Textual Analysis of Scream

The scene begins with a non-diegetic heart beat and a diegetic ring of the phone, the sound of the crickets inform us that it is set in an isolated area, she is an attractive, innocent and vulnerable person, the forest shows how isolated it is and the darkness shows horror and fear, the camera tilting down to show the house shows how she really is alone, the camera tilting connotes the sense that someone is watching her, lots of post modern humour such as her favourite scary movie being about a baby sitter being killed, her playing with the knives also implies danger, the camera is tracking her which informs you that she is alone and adds to her sense of vulnerability, sound and atmosphere  changes to a more serious tone that informs us that the film is no longer light hearted, it is horror, then there is a close up showing the fear on her face when he tells her that he can see her, the editing does an eyeline match so you can see her surroundings such as fog and trees, the dog barking shows danger as dogs don't bark for no reason unless there is danger, the sound is increasing more in volume and the tension is building, the popcorn is boiling which shows things are about to explode, then the close up shows her fear increasing, then the camera follows her which adds to the believability as the camera is shaking to give the sense that she is really being followed, then there is eyeline match to the front door and then even the phone ringing scares her, the close up makes you want to feel sympathy but then you actually don't care what happens to her, then they use a wide shot so you feel scared for her and also shows her vulnerability because she is hiding, the game being played by the killer scares her more and more, the shot is from her eyeline to his chest, the editing of eyeline match works with the non-diegetic sound, the sound is now slower and less suspense like and more action as if she is about to start moving quickly, e.g. Running, the man running past makes you fear for her safety, she is then tackled and stabbed in slow motion at which point the camera is placed on the floor  which is comfortable, once she is stabbed again and the parent come home to show a cross shot of her but the killer still gets to her and then the mom screams and then there is a fast zoom in to her hung on a tree dead.