Textual Analysis: Scream

My final textual analysis is on Scream a horror movie made in 1996

scream begins with a black background and Scream written in bold white lettering, we then hear a sound which appears to be the drawing of a knife shortly followed by a scream, as we hear the scream which belongs to a female, the title which was previously white turns red in a flashing affect. From the screaming we gather that the movie is a horror so instantly associate the red we see as blood, the flashing of the title could symbolize blood spill in a stabbing motion which eventually spreads across the whole screen. Before the film even begins we predict the killing is linked to a stabbing. The film opens with an initially calm woman answering the phone, after a brief conversation she puts the phone down to what was believed to be a wrong number. Shortly after, to her surprise she receives another call, the use of a medium shot portrays her confusion as she turns to answer it. When she answers the call she seems pretty eager to get off the phone and the conversation is again cut short, we then cut to a medium long shot of the house from outside, possibly the view of the mysterious caller. The shot has a creepy feel to it created through the swaying of the swing, the location is very quite which is exaggerated by the sound of crickets, from this we presume that the house is secluded from the city and that it is in the middle of nowhere, meaning the girl is practically doomed.