Analysed horror slasher clip - Scream (1996)

Analysed horror slasher clip - Scream (1996)

In the opening scene for Scream (1996), the costume for the victim/protagonist was a beige jumper and light pale blue trousers which can suggest innocence as a jumper gives the impression to the audience of a warm, comfortable person and makes her innocent as the clothing is not provocative. Also the director chooses the beige jumper, as it is a light colour which if any blood is on the jumper it emphasizes the blood and  makes it more visible for the audience which creates more of an unsettling feel for the audience (could potentially reinforce the fear of gore) By her being seen as innocent from the audience, the audience can sympathize with the character which by her being in danger makes the audience feel tense as they do not want her to be harmed in any way, whereas if it is someone who is not innocent the audience may not be as sympathetic towards the character's well-being.

The setting was set at an isolated house in the middle of nowhere which adds more vulnerability to the victim as she has no one to help her and creates the feeling that she is trapped which therefore the audience may feel tense and be on edge as they are anticipating that she is going to be attacked by the antagonist. The setting is also set at night which night time connotes as sinister, dark, and evil which is being emphasized and creates the clash between good vs evil (binary opposite, Strauss), by the time of day being at night, it may evoke fears of evil and death to the audience.

The colour of the interior of the house can be seen as innocent and pure and by the dim lighting near window creating shadows it can be perceived as the darkness is slowly lurking inside the home in which the antagonist may target the protagonist whom is perceived as pure and innocent which emphasizes the innocence of the protagonist. Also the director has chosen the interior of the house to be the colour white as it emphasizes the colour of blood if any blood is splashed on the walls which can make the audience surmise that there may be gore in the near future which may lead to dread and fear.

There was only one prop used which the protagonist used which was the white phone which makes it more sinister and psychologically scary as the audience cannot see the antagonist but only hear him talking to her and him being near her which can reinforce the fear of the unknown to the audience which they may feel tense ans they might expect him to make a frightening appearance in the near future but the audience does not know when which makes the audience feel dread due to the anticipation.

There was various camera shots used which was the use of long shots on the protagonist which is used to make her look smaller in size which makes her look more vulnerable and also the use of the camera movement of tracking which can be seen as if she is being followed and hunted by the antagonist which makes the audience feel tense as they are watching her being hunted by the antagonist and may not want her to be attacked from the antagonist and feel tense because they cannot control the situation and the outcome. There was also close ups of the popcorn on the stove which the popcorn is getting bigger which can suggest that metaphorically the problem arising in the current situation is getting bigger as the intensity increases which makes the audience feel on edge.

There was stings used to make the audience feel frightened and unsettled, there was also diegetic stings towards the protagonist as at the current time she was scared and heard the door bell ring made her startled and the same with the phone ringing, and by her reaction of screaming of fear makes the audience sympathize with her and again creates the same feeling of tension and an unsettling feeling as the audience may not want to see the innocent protagonist harmed.

The narrative structure of this scene could be identified with Tzvetan Todorov's narrative theory of the five stages of the narrative which in this scene, the first and second stage could be identified as the there is an equilibrium (innocent protagonist at home making popcorn), and a disruption to the equilibrium (the antagonist scaring the innocent protagonist). Another narrative theory used is Strauss' theory is based on binary opposites which can be seen within the scene such as light vs dark, innocent vs evil, male vs female, and weak vs strong.

There was many codes and conventions used within this scene.One convention used was the location/setting being isolated which she was at a house in the middle of know-where and away from society (no one to call for help). Another convention used was low lighting to create shadows to make the atmosphere more sinister which there was low lighting near the window within the protagonist's house creating shadow on the white walls (which helps the shadows to be seen better for the audience's perspective). Also another convention used was stings which was used to alert and startle the audience which were used at various times within the scene. Another code and convention used was the camera movement of tracking on the protagonist to make it feel like she is being followed and hunted.

For my main task, i will use some of those codes and conventions such as the setting being of an isolated place to make the protagonist(s) more vulnerable and weaker, I would also use stings to increase the stimulus intensity, for example, a hand grabbing the protagonist being supported by a sting (loud noise). Also I might use the code and convention of the camera movement of tracking being used on the protagonist to make out that they are being followed and hunted by the antagonist which will create tension for the audience.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3lSvJ5RXKA