Sound in Movie: Scream (1996)

Co-Authored with Alex Diehl

1. Movie: Scream
   1. Clip: School’s Out Scene [Principle is killed]
2. Notable Sounds:
   1. Draws on stereotypical “suspense-building” music four times
   2. Each time it is designed to hint that the principal is about to die.
      Then, this music is promptly cut off when it is revealed that the principal is not being killed
      This “fake out” happens four times (:15, :30, 1:15, 1:45)
   3. At the end of the scene, when the murder does occur, there is an unusually high-pitched note. (1:46) This note cuts off the fourth suspenseful sound as it is building to its crescendo
      This note, in addition to breaking the patterned suspense building the viewer has come to expect, also creates a screaming sound that comes before the principal reacts to seeing Ghostface.
      1. This creates a more immediate reaction in the viewer that exceeds the reaction of the principal [who can not be heard as easily]
      2. Overall, this sound choice illustrates that the viewer’s reaction is more important than the actual character’s death

1. Notable Space: 9 sec, 
   1.  Wide-angle shots accompanied by ominous music give the viewer a sense of something that could attack from any direction. 
      1. This is further emphasized by how dwarfed the principal’s large movements are within the wide shot

2. Zoom in on a door (8), accompanied by faint high-note violin, again gives a sense of imminent danger. 

3. As the principal enters a new room (40), church bells crescendo and decrescendo. 
4. Works Cited:
1. Clip and Images: movieclips. “Scream (1996) – School’s out Scene (6/12) | Movieclips.” YouTube, YouTube, 1 Oct. 2011, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qe_BzGXRDzo&list=PLZbXA4lyCtqoYueYBstS0-RZnL1WLJHWR&index=7.