How is horror and suspense created in the opening sequence of scream?

How is horror and suspense created in the opening sequence of scream?

The use of mise-en-scene is very effective in the opening sequence of scream. You can see the scene is set in a very isolated area, shown by a crane shot. This crane shot shows the set at night connoting it should be quiet out, making the cricket noises and loud dog barking seem very suspicious. Lighting also plays a big part inside the house; The lighting gets darker as the situation intensifies as she is turning lights off presuming to try and stop the man from watching her. The movement of the blonde girl is a good indication to how scared she is because when the phone guy says he is watching her, she begins to rush around the house in terror as well as slowly backing away from the door when told not to open it. Before the man starts to act in a threatening manor you see her pull out a knife and push it back into the holder. This is hinting at what is going to happen to her.

In the opening scene, there is also a wide use of camera shots. As well as the crane shot that was previously mentioned; a tracking shot is also used. This is when the camera follows someone to show his or her movements and surroundings. The tracking shot is used to follow the blonde girl round her house and shows that she is on her own and for a horror film, being on your own rarely ends well. Furthermore, there is also a close up on the blonde girl, which expresses her emotions clearer to the viewer. This close up is done via a fast zoom, which also shows that her emotions change very suddenly.

Music and sounds are also used very well. As the blonde girl gets increasingly frightened the tempo of the music picks up. As well as this, there is intense drumming in the scene and similarly seems to represent her heartbeat as the drumming escalates as the blonde girl gets more scared. Before the blonde girl starts to really panic, the camera switch to the crane shot of outside. During this crane shot, you hear crickets and loud dog barking. Generally, dog’s bark a lot when they know someone is outside their house so that indicates to the viewer that something or someone is outside which is gives the viewer suspicion. With regards to the intense drumming and music earlier as the blonde girl gets more scared, there is also a point where all sounds stop. This shows the blonde girls state of shock as if her heart skipped a beat when the man down the phone tells her what her boyfriends name is. This creates a big dramatic effect.