Analysis of the Mise-en-Scene in Scream

The costume of the caller 

Imagine being in a house, away from civilisation. No one around, no neighbours, no family in the house, just you! Ring ring, ring ring. The first time a creepy man calls what what you do? Then if he phoned back within 5 seconds of hanging up, would you be calm and flirt over the phone? Then if he phoned up for the third time, would you start to get slightly worried? Finally the fourth time, where he decides to death threat you and hold your boyfriend hostage in you garden. Would you stay on the phone? POP...POP...POP!

Scream is directed by Wes Craven. The setting comes across to the viewer as spooky. There is a house in the middle of a woodland area with no other houses around. We see this when a crane shot is done from over the trees and the sound effect of crickets is played to show the quietness of the area. This automatically creates a sense of danger for the girl in the house. This is also shown when she is the only one in the house as no one answers the phone and there is no ambient noise from people upstairs or in the other room. When she puts the phone down this shows juxtaposition that she is on her own. In the house, the knives on the counter that she fiddles with whilst on the phone to the caller shows that she is probably going to be killed in the end with this knife. The popcorn that she is cooking on the counter creates suspense as the popping gets faster and faster the more times the man calls. This leads on to the different music and noises that are made.

There is a soundbridge from the title to when we first see the girl, it is a scream to show that something bad is going to happen and it also associates with the title of the film and portrays mystery. The heavy, loud music relates to heart beat and is played just before the phone is answered to show not only how the character is feeling but how we should also feel and creating suspense. Additionally, the piano that is being heard creates the feeling that the viewer should be scared and builds up tension. There is also soft music that is heard that builds up in tempo and dramatic music that changes with the tone of the mans voice. This makes us feel scared.

Moreover, there are many camera angles used for different purposes. A tracking shot is used to follow the girl around the house from room to room. This is done to show that she is alone and vulnerable. A crane shot is used and zoomed in on the house to show isolation. Subsequently a fast zoom is used to show the fear on her face when the caller says something no girl home alone in an isolated area wants to hear. Aswell as the camera angle determinating our emotions, the lighting also makes a huge difference. When is it darker in the house, it is going to be more scarier as it builds suspense. There is only light when she turns the light on her boyfriend, which hints he will be okay in the end but the house still in darkness means she on the other hand will not be. 

The costumes in scream give off lots of hints about what will happen. The main character who is blonde has that colour hair for a reason, which is that in a horror film when a girl is blonde, the audience know that she will automatically be killed. The scary character has a white mask and a black cloak which shows he wants to cover himself up. His mask is very unrealistic and looks like it's be stretched out which makes the character seem much more scary. The blonde girl when acting is very good. At first she is flirting with a random man on the phone and telling him she doesn't have a boyfriend maybe she could be perceived as dishonest. When the suspense starts to build up, the fear is actually shown in her face. 

The blonde girl cooking her popcorn.