Opening Sequence of ''Scream''

The use of titles and sound together at the beginning of this film are very effective, as they immediately set the scene. The font of the title of the movie is white, and is noticable against the black. This font then changes colour to red, which has connotations of blood and death and danger. This alone begins to create a tense atomosphere, but the sound accompanied with the title further exaggerates the atmosphere, as it consists of a heartbeat, screams, and a telephone ringing. The heartbeat sound signifies panic, and consequently this feeling reflects in the audience. The screams signify terror, and torture, and fear, which again sets the scene. The fear is also increased due to the fact that the girl can't see who's calling her, which makes the scene more tense and edgy, because the audience don't know the face that matches the voice. The repeated ringing of the phone builds up this fear, and effects the audience more and more every time. The shot of the house after the first two phonecalls builds up the tension and expectation, as it implies to the audience that the caller is outside, watching the house. This shot is very effective in introducing this fact to it's audience. This fact is verified when the caller says ''I wanna know who I'm looking at''. The house that the film is set in has a lot of windows and doors, which creates an atmosphere of tension as the feeling of being exposed is created. The tension created is always built up by the clever use of a close up of the popcorn ready to pop, like tension ready to explode. The use of music at the point in which the girl is rushing to lock the doors is very effective, as it adds a sense of drama to the scence, and makes the audience panic. The close up of the girls face when she says ''What kind of game'' is effective in inflicting fear on the audience, as the girls fear is magnified by the close up, therefore the audience immediately feels everything that she is feeling. The audience to this film would be an older audience, with a high age rating, as the use of sound and camera angles is effective in creating a high fear factor. This is useful to us as a group, as our desired plot is going to be in a house, with someone being watched, and therefore we can use a lot of the skills and techniques that the producers and directors have used in the opening to this film. This film is also useful as it is of the genre we have chosen - teen horror, and therefore various techniques such as the feeling of being watched will prove to be very useful when it comes to  actually filming our piece.