AN: Technical Analysis, Scream (Craven, 1996)

For our opening we have decided to create an opening of a slasher film with some supernatural elements. I decided therefore that a good film to look into would be Scream (Craven, 1996) which is a film that pays homage to the popular slasher films of the 80s whilst at the same time building suspense and atmosphere effectively.

Camera shot	Duration	Mise-en-scene	Sound
None	0 – 0:08	Scream title flashes in then is re-coloured red	Opens with a boom then a heartbeat plays in background along with screaming and a knife being drawn
Sustained close up of phone and pan up to tracking of girl	0:08 – 0:32	Phone on wood table next to floral furniture, girl in centre frame, girl shown wearing a jumper	Phone rings then protagonist and antagonist speak on phone until she puts phone back down
Top shot of phone then pan up to locked down Dutch tilt shot	0:32 – 0:52	She picks up the phone again shown in centre shot then walks off shot	Phone rings again she picks up and speaks to antagonist again
Pan down to establishing shot of house	0:52 -1:02	Tree dark with some light from moon, swing in centre frame with house white and well lit	Extra diagetic sound of animals with creaking of rope suspending swing
Close up of stove	1:02 – 1:05	Stove is turned on and then popcorn tray put on top	Sound of stove and metallic clink as popcorn tray put on stove
Medium tracking shot of girl	1:05 – 1:46	Girl peels off top of popcorn tray then walks over and picks up phone then mug, girl shakes tray of popcorn as it cooks girl leans on counter and pulls up knife from rack	Girl peels of top of popcorn tray then sighs picking up the phone and chats again with antagonist, sounds of popcorn being shook when tray shaken, sound of knife being drawn when she picks up knife from rack
Medium long shot of popcorn	1:46 – 1:49	Popcorn tin slowly expanding	Sound bridge of phone conversation with sounds of popcorn expanding in tray
Sustained tracking shot of girl then zoom on girls face	1:49 – 2:29	Girl picks up videos and walks through to living room,  puts videos on top of TV, girl’s smile turns to fear then turns on garden lights	Conversation continues, locking sound when she touches plant walking past, non diagetic high pitched sound kicks in, a dog can be heard barking
Medium close up of girl through garden door	2:29 – 2:31	Girl looks over the garden looking scared	Non diagetic plucking of strings antagonist talks on phone
POV panning shot	2:31 – 2:34	Camera looks over garden	Ditto
Cut back to medium close up of girl	2:34 – 2:36	Girl moves over to light switch	Ditto
Medium shot of girl	2:36 – 2:39	Girl turns off garden lights and moves over to lock door	Ditto
Close up of lock	2:39 – 2:40	Girl locks the door	Sound of lock and ditto
Cut back to medium shot through door	2:39 – 2:43	Girl hangs up and walks off shot	Sound of phone hanging up conversation ends
Close up of popcorn	2:43 – 2:47	Popcorn tray starts to catch fire	Popcorn popping and loud pop of bag
Sustained tracking shot of girl	2:47 – 3:28	Girl walks back through to kitchen after hanging up again she then picks up phone again as she is about to stop the stove	Phone rings twice with threats from killer who also reveals he knows girl’s name on second ring, protagonist sounds scared, sounds of popcorn continue
Tracking shot of girl	3:28 – 3:38	Girl runs down corridor and locks doors	Soundtrack heightens with the orchestra kicking in

Iconic frames

• the title for scream is done simply with the lettering put on a simple black background with a recognisable white font. this type of titling is very common in the genre as most slashers were made on a low budget so had basic titles.
• The opening of Scream gets straight into the action with the protagonist of the scene picking up the phone which is repeatedly called on throughout the opening as the antagonist's main way of scaring the protagonist in the scene. i like the idea of using a key prop throughout the scene and could be something to add to our project.
• There is very little use of non-diagetic sound for a majority of the scene and it is only used when it becomes more apparent there is some sort of threat with the music really building after the antagonist threatens to kill the protagonist for hanging up. The scene highlights how subdued sound in films can help enhance the impact of a scene and help create suspense.
• The scene mainly uses long tracking shots for a majority of the scene with some taking upwards of half a minute, the cutting rate noticeably increases when the threat the antagonist presents becomes more apparent by saying he's "watching her".
• The scene uses juxtaposition throughout to represent tone and tension for example, the main character's tone of voice demonstrates the current mood of the scene
  
  starting with a relaxed tone before slowly moving towards unnerved and eventually terrified, whilst the popcorn tray slowly expanding until it starts to burst with pressure also demonstrates the tension in the scene.
• The film is referential to slasher tropes as well as talking abut some well known slasher films such as Halloween. the film occasionally plays these references and choices for laughs but also understand how they were used to build tension effectively e.g. the killer having total control of the situation throughout even when the protagonist tries to gain control by threatening to call the police.