The movie SCREAM

People flock to horror movies each year. Usually to be scared. Another is to solve the question of Who done it? Unfortunately, a lot of these horror movies fail to scare people or make the killer so obvious the audience gets bored. Occasionally, there are a few horror movies that stick out. Scream, directed by Wes Craven, is one of them. Wes Craven is always toying with the viewer's fears. Always finding ways to scare the audience at every turn. He also plays with the viewer's head, and has them second guessing themselves. How does he do it? Well, as one of the characters in the movie exclaims, "There's a formula to it. A very simple formula. Everybody's a suspect!" This paper will discuss how Craven uses sound, camera shots, and mise en scene to scare the viewer and keep them guessing as to who is the murderer is . 
Different shots give the viewer information about what is going on in the scene. Wes Craven chooses his shots carefully. For example, there's a full shot of Sidney from behind. She has just gone in the closet (mentioned above) and the camera follows her from behind. After watching many horror movies, the full shot with the character's back to the viewer can mean danger. Sidney is right in the middle of the shot, leaving both sides of her open. The murderer could jump out at her and tackle her. This shot could also be of the killer following her from behind. Again, Wes Craven is setting up the viewer. Another shot is the close up. The killer is talking to Sidney on the phone. The shot is from the shoulders and up. Sidney thinks the caller is a friend playing a joke on her. She's about to hang up when the caller says that if she does she'll "die like her mother." The shot then goes to a close up of Sidney's face. The viewer can see that Sidney realizes that the caller isn't a friend playing a joke on her. The viewer can also see that she's frightened. Close ups deal with psychological effects. The viewer sees a character upset, they will react to it. This close up just made things scarier. Finally, my favorite shot in the movie is an extreme close up. The principal has just been stabbed by the murderer. The murderer wears this costume called "Father Death." As the principal lies on the floor dying, the camera cuts to an extreme close up of the principal's eye. In the reflection of his eye, the killer appears (in costume, of course). This shot is a really cool effect in general. I believe the purpose of the shot deals with death. The very last thing the principal sees is death looming over him. It's symbolic.  These are just a few elements Wes Craven uses to scare the viewer. He likes to play with the viewer's head, making them question everyone's motive. But don't worry, it's just a movie. Or, as Sidney says to her boyfriend Billy, "But this is life. This isn't a movie." To which Billy responds, "Sure it is, Sid. It's all, it's all a movie. It's all one great big movie. But you can't pick your genre."