Opening Scene For Scream

The title appears before the opening scene unlike The Nightmare On Elm Street, where it appears slightly later on. When the title appears with the transition, we hear dramatic and tense music, often what you would hear when the villain is about to kill the innocent victim in a Slasher film. This unsettling noise however is stopped by a phone ringing which appears when the title is frozen on the screen; flashing red and light which symbolises danger and warning. As the phone noise fades away we are able to hear screaming as well as a heart beating rapidly. This intense title sequence is then faded to the opening scene where the phone is ringing, however we have no screaming. These screams in the beginning give the audience an expectation on what is going to occur later on. This expectation is obviously reinforced by the title itself, “Scream”. They include the phone ringing in the title, along with the screams, however the screams then fade away and we end up hearing the phone ring by itself. This makes the audience assume that the phone is going to contribute to the terror.

This opening scene is of a young, blonde, innocent looking teenage girl picking up the phone to a stranger. It’s a man who seems calm however suspicious due to his unusual calm tone throughout. At first the teenage girl is perfectly fine with speaking to this peculiar man on the phone who had got the wrong number. Never the less he keeps on calling her, regardless of originally having the wrong number, which makes the audience assume that he’s the villain. The audience would come to this conclusion because of titling earlier on which makes them associate the phone ringing with the screams, as well as understanding the codes and conventions of victims in horror films. Often, the victims are young, attractive and blonde as they are perceived as being fragile and clueless to the danger. This is a similarity between the Nightmare On Elm Street and Scream as they are both manipulated to conform to the stereotypical ‘dumb blonde.’ In the previous film the girl is running into an abandoned, enclosed area, but in this film the girl is speaking to a stranger who is being very sociable and has a desire to speak to her; even though he called her by accident. These are both scenarios that you are often told to avoid by your parents which could be avoided by these victims in horror films.

By revealing an outside shot of the female’s house, the audience witnesses the swings moving with no one around them. This gives the viewer the impression that the villain causing the ‘Scream’ and who is behind the phone call is intentionally calling her and is near her.

Shortly after this shot from the garden, the man on the phone says “I want to know who I’m looking at.” This is unique as it’s providing the audience’s expectation to be correct. This film has a brutal element which may entitle it so far to be a ‘Slasher’ film.

This then changes the teenager character’s mood. She starts to become anxious and worries about who she is speaking to on the phone. I feel this should have been her initial response. Her mood change is reflected by the piano noise when she pauses and says “What did you say?” We also acknowledge her change as she had a happy, contented facial expression which changed to a panicked, cautious expression.

The villain reveals his true personality as he raises his voice and shows great anger towards her calling the teenager a “little b*tch.” This was a shock to the audience as he was previously perceiving himself as calm, however we assumed he was the villain by his voice. This therefore succeeds more of the viewers expectations.

The pop corn in this opening scene is very significant as it symbolises tension. At first the pop corn is placed onto the stove, this is when the villain repeatedly calls her; even though he knows that it’s the ‘wrong number’. This creates suspicion and tension as it’s against the social norm to speak to socialise with the unintended person.

When she realises that he is peculiar and could potentially be dangerous, the pop corn rises.

However when the villain revealed his impatience and becomes angry; the pop corn was causing smoke. This is because the tension increased hugely due to the villain becoming aggressive, which makes the audience realise that she could be in danger as villains in slasher films aren’t afraid to murder innocent

“They’ll never make it in time, we’re out in the middle of nowhere.” This quote from the killer is vital as it makes the audience aware that she is by herself, unable to get help. This is a key code and convention in horror films as the element of danger is manipulated significantly with the fact that she can’t get help, and if she does get attacked, no one will be there to hear it and rescue her.