During the opening
scene of Scream the opening shot is the title of the film, straight away we
hear the diegetic sound of a telephone ringing along with the title that is
white on a black background but slowly turns red. This is a convention of a
horror film as nowadays, most horror films use white writing on a black
background but the red can connote, blood, death and violence. The next shot is
a close up of the telephone ringing which leads to a close up shot of a woman
picking up the phone, the audience understand that this girl will be one of the
main characters. Naïve to the fact of who is on the phone, she hangs up when
she realises he has the wrong number, as she walks away the phone rings again
her face expression connotes confusion, but believes it is a coincidence that
the phone rang again, showing a close up of the telephone again, the shot turns
back to the woman in a slightly slanted medium shot, showing the back door in
the background, this makes the audience slightly eerie as they are worried that
someone will be in the background and will be ready to jump out, which is also
a general convention of a horror film. Straight away the audience are given the
enigma as to who is on the phone and why they keep calling to the house.
In the next shot we
are shown is an establishing shot of where the scene is set, is shows a large
house in what seems like a rural area due to the vast amount of trees and
nature around it. There is no diegetic sound which can also play a part in
building tension, as we are oblivious as to what is going to happen next. The
next shot is an extreme close up of a gas cooker turning on and the woman
putting a tray of popcorn over it, while doing this the phone rings again.
Throughout the next medium shot the woman is walking around her kitchen and
leans down on the counter, the audience would be curious as to why she is still
on the phone to a stranger and would think she is quite stupid as she doesn't
know who this person is or why he is constantly calling. As he asks her
favourite movie, she reply's with Halloween, and pulls out a knife from the
knife block. The knife can connote to the audience that something gruesome is
likely to happen; it can also connote violence and death. The knife is an
important symbol as it starts to build up tension for the opening scene and for
the audience. Another contributor to the build of tension is the close ups of
popcorn that is being cooked, as it grows larger and larger it can connote the build-up
of tension in the scene.
As the conversation
goes on the audience have still not been given the answer to the enigma as to
who is on the phone, and the audience start to realise the woman gets too
comfortable with the unknown caller, she starts to flirt with him as she tells
him she is single and jokes about going on a date with him, this is a
convention of a horror film as the teenagers usually deserve to die and in this
case the woman is not being sensible as she is flirting with a man she does not
know and is naïve to whom he could be, so believes flirting is harmless.
The tension starts to
rapidly increase as suddenly he asks her name because he wants to know who he
is looking at, which is unusual as he could not possibly see the girl as he is
on the phone to her, the audience are suddenly given another enigma as to if
the caller is in the house or if not watching the woman from outside, giving
the scene an eerie effect. As he says this, the shot suddenly goes from a
medium shot to a close up, her face expression can suggest she is scared and
uneasy about the situation she is in. The non-diegetic sound starts to play in
the background, which is a convention of a horror as it helps to build suspense
and scares the audience as they are given the feeling that something is going
to suddenly happen which they are oblivious to. The diegetic sound of a dogs
bark makes her turn her head in panic suggesting she is now anxious and
worried. As she turns and turns on the patio lights we are shown a long shot of
her patio, the audience are given the effect that she wants to make sure she is
safe and no danger is in close range to her.
The next shot is a
medium shot of her back turning of the patio doors and then we are shown a
close up of the woman locking the door, this can suggest she is starting to
panic and builds tension for the audience as we are slowly starting to reach
the climax of the scene. As the woman becomes resistant to keep talking to the
speaker, his tone of voice gets more aggressive, this can connote anger and
frustration. Again, we are shown another close up of the popcorn which build up
more tension as it now looks full and almost ready to burst, which can suggest
we are about to reach the climax and it is about to burst and something scary
is about to happen.
Obviously as another
convention of a horror film, the woman starts to panic and realises she has
made a mistake, the phone rings again, and now the audience can tell she is
more reluctant and she takes longer to answer, her facial and body expression
suggests that she is nervous and fidgety and is concerned about what the caller
might say. Her tone of voice also becomes more aggressive which is different as
before she was happily flirting with him. As she hangs up again and walks into
the kitchen the shots become faster and her actions get a lot more aggressive
and faster as well.
Reaching for the
popcorn, the phone rings again and her body and facial expression connotes
anger and frustration, picking up the phone she screams 'listen asshole!' which
can connote that she is trying to scare him off and is trying to show that she
is fearless towards the unknown caller. Before she can finish her sentence the
caller disrupts her sentence with even more anger, threatening to 'gut her like
a fish' if she hangs up again, the sudden climax alerts the audience and the
medium shot again moves further into a close up, suggesting that the woman
feels threatened and isolated as she has nowhere to go. Her facial expression
connotes fear and absolute terror. The woman's tone of voice becomes very
fragile and quiet, connoting her weakness which is a convention of a horror
film, as woman are usually seen as the victim and are the weaker gender
compared to the male e.g. antagonist being the more dominant scarier character.
The voice on the phone starts to tease her and as she backs away trying to find
a place of comfort and safety, the unknown caller, calls the woman a 'blondie'
which gives the audience the idea that he is watching her.
