Genre
This film is notorious for being the iconic example of a "slasher" film, in which the characters are slowly killed off before a final character defeats or unveils the murderer, who usually has some link to the victims. The opening sequence of Scream starts with a phone call from a mysterious, creepy man with a gravelly voice asking the protagonist personal questions, before threatening her. The chilling voice combined with the threats make this opening very conventional of the genre.
Form and Style of Opening
The mans gravelly, chilling voice through the phone is intimidating and scary, so even when he is asking innocent questions at the beginning of the extract such as "Who is this...what number is this?" the audience feels a sense of foreboding. The way the audience suspects the phone caller is evil from the start (from the sound of the voice and the manner of speech) yet the protagonist does not, making her seem more innocent and vulnerable. This is one way we are made to sympathize and care for the character. The title is of a black screen with the white text "Scream" on it. This is followed by a scream and the sound of a knife chopping flesh, and the text turns red, connoting blood. This is mixed in with the sound of a phone ringing, which is the first shot shown, emphasizing the importance of the phone call, and the phone as being a metaphor for the murderer. Furthermore the title "scream" connotes terror, and violence; something we soon find is a prevalent key theme in the film.
Film Language - Telling the Story
The phone prop acts as the only way we interact with the murderer, as we cannot see him. Therefore the phone becomes a metaphor for him, so when she runs around holding the phone it is as though she can't escape him because he always accesses her through it. In terms of costume and location, she is an attractive, made-up young woman in a comfortable-looking homely jumper; making her seem more realistic and vulnerable to the audience.
Furthermore the house is a normal, homely house which makes the sequence even more realistic the target audience; increasing the audiences ability to relate to the fear of the character. Camera angles are considered to increase the sense of foreboding the audience feels in the sequence, for example during the phone call a canted, or "dutch", angle is used, making the audience sub consciously feel that something is fundamentally wrong in the scene.
First call [Normal angle]
Second Call [Canted angle]
Narrative
"Scream" relies on the audiences ability to relate to the character in order to make them sympathise with her as she spirals towards her inevitable death. This is why the character is a stereotypical young lady, preparing to watch a film just like the audience is, cooking popcorn in her normal looking home. This regular character is made to match the target audience of the film, so that they feel as though they are in a similar situation as her and thus experience the fear on a greater level. Furthermore the juxtaposition of such horrific events in such a comfortable, homely location creates a sickening sort of antithesis that troubles the audience and emphasises the fear they feel (if they are reading the text correctly).
Media Audiences
The target audience for "Scream" is 15-20 year old male and females, because the character is of a similar age and ironically a similar situation to the audience, about to watch a horror movie (within the horror movie) the audience can relate to her better.
Ideological Discourse
The target audience for slasher/horror films is predominantly males aged 15-25, so as a result this opening scene is tailor-made to affect people of that description the most. This is why the protagonist is a stereotypical blonde woman, who is shown to be vulnerable and terrified. The ideological discourse in the scene presents the woman as fundamentally vulnerable and in need of rescue. The predominantly male audience watching this film would see this and (if they read the text in the desired manner) feel the need to protect her, forcing them to feel more emotionally attached to her. This character is quite a regressive representation of women, as she is shown to be weak and scared, crying for her male partner when in need of protection. This scene therefore promotes dominant, or perhaps residual ideologies of women as weak people in need of a mans protection.
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