Scream Film Analysis

Begins with a dramatic white horror font film title which creates a strong contrast with the black background comes banging down into the centre of the scene also we hear a diegetic sound of a phone ringing followed by a non-diegetic sound of screaming and knife slash as we hear the knife slash the white film title turns to red which could suggest that the sound of a knife slash has drawn blood from the girl screaming.

As the title fades away we begin to hear the diegetic phone sounds again as we see a girl answer her house phone, A close up shot of the phone being answered is used. The lighting of the scene becomes very bright and would not normally be perceived as a typical horror opening sequence. The voice of the person on the phone is a creepy man’s voice but it could be almost perceived as being comical as the girl tells the unknown man that he has the wrong number within the close up camera shot, as the girl puts down the phone and begins to walk away the camera zooms into her face as the phone rings again another close up shot of the phone is used।

A downwards panning shot is then used to show the big beautiful white house and how secluded and in the middle of nowhere the house is placed. Then a close up shot of the girl turning on the stove and making popcorn as the diegetic sounds of the phone once again ringing as the girl beings to get annoyed with the pestering caller the girl leans over her counter and begins to mess with a knife which could be suggesting that danger is about to come and she needs the knife or it could be suggesting towards trouble concerning the knife.

Treatment for main task

Opening of a short film

The opening of the short film the main genres are horror and also suspense.

Duration

The duration of our film beginning will approximately be 2 minutes

Audience

The target audiences that we have decided on are mainly males around the age of 15- 24 and some females who are interested in horror around the same age group, however there is still more research to be done.

Resume

A girl is seen walking around a corner; she’s dressed in warm clothes is soaked due to the rain. She begins to walk down a subway, you can see by the expression on her face that’s she knows she is being followed. At every turn on the subway a dark hooded figure is seen, he remains unclear, until she begins to exit the subway and he appears from nowhere at the bottom.

She carries on walking and comes to up to find a forest, as she walks through it she begins to suspect she is still being followed. While walking she hears footsteps crushing leaves and twigs, and begins to rush through the forest. She stops to see the dark mysterious figure appear whilst walking past the trees every direction, the girl replies with in elevating fear

“Who’s there”?

The dark stranger appears behind her; she turns to come face to face with the entity in return he replies saying

"Your time is up"

Suggested elements

Performance – Featuring James following Yolanda into a forest reserve.

Costumes- James: black hood, black top and also black jeans and trainers.

Yolanda: blue skinny jeans, red shoes and also blue stripy top and blue jacket.

Props- iPod (pink), black gloves

Key locations- Clayton vale, (suggestion) entrance to Victoria Park, north road, folkestone road, Chester road or oxford road.

Title editing – ‘Madhouse Production presents’ ‘a Skyline studio production’, ‘with Blackout Distribution’ ‘Starring James TIGHE Yolanda DAMOYI’

Recording Days

The days we were intending on filming are from 2^nd of March till approximately 28th of March. The amount of time that we arranged for editing was around from 28^th march, then until the end of the project. We are all mainly willing to come in to do some extra work mainly on the editing but also on the filming side.

Preliminary Task evaluation

What did you learn about the camera and editing software during the preliminary task?

We learnt a lot about the cameras and editing during the preliminary task. We were able to use and setup a camera, and contruct a number of different shots; for instance we used a couple of high and low angle shots, close and long shots medium shots and the key shot in the task, the shot reverse shot. We have learnt that when you familiarise yourself with the camera, the number of shots that can be used are not limited. As for the editing sofware, Final Cut, we were able to learn the most basic editing techniques; continuity editing, and we learnt how to match cuts as some of our scene filmed were a little too fast. However, we also learnt how to modify the speed of the clip.

In the filming and editing of your project, what worked well and what could have been improved?

Close up shot continity was smooth and so this worked very well with the rest of the clip.

We think that the positioning of the shot/reverse shot could have been improved also sound quality was low, so perhaps the actors speaking should become louder.

Give a detailed, specific example of how you have used a shot/reverse shot combination in your film

In our preliminary task we used a set of shot/reverse shots, we used this shot for the interview section of the sequence. A shot/reverse shot is what shows a person over another persons shoulder. You would do this over both of the characters shoulders. Then in the editing suite you would combine the two angles to creat a shot/reverse shot combination.

Give a detailed, specific example of how you acheived match cuts during the editing process

Opening and closing door. in our preliminary task we used match cuts all the way through for exaomple when Katie was entering the room and when she was having a conversation with Yolanda. when Katie was entering the room the cuts between her and Yolanda had to match up almost exactly when she was walking to the door, opening using the handle, pushing the door, then the shot had to be from the same point on the other side. this created a match cut.

How did you achieve continuity in the task? Or if your transitions weren't entirely smooth, what have you learnt from this?

We achieved continuity by slowing scenes down, editing them together making it a smooth transaction. the slow smooth scenes create an understandable atmosphere making it easier for the audience to comprehend.