Understanding Movies

Megan McKim

12/14/15

Understanding Movies

Fall 2015        

        Scary movies draw in different kinds of viewers.  Some who like to be scared and some who like to figure out who the killer is before the movie reveals it.  In the movie Scream directed by Wes Craven in 1996, the first scene opens up to the phone ringing and a what seems to be innocent girl home alone. Wes Craven uses sound, cinematography and mise-en-scene to show the viewers to catch the viewers’ attention and to keep them guessing what is going to happen next.

The first element that is used in the movie is sound. This is shown when the title appears and you hear a loud bang and high pitch screaming in the background.  This sets the viewers mind that something bad is going to happen.  The scene opens up with the phone ringing and Casey played by Drew Barrymore answers it.  She isn’t sure who is on the other end and tells them that they have the wrong number and hangs up.  When the mystery voice keeps calling back this leads to the viewers suspense because they know it is the killer but Casey has no idea what is going on.  At one point while Casey is talking to the voice on the phone he says he wants to know who he is looking at and then you hear a dog bark as if someone is outside the house.  Another important sound that is heard is the popcorn on the stove.  As the scene is unfolding the popcorn is beginning to pop and it gets louder and louder adding to the suspense of the scene for the viewer making it seem like something is about to happen.  As the killer on the phone starts to reveal his plan the non-diegetic music gets louder and once again emphasizes something is about to happen. The scene ends with a blood curdling scream just as it had started.

The next element that Wes Craven used was cinematography.  The scene is set up with a blonde girl in a house all by herself.  The house has many different windows that you can see into a house, perfect set up for a scary movie. Wes uses the camera movement in the beginning of the scene when he is panning down the tree in the yard and shows that the swing is moving as if someone just got off it even though the only person we see is Casey inside.  This leads to the viewer getting chills that someone is outside the house.  He also has the camera follow Casey around the house as if someone is watching her from outside.  He also uses cinematography with the lighting in the house, he has low lighting in parts of the house so make it seem a little creepier for the viewer.  When Casey realizes that the mystery knows what she looks like she gets frantic and starts running around the house locking the doors.  He uses an over the shoulder camera shot while she is looking out the window of the front door so the viewer can see what she is looking at.  Another camera movement Wes uses is when he is slowly zooming in on Casey as she is hunched over in a ball shape crying in the corner.  This shows that she is weak and does not know what to do and that she is probably the killer’s next victim.  Another over the shoulder movement is between the killer and Casey as the killer stabs her in the neck. And right after that he uses a low angle shot to look up to Caseys parents who just pulled up to show that she is looking up at them hoping they would be able to help her.