Research: Scream Analysis - Miss Begum

Thriller Analysis - Miss Begum

How is the opening scene to ‘Scream’ conventional to thriller openings?

 The opening of ‘Scream’ has several significant moments that occur. It is conventional to thriller openings with the themes that are being suggested such as torture, murder and kidnap. There are also conventional uses of cinematography, sound, editing and mise en scene which create a tense atmosphere and excitement. This gives the audience a thrill and allows them to sympathise with protagonists and be fearful of antagonists.

In the first scene, the cinematography and editing that is being used are medium shots and straight cuts, this is to present an unpredictable and nerve wrecking atmosphere to make the audience aware of the setting. The setting is a normal house which suggests innocence and tranquility. This is ironic as the audience can perceive that something bad is about to happen due to the low key lighting and the off screen sound which are the crickets outside, this is the only other sound we can hear apart from the conversation the woman is having on the phone. The sound is extremely chilling as you associate crickets with a field or an empty open space, the fact we can hear them means it is very quiet. In terms of mise en scene, the character we see on screen is wearing white, and lighter coloured clothes. This demonstrates that she is the victim which is also conventional in a thriller as victims tend to be blonde white women which is a pattern in thriller movies as we should feel sympathy for them. This is due to the fact they are being victimized according to a certain theme, such as kidnap or torture.  In addition to this, her body language is very casual as she feels comfortable in her own home, she is not tense or stressed about anything, despite the fact her facial expressions vary from smiling to being confused as she is on the phone to a man she clearly does not want to speak to, but keeps calling back. By extension, this confuses the audience, making sure the audience don’t know what is actually going on as she keeps getting the phone calls. The use of the under lighting can also tell us that there is a dark tone to this scene, as well as suggest that something bad is about to happen. This is conventional in combination with the setting as they contrast each other in terms of good and evil, the high key lighting represents good and the dark tone represents bad, ultimately frightening the audience as they know something bad is about to happen. The audience’s reaction can therefore be curious and nerve wrecking. These are all conventional reactions for an audience to a thriller opening, as it is also parallel to the conventional themes of a thriller.

As the scene develops the unknown person on the phone suggests that he is looking at her, we are able to see a contrast in lighting during the medium shot, right before the character’s facial expression drastically changes and the camera zooms in, there is high key lighting on the right side and low key on the left, outside. The protagonist is frightened as she learns the person she is speaking to is watching her, we learn this from the off screen dialogue from the phone. This contrast in lighting further confuses the audience as it shows both comfortable high key lighting and a darker tone, this can also suggest that something bad is happening outside, or about to happen.

As the second scene begins, there is use of the camera zooming in and we are only able to see the low key lighting that surrounds the victim. This demonstrates that something bad is about to happen due to the combination of the close up and the victim’s petrified facial expression. The audience would have a tense reaction to this as they are worried for the character who has shown innocence until this point. The phone is a use of iconography as it is present throughout all the scenes, the camera follows the woman on the phone as she is nervously walking around her house in fear, checking the windows and the woman reacts to the off screen sound on the phone, therefore the phone is the most important use of iconography. The scene drastically changes when the character walks outside and there is clear under lighting combined with low key lighting, as well as this there is non diegetic sound which is high pitched and very consistent this creates a very tense atmosphere which is a very common convention in thrillers. The unknown antagonist keeps calling her phone and threatening her not to hang up on him. As the scene builds up and the camera zooms into the characters face and we are aware of her terrified facial expression, she is receiving a death threat through the phone as she hung up the phone on him which causes him to build his anger and speak in a much more aggressive tone. This is evident due to her expression and the audience begin to feel increasingly afraid for her character especially as the sound drops to a lower tone which represents danger, this tone is then consistent throughout. The unknown antagonist is becoming agitated as his tone has drastically changed into a more violent, aggressive one. After this, the scene is now generally very dark and we are now very sure that something out of the norm is going to happen, for example a murder or a break in. The use of blue colour connotes this as blue can present sadness or distress. There are consistent booming sounds which are non-diegetic and this represents a build up to very fast paced music as the protagonist is hysterical because the antagonist is watching her and knows her name. She begins to run which is parallel to the fast paced music and this gives the audience a sense of excitement in combination with the distressing scene.

Out of distress she makes it evident to the caller that she does have a boyfriend, showing that he had lied earlier, annoying the caller even more, she describes him while screaming out in distress as she attempts to suggest that her boyfriend would protect her. In the last scene we analyse, there is a sudden jump cut to a long shot of the protagonists boyfriend who is tied up and bleeding as the victim turns around, we can assume that he is held against his will in this situation; a hostage, which is a conventional theme in a thriller. The long shot can show the audience the whole picture as we can see the man and the kind of situation he is in. He is in a casual setting in a back porch. This shows that he is not willingly there and something violent has and will occur. The setting also allows the audience to understand that the protagonist’s safety has been broken down as she has previously suggested her boyfriend would protect her and the audience can feel worried for her. The audience now fear that the same will happen to her. There is then a reaction shot of the woman as she sees her boyfriend who is tied up. This jump cut surprises the audience and fills them with fear as it is unexpected and we are unaware as to how the antagonist is able to torture this woman and her boyfriend as he is unseen throughout the scene. The sound is now very quiet to emphasise the phone conversation and a sense of isolation so we can sympathise with the character. The unchanging dark tone through the rest of the scene is an effective set up for the murderous activities that take place, this makes the audience feel uneasy and it is very conventional in thriller openings.

In conclusion, the opening to scream is conventional to thriller openings as it follows the themes of a conventional thriller, scream has a clear kidnapping situation, as well as murder. This is a common theme in thrillers as is presents disturbed scenes to give the audiences frightened reactions. In addition to this the cinematography is also a convention in thrillers as close up shots are used to show reactions of characters on screen, the lighting is also a convention as low key lighting is common in most thrillers as it is vital to convey the tense atmosphere for the audience to understand the situation the character is in. These micro elements are all used to draw out an appropriate reaction from the audience as we feel sympathy for the characters on screen, as well as being scared of the character on the phone through off screen and non diegetic sound, we are unable to see the antagonists face but we can hear them. Therefore with the audience’s reactions we are able to understand that the opening to scream is conventional to thriller openings.