RESEARCH - Analysis Of Horror Opening Scene - Part 1 (Narrative)

Scream does follow Todorov's Narrative theory, as it has an equilibrium, then a dis-equilibrium, then a new equilibrium. Although the equilibrium only lasts a few minutes in this film, there is still one present. the equilibrium being that the blonde woman is happy, and about to spend a nice evening with her boyfriend. The equilibrium is broken when the killer rings her up, and she sees that her boyfriend has been tied up. Scream has an equilibrium at the end as the killers are killed, and the remaining survivors are happy. Although Scream follows the typical narrative theory, many horror films don't. Typically in a horror film there is an equilibrium just before the end, but then just when everyone thinks they are safe, the killer returns and there is a new dis-equilibrium. This is typical of a horror film, as its supposed to shock the audience and make them feel uneasy. 

From this opening scene we can't really see if it follows Propp's theory. In this scene the only character from Propp's narrative theory is the villain. The rest are not seen yet, I believe that none of the other characters are apparent in the opening scene, as it's prelude to the story, just so we can get an insight into what the villain does. So when he appears later we will know what is happening.