Analysis of a character (within genre)

In this I will be analyzing the character of Casey Becker, the first girl and victim in the film of Scream, she's only featured within the first few minutes of the movie, however there is many things you can say about the way her character is represented and conveyed. 

The movie starts of with Casey answering the phone (unaware she is speaking to the antagonist), when she first picks up the phone, one of the things you immediately notice is her appearance – she is a Caucasian female with blonde hair. Stereo typically, a female with these type of physical attributes (lighter hair/blonde) is stereotyped and generalized, unfortunately, as sexually active, less intelligent, dependent and promiscuous compared to darker haired females, specifically within the genre in which Scream is (which fits into the genre of being a slasher/horror/thriller), in which the stereotype is projected even more – as the 'dumb blonde' stereo-typically dies first, so already as an audience, we most likely have a pre-judgement of what the character Casey would be like and how she would be conveyed.

Casey, however, wears a knitted white/cream jumper, with the only skin showing being her collarbone, this conveying and representing her as in-fact quite innocent and sweet, this going against the stereotype. When she answers the phone the first time, her voice is very high-pitched and stereotypical feminine, with the dialogue between her and the antagonist being very short and simple, but with her maintaining politeness, this continuing on the idea that she is very innocent and sweet. The second time her attitude towards the antagonist carries on, with her being reluctant to have a conversation with him and her ending the conversation short, however still remaining polite.

The scene then pans downwards to get an establishing shot of Casey's house, this also revealing to the audience that it is night-time, the fact that it is night-time can be a way to signify to the audience that Casey is also a very responsible, trusted teenager (this also defeating the 'typical blonde' stereotype) as it soon becomes very clear that Casey is home alone and the fact that her parents trust her to be good and to leave at home by herself says a lot about her character and persona. To add on to that, the fact that she is home alone also introduces the idea that she is completely isolated and alone, so if she was to get into danger, she would have no-one to help her/come to her rescue.

The second time she picks up however her dialogue and tone of voice changing, her voice deepening and becoming more flirtatious and playful when speaking to the antagonist, and also smiling playfully at the phone, indicating that she is enjoying the attention she is receiving, despite this being an unknown character. This representing her as now a naive, slightly flirtatious and possibly mischievous character as despite the fact she shouldn't be talking to a stranger over the phone because of the evident risk factor, she carries on and entertains it. As the conversations gets deeper and the antagonist asks the infamous like : “What's your favourite scary movie?”, the camera

goes into a mid shot, however a bunch of knives being in the main frame of the camera shot. This use of mise-en-scene finally setting off the idea and atmosphere that Casey is now a vulnerable character who is potentially in danger, as the knives connote death, harm and injury and they are in the main focus in the camera.

Furthering on, as the conversation of horror movies gets deeper, Casey starts to walk around the house, appearing to lock doors, with the camera tracking her. The use of the camera movement of tracking is very effective in representing and conveying her vulnerability as not only does the tracking movement allow the audience to see how massive the house is (projecting the idea that she is isolated in this big house) but the tracking movement being from behind her also gives off the impression that some-one is following her, which is effective in the sense that it creates tension and furthermore builds up the idea that she is potentially in danger, and is completely unaware of it. To add on to that, as she walks through the house the lighting suddenly becomes low-key, this also representing her as a character which is in danger.

The idea of Casey being flirtatious and naive carries on as she gets asked by the antagonist if she has a boyfriend, and instead of her responding in a manner in which she would decline the antagonist's romantic gesture, she in-fact plays a long with it, and in-fact indicating a possible date or meet up with the antagonist, this highlighting her possible lack of intelligence (moralistic wise) and her naive she is when it comes to strangers, and her behavior also agreeing with the stereotype of blondes. At 2:16 the clip then takes a very dark, sinister turn and it this point it becomes very clear to Casey that the person she is talking to isn't as innocent and friendly as she thought he was.

The camera does a zoom into Casey's face to highlight her change in emotion as now she is at unease and also gasps. From this onwards, Casey does actions to represent her as a now frantic, worried and potentially extremely scared character. For example, she turns on the back garden lights and checks outside and also frantically looks around, these actions connoting that she is now looking around for the antagonist and is scared cause she thinks he may be in the house or near the house she is in. The lighting carries on to be very low-key, with the audience having access to minimal lighting and there also being a wide range of shadows, this adding to the suspense and tension as the audience are aware that the antagonist could be anywhere in the house.

To add on to that, non-diegetic music plays in the background, with the music being very high pitched and eerie, adding to the atmosphere and also further representing Casey as a very vulnerable, unprotected, at harm female. There is also diegetic sound of the popcorn popping and also her the dialogue between her and the antagonist when he contentiously calls her, this time Casey is raising her voice and quotes : “Listen, ass-hole!”, this highlighting her anger and frustration towards the antagonist, and this also defeating the stereotype that blondes are weak and cant defend themselves as she is speaking up and raising her voice, representing her as a now very strong, confident female. However, this is very quickly reversed as the antagonist's voice and threats tower over hers, with him even calling her names such as bitch, at which that point Casey does not respond, appearing speechless. This all signifying that Casey has no power over the antagonist.

After that, Casey frantically runs around the house, locking all the doors of her house, these actions signifying her absolute fear for the antagonist. As she runs around the house, she states to the antagonist that she will call the police, this now conveying the idea that she can't protect herself and needs to rescued, this also agreeing to the stereotype that females are the 'damsel in distress' and dependent on the man. This is also followed by Casey screaming, shrieking and hysterically crying, this agreeing with the idea that females are also overly emotional in situations and 'don't know how to act'.

The idea that Casey is dependent and needs other people to rescue her carries on as she says to the antagonist that he better leave : “Or else my boyfriend will be here any second.”, as she can't protect herself and needs others there to save her. To add on to that, the fact that she mentions she has a boyfriend now and not before conveys the idea that she is possibly cheap or easy/promiscuous as she was willing to be flirtatious with strangers with the knowledge that she is meant to be in a committed relationship.