In absolute fear and
panic she runs all over the house showing medium shots of the woman running and
locking all the doors in her house, connoting that she is panicking and is
trying to defend herself by keeping the house locked and safe from anyone
getting in. The non-diegetic sound picks up and gets louder, creating a more
dramatic and chaotic atmosphere. The loud dramatic music is a convention of a
horror film as it builds tension and fear throughout the audience. The next
shot is a close up of her peering through the front door window, checking if
anyone is outside, her eyes connote dread and despair and she is literally
trembling with fear. The panting of her breath suggests to the audience that
she is frightened and it is stopping her from staying calm. The non-diegetic
sound becomes quiet again just as the protagonist is taunting her, he suddenly
tells her that he wants to 'see what your insides look like' this presents vile
and gruesome imagery to the audience and would make them feel uncomfortable. At
this point the non-diegetic sound suddenly picks up again and becomes very loud
and rapidly increases the tension. The woman’s facial expression connotes that
she has become hysterical and in complete dismay, the audience would connect
with the character as when putting themselves into her position they would feel
the same. The facial expression is a general convention of a horror as the
victim should feel terror and show it through their face or body movements.
As she hangs up the
phone and walks away we are shown a long shot of her back walking away, she is
struggling to breathe which connotes that she is distraught and is rapidly
losing hope. Suddenly, the diegetic sound of a doorbell rings and makes the
woman jump, panic and scream. She shouts 'who's there' which is a general line
of a horror film as is it usually ironic and that it will be the villain. As
she runs to a medium shot of her picking up the phone, in hope to call the
police, the phone rings in her hand making her scream and panic even more,
connoting she is in absolute chaos and doesn't know what to do. Of course the
caller on the phone is the protagonist and as he is still constantly talking to
her throwing threats the camera slowly zooms from a long shot into a medium
shot, but follows her slowly while she is backing away from the front door. This
builds tension as the slow moving pace of the camera creates an eerie effect
which would usually be a convention of a horror as they would end up which a
scary shot, making the audience jump.
While the camera is
still moving back, following the victim, she starts screaming into the phone threatening
that her boyfriend will be there to protect her she gets louder and louder to
try and make her seem powerful even though she is the weakest link between them
both. as the character gets louder so does the non-diegetic sound, becoming
more dramatic, this builds even more tension and makes the audience feel
uncomfortable as they can’t tell whether something scary is going to happen or
not. The next shot is the long hallway, with the front door at the centre of the frame, the occurring
shot of this build tension as the audience believe that the protagonist is waiting behind it. While taunitng her he reveals the name of the woman boyfriend, this brings a shock to the audience as well as the woman, giving us the enigma as to how he knows his name? At this point her face shows shock and trauma connoting that for her and the audience, that the film is only going to get better.
Action movies are one of the most popular film genre's, both mass and niche audiences watch them. At rated certificates of either 12/15 action films are watched predominatly by males from ages 12-30, they usually go to see these films to gain a sense of things that are stereotypically 'masculine'. most characters in action films tend to be male, which would also attract more male viewers. This includes scenes with car chases, explosions, fight scenes etc.
Working-Middle class people are more likely to go and watch action films as they have disposable income and may not have as many commitments as higher class people. People are easily influenced by action films as they want to get the adrenaline rush and experience the thrill that the characters do on screen. Younger viewers would aspire to be like the protagonist and would imagine being the hero and would attract more teenage attention.
During the opening scene of Drag Me To Hell, the audience are faced with the opening establishing shot, the shot is of a huge, extragavent house with expensive cars in the driveway which connotes that whoever lives here is evry successful and rich. In the bottom right corner the audience are shown small text as to where and when the scene is set, 'Pasadena, California 1969'. Straight away the audience's first enigma is answered. The non diegetic sound is of almost a ghostly and female voice, the high pictch sound builds tension and makes the audience feel quite uncomfortable, this is a general convention of a horror film as the tension will keep the audience on the edges of their seats as they are unknowing of what will happen next. The audience are shown in the background a dusty, old, worn out truck driving into the driveway, the audience would find this unsual as it doesn't fit with all the extravagent scenery around them, connoting that these people do not belong in this area.
As the truck stops our next shot is a long shot of the back of the truck, where we see a woman holding a young child wrapped in a blanket, as the male driver runs out of the car we understand that these two adults are parents. The shot moves along to the right, showing another long shot of the woman shouting and running up to the front door asking for help, the audience are given the enigma as to why they are in such a panic and what they want from the owner of such a rich and beautiful house. The use of subtitles from the characters connote that they are not going to be important characters throughout film and that they will only be in it for a short time as the audience would not be prepared to watch subtitles for the whole film.
The next shot is a medium shot of all the characters crowding around the child who looks very ill and the scene explains that the young the boy stole a necklace from a gypsy woman and is now cursed because of it, this can be a general convention of a horror film as in most horror films the child is possessed or deserevs to die. Straight away the way the characters are staged shows the division of power and weakness, the rich, successul lady is standing on a few higher steps looking down at the family, this can connote that she has a lot more power compared to the poor family, who are at the bottom of the stairs looking up which can connote that they are weak and inferior to the woman they are begging for help. As the shots are moving back and forth from the family to the rich woman to connote a converstaion, the expressions on the rich woman's face connote that this situation is very extreme and important, her eyes are fixed onto the boy as if she is looking at something much deeper, which gives the audience the idea that something is wrong and that she is somewhat scared of what she is being told.
