Scream Opening Scene

Scream Opening Scene

The opening of scream conveys many micro elements that are conventional to the thriller genre. Within this clip we could see a variety of lighting, sound and music, props, costume, and different types of camera angles and shots to express the conventions of thriller.  During this clip we witness mental torture towards the female; she spectates the death of her boyfriend and is also harassed through the phone by the antagonist even after being told to stop repeatedly by the female.

As the scene starts, the setting is within the young, female victim’s home. This suggests to the audience that the female is the main character as she is portrayed as the first victim for the antagonist. This is conventional to a thriller because a thriller film is full of dilemmas and the fact that ‘Scream’ starts off with one, projects the thriller genres stereotype. The use of the low-key lighting creates gloom and doom to the scene which suggests the danger and darkness that’s approaching the female. The antagonist repeatedly calls the female making her feel uncomfortable, he speaks about her private information which leaves the female nervous. As the phone rings, the camera zooms into a close up to the phone He also speaks about her body feature which may make her feel uneasy and harassed as someone has been seeking her body in a sexual manner. The non-diegetic soundtrack that is used when the female feels under pressure after each call, conveys the tension surrounding the scene, the soundtrack has rising sound from different types of instruments each time, causing a unique thrill feeling within the audience. Also the silence of the house enhances the feeling of something scary to suddenly emerge at any moment, keeping the heartbeat rate at a constant high level for the viewers. 

Further into the scene we could recognize the antagonist taking action instead of just producing empty threats. This is conventional to a thriller because it keeps the audience clinging to their seats instead of being bored and getting deceived. The female is instructed to look outside, as she follows; she is frightened at the sight she witnesses. We could see; who we presume is her boyfriend, tied to a chair and highlighted by low-key lighting, the longshot at this moment suggests the gore and disturbance in multiple parts of the body rather than a small area. For example the tied up legs and arms, guts hanging out the stomach and taped mouth, all this wouldn’t be able to be captured in a close up. The effects of the blood and guts pouring out was conventional to a thriller because it would make the audience cringe but curious for the following plots.