The two screenshots I have taken are the main characters from Scream and The Noise. Evidently they are both young females who are on the phone, so the social group being represented is teenage girls. One is an American film, and the other (ours) is British.
Both characters costumes are casual clothing. Even though the films are from separate decades it is still obvious that they are for wearing around the house. In The Noise we have already established that Lucy is lounging around reading a book. In Scream the first thing we have seen is the girl answering the phone, so the audience is unaware that she is about to watch a movie (which is soon disclosed) but the surroundings make clear that she is in a homely environment.
Both characters have open body language inviting the audience in as their friend and showing that they are vulnerable characters. The shots used in Scream show that she is alone in the house, by making it seem big ; this emphasises that she isolated through the size of her body in proportion to the house. A variety of shots used in The Noise but most do not show much of the house. We used a lot of close ups mid shots and long shots in the second half of the opening, and we used mostly mid shots in the first half. The main reasons for this are that our opening sequence was restricted to just two minutes, whereas other films usually exceed this, giving them more opportunity to show the character and their environment. It was very important to us to create an innocent characterization in the short space of time, as we want the audience to care about what has happened to Lucy. As they have just answered the phone they both have inquisitive expressions as does anyone who answers the phone and doesn’t know who is there.
Both characters speak on the phone however this is where the differences occur. In Scream she is having a conversation with the creepy voice on the phone, whereas in The Noise she is questioning who is there, and getting no response, only the sound of white noise can be heard (hence the film title The Noise).
The make-up used in Scream is very subtle and almost unnoticeable; ours differs to this as it is obvious that Lucy is wearing make-up. Even though the make-up styles are clearly different, they are both there for the same effect, as these are the attractive styles at the time that the film was made; this should therefore attract a male audience and help the female audience to identify with the characters. The subtle use of the make-up has connotations of innocence, which even is the audience does not consciously notice, they will subconsciously feel the effect of the make-up, on their relationship with the character.
Both shots show that each girl is on the phone, which is a very important prop in both situations, as this is where the danger is disclosed to the audience, in the case of Scream is becomes clear to the character that there is a danger too, but in The Noise, Lucy thinks nothing of it and eventually gets annoyed by the constant ringing of the phone and unplugs it.
The young people in Essex and London will be able to identify with the character Lucy. Even though there is no one else home, it is obvious that someone in the house is earning a good wage by the material possessions visible in the house. Young people in Essex and London will be familiar with the wide screen TV, the dress code of Lucy’s costume and the accent apparent in the dialogue.
The location (a house in Essex) helps to establish her as a C2 class person, because of the stylish interior design, and the fact that she is using her leisure time to read a book rather than watch TV. Even though this may not be an activity that a majority of the film audience does, they should at least recognise the connotations of reading the book and hopefully aspire to be in the C2 class (or higher), if they are not already.
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