'Scream' Opening

Opens with a close up of the telephone with diegetic sound of the phone ringing. The phone is answered by a hot blonde teenage girl who could possibly be the scream queen because she is blonde. After putting the phone down and being called again, the teenage girl puts the phone down for a second time after making a joke about there being a sex line number that he should call instead. The fact she talks about a sex line connotes that she's sexually active and this is another example as to why she could be the scream queen. A shot of the outside of the house is then shown with the rope swing moving on it's on. The shot shows that the house is worth a lot of money and looks to be quite private and desolate which makes it a good setting for a slasher movie and for killings to take place. Also, no one else can be seen which denotes the girl is on her own and is vulnerable. The girl says she'll call the police but he tells her that they'll never make it on time suggesting that authority figures are useless like most over slasher films.

The vulnerable, blonde, sexually active, alone teenage girl then gets another phone call from the secret man after putting on some popcorn. The girl continues to talk to the man even though he's weird, creepy and stalking her slightly; she tells him what she's doing and that she's about to watch a scary movie with some popcorn. The man on the phone takes interest in the fact she's going to watch a scary movie and asks her what her favourite movie is; she then plays with knifes, this is supposed to be a joke as she's playing around with a deadly weapon as if it's nothing.

The man on the phone gives away the fact he's looking at her which completely changes the feel and mood of the situation; it becomes tense as the girl becomes worried and panics. She gets angry with the man on the phone and as her fear rises, so does the popcorn. When she puts the phone down on him once again, the door bell rings and it sounds like a teasing little tune and when the girl is running around the house, the drum beat in the music gets louder and louder and faster and faster, making the audience feel more tense as their heartbeat speeds up. The girl makes a comment about her boyfriend, proving that she was lying earlier and she describes him as a jock, connoting that she's sexually active if not even denoting it. This is even more reason to believe she's a scream queen therefore she's going to die.

There is non diegetic sound of heavy drum beats, making the atmosphere intense and they're heard when the man on the phone tells the girl to turn on the patio lights. With her boyfriend tied up on the patio, the man on the phone tells her to play a game which is ironic as she's not enjoying it much. The question he asks her is to do with Halloween, her favourite slasher film and because it's a slasher film it's post modernism of Scream being a slasher film too. She gets the question wrong resulting in her boyfriend being killed and as he dies and she crawls away from the window, scary music made with string instruments is played over it. After the man breaks into the house, chases the girl around it and then outside again, the girl sees her parents but they don't notice her as they drive past in a car and this is another example of authority figures being of no use in slasher films. As the masked man catches up to the girl as she runs across her garden, he stabs her in the breasts with a long sharp knife, this is a phalic object.