Genre Analysis within Film Openings: Scream

Within film openings, key conventions are pieces of both visual and audible iconography which hint  at which genre the film is to the audience. 

Red is a key convention of horror because it is
the colour of blood, which connotes violence

Throughout the opening of Scream, there are several key conventions of a horror film. At the very beginning, the iconography of the red in the film title is used to connote blood, which is something which is featured in almost all horror films. At the same time, there are a multitude of audio codes being used in order to further connote the genre of horror. The stabbing sound, the emphasised heartbeat and the screaming sound are all key conventions of horror genre, as they all connote violence and fear. 

She appears to be clueless that she is talking to her killer

The first key convention of the horror film which is seen when the film begins is the dumb blonde girl, who is clearly going to be the victim of the film throughout it. However, she is killed within the first ten minutes, which defied the conventions of horror films before it, because these films would often have a protagonist who was troubled until they are eventually killed, or ridded of their demons, by the end.

"I want to know who I'm looking at"

A key convention of horror that runs throughout the opening 5 minutes is the creepy voice of the male character. His voice starts off as being normal, yet becomes progressively creepier throughout the opening, in order to give the viewer a false sense of hope. This voice connotes fear and violence, and the words he is saying match this, as he becomes increasingly more intimidating for the girl, who doesn't know what to do. This signifies that the film is part of the genre of horror because the audience sense the fear of the girl, and this fear then becomes their own, as they fear all of the things that are unknown to them - who is this man, what is he going to do to her and so on. 

An innovative use of the camera in order to tell the audience that the film is part of the genre of horror is the use of a dutch tilt on the camera - this connotes uneasiness and that things aren't quite right, as the audience sees the shots from side on. The camera is also shaky in parts which gives the illusion that the audience are there in the room, seeing it from a shaky perspective. This means that the opening has a high level of verisimilitude, which is a key convention of the genre of horror, because making the audience feel like they are a part of the action makes it much scarier for them, and this is how an audience gains entertainment from a horror movie. 

After the man on the phone says "I want to know who I'm looking at," the non-diegetic music suddenly changes key and becomes quicker, meaning that it sounds more tense. This connotes the fear of the woman, as if she was relaxed then the music would have slowed down in order to show that her emotions have chilled out. Additionally, there is the sound of a dog barking and the high pitched shrill of a crow - both of these noises are uncomfortable to listen to, which is the directors way of using verisimilitude in sound as well as video, as he makes the audience feel uncomfortable and frightened in order to make them feel like they are a part of the film. 

Low key lighting creates lots of shadows - another key
convention of horror.

The lighting which is seen throughout the film opening is fairly low key. This has been done in order to create lots of shadows, which connote mystery and fear, as anything could be "hiding in these shadows". The use of low key lighting in order to create shadows is a key convention of horror, as from the earliest horror films, there would often be the shadows of gravestones created by the moonlight shining on them. However, the film also appears to defy these key conventions of a horror film, as parts of the house are filmed in naturalistic lighting. This naturalistic lighting connotes hope, which gives the audience a false sense of hope that the female character is going to be alright. This had seldom been seen in horror movies before, as the lead character was usually seen as being doomed from the beginning in horror movies before Scream. 

The director seems to be more aware than anybody else about the key conventions of horror movies. This is shown by the self-referential line "come outside to investigate a strange noise". The idea of the victim leaving their house in order to investigate a strange noise is one of the most cliched openings of a horror movie, so by referencing this, the director has shown that he understands the key conventions of a horror movie, even though his film appears to be defying them. 

The music changes throughout the opening, with it gradually building up to the scariest moments, and then dropping back down again. This means that the viewer can predict when the most psychological affecting parts of the film are going to happen, which gives them time to prepare for it. This mental preparation to be scared is what makes the scenes appear even scarier - the audience are subconsciously built up to a crescendo of fear through the use of music, even if they don't realise that they are. 

She is oblivious to the popcorn burning behind her

The most important pieces of iconography within the opening of Scream are the popcorn and the masked killer. The popcorn immediately connotes the watching of a movie, which the female character confirms when she tells her killer that she is "going to watch a scary movie". This is another demonstration of self awareness of the director, as the idea of somebody getting killed whilst preparing to watch a movie about people getting killed is an example of the irony which is a key convention of a self-aware horror movie. Additionally to this, the sound which the popcorn makes connotes the sound of a gunshot, which is a key convention of horror, because it connotes violence and fear. The masked killer is perhaps the most frequently used of all the key conventions in horror - the mask connotes a sense of mystery, fear, violence and audience interaction. The mystery which the mask creates is what makes the violence even scarier for the audience, as they fear even more about why the killer is doing it if they cannot see his face.

To conclude, by studying the opening of Scream, it is clear that it is a film made by people who are completely aware of the generic conventions of horror, yet rather than abiding by all of them, managed to stretch these conventions in order to redefine what is expected of the horror genre almost single handedly.