We are next shown a close up of the gypsy necklace and the non diegtic sound becomes a lot deeper and louder, connoting that this necklace is important but also the deeper nosie suggets that is very evil and unwanted. the audience are put off as we hear the digetic sound of a fly which breaks the tension for a split second, as the rich women pushes the fly out of the frame, her eyes are still fixed at the boy.
As she allows the family inside we are quickly shown a close up of the sweaty ill boys face wrapped up in a blanket. the experssion on his face connotes that he is terrfied and in a state of shock. As he looks above the camera shows a moving long shot of the ceiling and the audience see shows of abnormal hands stretching across the ceilign becoming larger, this conntoed that only the boy can see this. the abnormal shadows of the hands match the convention of a horror film as it is a dark, unsual picture that looks quite scary and unreal which would build he suspense for the audience.
As the woman starts her chanting and calling out, which the audience would see as a spell, the audience are suddenly shocked with a loud scream and the doors opening wide with wind rushing through, which the audience see over the shoulder of rich woman. The sound becomes loud with diegtic screams and the audience would be scared as it would create a sudden shock which they didnt see coming, this is a convention of a horror film as the suspense build up and suddenly they are scared with unexpected action. One by one the rich woman and the parents are thrown and hit by what the audience would think it a possessed demon, the scene around them is chaotic and would connote panic and terror. The young boy is left to fend for himself and while trying to run to safety, the camera moves quickly towards the boy from a long shot all the way to a close up, connoting that the camera was showing the movements of the demon. The boy is suddenly thrown over the second floor and hits the ground. As the boy is falling, the loud screams and non diegetic sound become silent and all the audience are left to hear is the boys scream and sudden landing on the floor below. As this happens, the camera is fixed on a long shot of the second floor, which builds tenison and an enigma as for a few seconds the audience can't see what has happened to the boy.
The next shot is an over the shoulder shot of the rich women running towards the balcony looking down at the boy on the first floor as the camera turns to face the woman from a low angle shot, it can connote power again as the boy is lower down compared to the rich woman who is safe, it can connote that the boy is weak, defencless and inferior to everything around him. As the rich woman is looking down is can also connote that she is looking down at hell as the boy has been cursed and is wanted by a demon.
While the parents are screaming in panic and running down to rescue their son, the flor starts to split and break up. The diegtic sound of screams are now present again. As the audience see the boy struggle to find safety from a high angle shot, the floor suddenly rips open and we get a glimpse of what can be described as hell. We are shown close up shots of the rich woman whos expression connotes panic and terror, but at the same time she is defenceless and cannot change what is about to happen. The next shot is a close up of the boy who is screaming with his mouth wide open which can connote devastation and terror on a much wider scale. The terror and panic from all the characters are all conventions of a horror genre as they are all powerless and cannot change the next events which are about to take place, as they are all inferior to the antagonist.
The non diegtic sound becomes alot more powerful and conquering as the next shot is the shadow on the wall of the boy being dragged to hell, the shot leans up to a close up of the rich womans face who still fixed on the boy and her expressions show that she is in a state of shock as she knows she can't physically do anything that will be able to save the boy. The final few shots is a close up of the boys hand struggling to stay on earth but as all the audience can tell, the hand dissapear under the floor and the cracks have vanished.
The final shot is a close up of the rich woman still staring at the floor, the diegetic and non diegtic sound becomes silent as we hear the last few lines of the opening scene which says, 'we will meet again'. The characters face shows determinationa and suddenly the shot shows the opening credits of the films title, Drag Me To Hell. The writing is white on a black background which is also a general convention which most horror films use nowadays to conntoe darkness and terror.
Overall the opening film is very good at showing all the genral conventions of a horror film straight away, as well as building tension and suspense for the audience which will keep them on the jumping onto the edges of their seats throughout the film.
The usual age for someone watching a horror movie is usually between 15 and 25 as the certificate of horror movies are usually 15 or 18. People would argue that during young adulthood they are in key stages of developing themselves and would want to try new things and experiment different feelings. Horror movies would give these young adults a thrill and can excite the younger audience easier than the older audience. The younger audiences are also less likely not to be put off the film by violence and unnatural images, which may make older audiences feel a lot more negative towards the film.
It is said that males are more likely to watch horror movies than females, due to the stereotypical thrill seeker which is portrayed with a boy. Violence is often loved by males which is a convention of a horror film. A stereotypical boy would often seek the thrill of, blood and gor which is why males would usually be a fan of horror films as they are all conventions of the horror genre.
The audiences for horror movies are often groups of friends, but couples commonly go and watch horros due to the comfort that is needed after seeing a horror film. They are also seen as good converstaion starters and therefore are a popular converstaion choice.
