Textual analysis
Introduction:
The film that I have analysed is “Scream”. The film “Scream” was directed by Wes craven and was written by Keven Williamson. This film was released on the 2nd may 1996. The genre of this film is horror.
This is the front cover for the film “Scream”.
Part one: Narrative and structure
Todorovs equilibrium mode
Todorovs argued that all stories share a common structure . Stories begin with an equilibrium , i.e balance or order.
The film “Scream” follows Todorovs equilibrium model in order to make the film follow. The first step that the film “scream” follows is, the state of normality, this would be when the girl “Kasey Becker” is getting ready to have a quite night in, to watch a movie with some popcorn at the beginning.
The second step of the equilibrium is when the disruptions occur in the film. In the film scream there are several disruptions which take place and continue throughout the film until towards the end. The first disruption is when, the phone rings. Even though “Kasey” has told the person on the other side of the phone that they have got the wrong number, that person still keeps on ringing. “Kasey” then realises, something is wrong when the person keeps on ringing and scares her by making her realise that he his watching her every move and by saying things such as “what door do you think I am at”. The killer in the mask manages to get in the house by breaking a glass door; Kasey is chased around the house and is killed and hanged off a tree with her insides hanging out.
The second disruption is when “Sidney” is at home by herself waiting for her friend “Randy” to come over because her dad is out of town and she is by herself at home, scared because she has heard what has happened to “Kasey”. At this point Sidney is also upset and emotional after hearing what had happened to “Kasey” because it has brought back old memories of how her mother had died. (Her mother was raped and murdered) . At this point the phone rings, at first she thinks it is her friend playing a prank on her , but then she realises that it is someone else when the person on the other end on the phone tells her how her mother had felt when she was about to die. Sidney then runs inside the house and locks her door, but the killer in the mask is inside already. She is then chased in to her room where her boyfriend “Billy” climbs in through her window, the phone drops out of his pocket and Sidney thinks it was him. Billy then gets arrested. These types of disruptions continue throughout the film.
In the equilibrium model there is also a stage where the main protagonists try and restore the equilibrium. In the film “Scream” this would we when the characters try and escape from the serial killer, but the only one that does manage to escape is Sidney.
The new equilibrium is when Sidney finds out that her own boyfriend Billy is the serial killer and not who she thought it was. The equilibrium is then restored when her and the news reporter Gail kill Billy.
Binary oppositions: Cluade Levi- Strauss was an anthropologist who suggested that the production of meaning depended on the concept production of binary opposites.
As well, as following the equilibrium model the film scream also follows the Binary opposite model:
. The killer wears a mask to hide his identity were as the victims don’t
. The killer only kills the people who are not virgins.
. The police follow the law of order – and the killer doesn’t- he follows the law of disorder
.
In terms of chronological and non-chronological order the film “Scream” would be in chronological order, because the film continues on from one point to another. After one killing has happened another one takes place.
.In terms of open or closed narrative the film “Scream” has a closed narrative this is because the serial killer “Billy” and his friend get killed in the end by “Sidney”.
The film “Scream” has a restricted narrative because it holds back some information from the audience. We as a audience do not know who the serial killer is until the end so, we are left guessing, who the killer could be, until the end of the film.
Part 2 : Genre and conventions
In the film “Scream” the characters are typical of their genre. This is because firstly in this film they use teenagers as the main characters. This is also the case in the horror film “ One missed call” where teenagers are the main characters.
Behaviour: All the characters still go to high school; they all like to hang around with each other out side school. E.g. When Sidney, Billy Randy, Stewart, were all hanging outside school on the fountain and Stewart was Stewart was making jokes about Kasey getting killed. It shows a negative stereotype of teenagers, it shows that teenagers are insensitive and don’t care about anyone but themselves.
Way of speaking: The senior police officer talks like a typical grown, for example when Dewy asked him if he thought Billy was the killer he replied “20 years ago I wouldn’t of, but the kids now days you never know what to expect.
The teenagers- especially the boys –Stewart, and Billy use allot of swearing when they are talking ,e.g. when Billy was on the phone as a killer he said to Kasey” I told you not to put the phone down on me BITCH” – This also shows a negative stereotype of young teenage boys for using foul language.
Facial Expressions:
Body Language: The body languages for the main character were like typical teenagers, for example:
. Billy was slouching when he was sitting on the chair and the senior police officer was asking him questions.
Hair and makeup: typical teenager styles.
Boys: Billy- curtains for hair style, wears jeans and t-shirts and sometimes shirt with buttons open and a white t-shirt underneath.
Stewart: Short hair that stand up (like spikes but it isn’t spikes) He wears too sleeved t-shirts that are rolled up sometimes or sometimes he wears short sleeve t-shirts , with trousers matching the colour of his top that he is wearing
Girls: Sidney wears normally tops sometimes they are long sleeved, she wears trousers or sometimes a skirt, her hair is some time tied up in a ponytail or is left out sometime.
Randy: wears skirts a polo neck jumper with a jacket that is short and comes just above her waist. , or sometimes sleeve less tops with a skirt, this was when she went to Stewarts party. And her hair is always opened.
Kasey: White jumper with white trousers and had her opened.
Kasey’s boyfriend: He was wearing a footballer’s jacket, light blue jeans, and a t-shirt with white trainers, he also had short hair.
All these outfits and hairstyles are typical teenage wear which is typical of the genre of the film as the main characters in the film scream are teenagers. This is also the case for the film “Scary movie”.
This image shows how the characters are dressed in the film scream.
Police officers: Dressed wearing police officer uniforms.
Gail: Was dressed wearing suits – to go with the part that she was playing in the film, to make her look like a news reporter.
