Analyses of opening sequence in Scream.

Scream (1996) is an American horror film directed by Wes Craven. Wes is best known for the horror film, 'A Nightmare on Elm Street (1986). Having done many horror films before, Craven knows what does and what does not make an audience jump and because of this he has won many awards for it.

In Scream the sound effects used are extremely effective as it helps create suspense and tension. It gives the film some "oomph" as it gets your heart racing and makes you feel uncomfortable. In Scream's opening sequence we can already tell something isn't right as the telephone continuously rings. This is known as a digetic effect. Digetic sounds are used to create suspense. He also uses other digetic sounds such as; breathing, door bell ringing, a dog barking, crickets, screaming etc to increase the suspense. However, not only does it help to create suspence but also helps to make it more enjoyable by making the audience feel involved as they are able to get a similar fear as the character. Non-digetic sounds are sounds such as music. Music plays an important role in horror films since it too helps to create a sense of fright. In Scream, the digetic music is rapid and loud, creating a sense of fear and anxiousness.