The heartbeat helps to build tension and the phone ringing acts as a sound bridge into the first scene. At the same time as the non-diegetic sound, the title of the film appears on the screen. In the opening scene, the camera shows a phone ringing and then pans upwards to show a young woman answering it. 

0.10-0.31- As she picks up the phone, there is a medium close up on her, this is used so that the audience can see her facial expression. But also we can see the window behind her, which shows that it is night time as it is dark outside. Making the character more vulnerable as she is clearly alone late at night. When the woman answers the phone, a diegetic male voice is heard. This may highlight to the audience that he may be the 'Killer' as stereotypically in horror films the villain is a male, who are traditionally shown as more powerful than some female character's. However, at this point her facial expression is relaxed as well as her voice, giving no sense of danger to the scene as well as putting the audience at ease. When the character puts the phone down, the camera follows her and zooms out when she begins to walk away. which may also give a false sense of security as the main action may seem to be over.

0.31-1.10- This is interrupted by the diegetic sound of a phone ringing again. When the phone rings, she shown as confused and slightly worried which helps to build tension as the audience wonder why the caller is back. Cut to a pan upwards, When the woman asks the caller, he replies that he wanted to 'apologise’, which suggests to the audience that something isn’t quite right as there is no clear explanation why the unknown caller is talking to her. There is a close up on her, while having a conversation with the unknown person on the phone. In this shot, the window is visible outside emphasising the fact that it is late at night but also shows the secluded nature of the house, and reinforces her vulnerability. After the character puts the phone down again, the camera cuts to an establishing long shot of the house. Cut to a tilt downwards to an outside location, during this shot we can hear the ambient sound of crickets which may indicate that the house is not in an urban area as no other sounds can be heard, such as cars that shows there are near by roads and shops. In addition to the crickets, you can also hear the diegetic sound of a swing creaking. This bewildering sound of the creaking of the swing contradicts with the noise of crickets, the audience expect to hear. Cuts to a close up of the stove being put on and a pan being placed on the stove which may make the audience jump slightly as they may expect the worst from the previous shot.

1.10- 2.28- when the phone rings again, the camera pans round to see the woman answering it. At this point in the opening sequence, the editing is quite slow paced which helps build tension, with longer shots such as the pan round. Cut to a mid close up to show the pop corn rising to increase the tension. Cut to a mid shot, as the camera pans round to show the girl picking up the set of movies and then goes down a hall way as the camera tracks behind her, as the male voice says, 'i want to know who i'm looking at' the camera zooms in, into a mid close up on her, which highlights her concerned expression. 

Costume and Make-up  

  

In the opening scene of scream, we can see that the character is stereotypically blonde, reflecting the typical naïve action of talking to a stranger on the phone who she has never met before, highlighting her innocence and making the perfect the victim for a typical slasher movie, blonde hair and blue eyes. She is wearing a white V-neck jumper, the colour white also has connotations of naivety and innocence implying that  she's young. The fact that she is the center of the shot could suggest that she is home alone, while talking to a stranger implies that she is the victim of this scene.  She is wearing make-up, she is wearing brown lipstick and subtle blusher which may suggest that she is in a 20's.  

  Mise en scene

We can see that the movie is set in a large family house surrounded by trees, making the area seem remote and excluded, a perfect setting for a horror film. The house seems very open, making it easier for the victim to find herself lost to add tension. Large trees surround the house making shadows visible creating an unsettling effect, like she is being watched. The use of low-key lighting emphasises the darkness around her. The swing in the shot is moving showing that someone was previously on it, suggesting that she is not alone, preparing us for this horror film. The colours emphasised in this scene are a mix of dark browns and greens in contrast with the diegetic lighting coming from the house, which is white and has connotations of innocence. In comparison to the dark forest surrounding the house with the unsettling movement of the trees. We can see that the house is only surrounded by a forest highlighting the fact that she is far from civilization creating a perfect place for a killer to target his victim.  

Effective shots  

High angle close up shot of a phone next to a bowl of autumn petals, meaning she still has control over the situation. The phone is viewed from a high angle representing the phone as powerless and insignificant. However, the phone is at an angle facing the bowl of autumn, red and brown petals, which has connotations of death and signifies danger suggesting the phone is the subject of the evil.  

The tilted camera angle of the character holding the phone implies that the situation is no longer normal, and highlights her naivety the fact that she is talking to a stranger. The use of low-key lighting directly hitting her face during this shot, emphasises that she is exposed and in danger. 


The camera zooms in reflecting the gradual character’s loss of control over the situation. the Low angle shot shows the characters shocked expression clearly. 


 In this shot, while talking on the phone with the stranger, she touches a knife, ironically this could indicate and foreshadow her death, that she is going to be killed with a knife .

Motifs/Recurring images 

The phone is shown ringing repetitively emphasising the persistent calls from the unknown stranger, from the same number which connotes danger and suspicion for the audience, the fact that the character always answers the phone.  

The popcorn is an essential part of the scene and each time she is on the phone the popcorn gradually rises representing the danger of the situation and also highlights her naivety as a character. The shot shows her on the phone and then another shot is showed of the popcorn causing tension within the scene. Towards the end of the scene we hear the strangers voice amplify and then the popcorn is shown at its highest point letting out smoke implying that the situation is now dangerous and out of her control. The popcorn shows a physical representation of the tension gradually building up in the scene. It is important to the viewer, and acts out the journey of the character, the popcorn is low and unimportant at the stage when the character first answers the phone representing her as in control of the situation and towards the end of the scene the popcorn is at its highest point letting out smoke and represents the end of her journey as a character.  

  

Title

  

The colour of the font is red which has connotations of death, blood and danger causing an unsettling atmosphere preparing the audience for the horror movie. To start with the title is white on a black background and soon turns red showing that danger will appear later on is the film. The white may represent the first characters innocence and naivety. The black background makes the title stand out and represents the darkness and the unknown in the first scene of the stranger she is talking to.   At first the title is white, which may suggest an innocence and vulnerability to the characters in the film, contradicted with title turning red connoting danger as  suggesting a more sinister undertone to the film. In addition, the colour of blood also may foreshadow the theme of death throughout the film.