Gail’s assistant: He was over weight. Wearing t-shirt with a no sleeve jacket on top, and was wearing jeans and a cap he also has a moustache – he looked like a typical camera man.
Narrative functions: The film “Scream” follows the narrative functions of a horror film, which in clued the following:
. A mask-to keeps the identity of the killer hidden
. A kitchen knife- used to kill people.
. Non diegetic sound – the drums, and tambourines used every time something bad is going to happen, the “Scream” at the beginning before the title of the film comes up. And the screeching to give a creepy atmosphere.
. Blood- of the victims
. Police and camera crew
All these things are essential as they make up a horror film.
Storyline:
The storyline for the film “Scream” is typical of the genre horror. This is because this film has teenagers as the main characters, and in most horror films teenagers are the main characters. This is also the case for the film “One missed call" other reason why typical of its genre is because it has females as the main victim,( Kasey, Sidney and Randy) it shows that women are vulnerable and cannot defend themselves .
Another reason for why “Scream” is typical of the genre Horror is because; this film has the typical conventions of a horror film. The typical conventions are:
. The serial killer has kept his identity hidden from the audience by wearing a mask.
. There’s police involved- trying to solve the mystery of who the killer can be
. There a news reporters –
. There are killings – with all the disgusting details, such as the guts and the insides hanging out, and there is allot of blood involved.
The serial killer is a psycopathic killer-who stalks the vivtims and then kills thaem in the sequence
The serial killer - carries a knife to kill the victims
. It leaves the audience thinking with who the killer could be – until the right end, where the identity of the killer is revealed.( Sidney finds out that it was Billy who was the killer).
Sound:
The film “Scream” uses allot of sound that makes it a horror film, it uses sound such as:
Digetic sound: The door bell rings, this is often when the victim is on the phone to the killer e.g. when Kasey at the beginning was on the phone to the killer, this was so that Kasey she gets scared and freaks out.
The phone rings : This happens nearly before every killing that takes place , this is so that the killer can have a conversation with the victim , and scar the victim. E.g. , when Sidney was at home by herself the killer called, and he said things to her that made her relies that her life is in danger. The phone ringing can also signify the start of something bad is going to happen, because nearly before every killing that happens the first thing that happens is the phone rings.
These two pictures show “Kasey” the first victim answering the phone just before her death.
Slasher noises: you hear this type of sound when the killer stabs the victims to death and then pulls there insides out.
Popcorn sizzling: This was when Kasey was making her popcorn to watch a film , as the tension rise the noise of the popcorn also raised to emphasise danger maybe.
This is a picture of the popcorn rises as the tension between Kasey and the killer rises over the phone.
Non diegetic sound:
. At the beginning before the title “SCREAM” comes up we hear a scream and a drum sound.
This is the point where we hear the scream sound
There was romantic music- when there was a romantic scene between Billy and Sidney.
. Drums, tambourines and violins were used each time a killing was about to take place. This sound increased as the tension increase, usually when the victim was running away from the killer.
. A drum beat was heard every time the killer said something that would be shocking for the victim. For example when he said to Sidney” your mother was scared before she was about to die” at this point we heard a sort of drum sound to emphasise that Sidney was shocked.
Mise-en-scene:
Props: A kitchen knife – to kill people, this is a typical prop for a horror film, because nearly all horror films use some sort of knife to kill. For example in the film Halloween.
A camera – In the film “Scream” the News reporter Gail has a camera to record what is happening.
A microphone- The news reporter Gail also has a microphone to take interviews, this important as it shows that she is a news reporter.
A mask- so that the killer can hide his identity from the audience.
This is the mask the killer uses to hide his identity.
Setting: “Scream” is mostly set in someone’s house as this is where most of the action happens. This is also a typical convention of a horror film because in most horror films, a house is the best place, as it gives the victims more places to hide and run. For example in scream the victims were always in a house when they were getting attacked , and they would always run upstairs, and lock themselves in some room etc. This also happens in the film “Halloween” and " Friday the 13th"
This image shows the setting of the film it shows that the film is set in a house.
Lighting: The lighting for the film “Scream” is mostly dark, this is because it relate to the genre of the film and gives the film a correct atmosphere. For example, whenever the victim was being attacked or was about to be attacked the lighting would be dark so that it relates to the scene taking place. This is also the case for horror films such as “Jeepers Creeper” and “Halloween”.
Camera: The film “Scream” uses allot of shot-reverse shot- this is to show the tension and the fear that the characters are going through. For Example when “Kasey” was on the phone to the killer and she ran outside shot –reverse – shot was used to show her looking inside the house and then show her reaction, or another example could be when Sidney, Billy , Randy and Stewart were sitting outside the school having a conversation , shot reverse shot was used to show this.
Panning was also used to show the victim looking around to see if they can see the killer.
Tracking was also used to follow the action happening between the victim and the killer.
Front shot: there were also front shots used in scream to show all of the action.
This was one of the scenes were affront shot was use in order to show the full action of how the killer grabs hold of Kasey.
High angle shot was used – when the killer was on top Kasey trying to stab her.
This was where the high angle shot was used- This was when the killer was on top of Kasey.
Low angle shot was used when Kasey or Sidney were looking up at the killer when he was on top of them trying to kill them.
This was where the low angle shot was used. This was when Kasey and Sidney were looking up at the killer when he was on top of them.
Editing: The editing for the film is mostly face past and quick, this is because in horror films there is allot of chasing, when the killer is chasing the victim and allot of things happen quickly. This is also the case in the film “Halloween” when the killer is stalking the baby sitter and also in the film Friday the 13TH
