As the opening to the film starts we are presented with what we believe a medium shot of the main character from behind. The denotations in the opening scene are of a girl leaning over the banister with her back turned and a light hanging low from the ceiling, these are all connotations to the fact she may be looking for someone and that she isn't alone as the light outside of the room she was in was turned on may suggests that someone was downstairs. The women then shouts out a name telling us that someone else is expected to be in the house maybe a family member or friend.
straight away from the slight angled shot of the character running down the stairs you can see that the house is pretty dark as you are able to see into the other rooms and see there are no other lights on which connotes the fact that something may be hiding in the dark rooms or that whoever was downstairs no longer is. The way the women runs down the stairs creates a sense of panic and worry, this has an effect on the audience as it builds up the tension as to what's about to happen and if she will enter them rooms. The house is quiet which emphasises her fear and the dogs barking in the background makes the scene creepier as it makes you think the dogs outside have seen something from the house.
A close up shot is used to show the audience an object laying on the floor which I believe is some sort of pot or vase, the effect of this could connote a significance towards that specific object later on in the film. The way that the pot was laying there could mean that someone could of knocked it off in a hurry or on purpose as you would normally pick something up like that and put it back if you had knocked it over.
Suddenly there is a change in setting and mood which we are shown by using an establishing shot to let the audience know the room the character is in has changed, and by doing this it also shows us that two doors at the back of the room have been left open. shorty after a close up of the woman's face is shown expressing her emotion of shock.From this emotion connotations that someone may of broken in are presented as it tells us that them doors are obviously not normally left open especially at night. once again the use of this shot carries the feel of tension on as you are led to believe some one else is now in the house with her.
As the camera moves into a low angle shot of the woman looking behind the sofa it creates a feeling that someone or something is beneath her and this expresses the anxiety on her face ,the camera moves into a close up emphasising the fear on the women's face even more. Over the shoulder shots are used quite a lot in the opening and one of them is used when the woman is looking down on the floor to see her friend laying there laughing, the use of that shot is used to frame the image of the friend and that one shot makes you focus even more on that one character. Five more over the shoulder shots are used when the two characters are having a discussion to show which one is speaking.
As commonly used after an over the shoulder shot is an establishing shot to just redirect the the audience back into the room so that they are aware of the setting. The scene then starts to become a lot scarier after what we thought as a murder was only a joke made by the friend as we are then presented with a long shot to encapsulate a wide spaced area of the room and with both characters in two different places. You are then shown the face of 'scream' behind the fridge door in a long shot, this creates an effect on the audience as you can see the two characters clueless as to what is in the room with them. Shortly after, another other over the shoulder shot is shown showing a two shot of the woman and 'scream', this shot catches the audiences eye as the women turned around to see a close up of 'scream' behind her friend. The attention is now on the 'new character' scream, the denotations of this character are a long black cloak, white mask and a knife in his hand these all connote a sense of murders in the film.
To end the opening a low shot angle is used which is also combined with a close up of the character 'scream' the angle of this shot makes the woman on the floor vulnerable to what he is about to do and makes the audience wonder what is about to happen next.
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