The opening title sequence I chose to look at in more detail is the opening sequence to the David Fincher film 'Se7en', which is a psychological thriller/horror film. These opening credits were designed by Kyle Cooper. Because 'Se7en' is the same genre of film as ours, I decided to look into the opening credits to see if they fit with the sort of idea our group had for how our titles should look. Because the style is similar, we chose it as one of the opening credits to analyse before designing our own opening credits.
ANALYSIS
After watching this opening title sequence (and later the full film), I noticed that it includes clues to events that take place later in the film that only make sense once you have seen the film in it's entirety. The images are all connected to each other and to the film's narrative, but the audience would not know this until the end of the film when it all falls into place. This would capture an audience's interest and make them want to watch further, in order to find out what all the elements of the opening titles mean.
Mise-En-Scene
The titles consist only of close-up shots of various objects involved in making a scrapbook (which is later revealed to be the killer's). There are items such as pens; objects being scanned, cut/stuck, close up shots of hands, and books/book pages being turned. The fact it is all close up shows intense detail, whilst also remaining mysterious. As well as this, the opening titles themselves appear on the screen, usually surrounded by black. The titles overall are very dark and appear to be dull, setting the tone of the film straight away. There are also flashes of the colour red as well as flashes of white, which may symbolise blood or a death that could happen later in the film. The typography used for the titles is a handwritten style, and it flashes on with SFX grains and stitches added in post production, as this look is most associated with old-fashioned filming equipment and gives the titles a self-made appearance.
Cinematography
Mostly close up shots are used in the opening titles. This is because if, for example, a mid shot or long shot was used that revealed the character or other parts of the plot, it would remove some of the mystery that intrigues an audience in the first place -which could make them less likely to keep watching. Any shots that move are usually pan/tilt shots, which are used to show other parts of the book/items in more detail.
Editing
These opening titles are very fast paced, with frequent cutting as well as jump cuts. These cuts are often incorporated with flashes of light/colour to add emphasis to them. This gives the impression that the film itself is going to be fast paced, and it also keeps the audience interested. Jump cuts also give the impression that the making of the scrapbook has been going on for a long time -therefore possibly providing more information about the character to the audience. There is also the use of dissolve effects during cuts, which again give an old-fashioned camera effect.
Music
The music in the opening titles is a remix of 'Closer' by Nine Inch Nails, a rock band. The rock music genre fits well with the theme of the film, as rock music is typically seen as 'aggressive' and this matches the aggressive themes of psychological thrillers/horrors. However this remix also starts slow and quiet, and gradually builds to a climax at the end of the credits, which could mirror the film itself having a dramatic ending. You can also hear noises that match the action in the titles, for example the sound of pages being turned or paper ripping. This adds particular emphasis on certain moments of the scene. The music is also timed perfectly so the beats are heard as cuts happen or text appears, again adding emphasis.
HOW THIS TRANSFERS TO OUR OPENING TITLES
In our opening titles, we plan on replicating the fast cutting and the jump cuts used in the 'Se7en' opening titles in order to create a fast-paced dramatic mood from the start of our film. We also intend to use close up shots of various objects in an art studio in order that will be filmed in a similar way. As for music, we intend to also use rock music in our opening titles, and we will search for music similar to 'Closer' in order to give the correct mood we want.
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| screenshot from Art Of The Title, the site we used to find our opening titles. |
After watching this opening title sequence (and later the full film), I noticed that it includes clues to events that take place later in the film that only make sense once you have seen the film in it's entirety. The images are all connected to each other and to the film's narrative, but the audience would not know this until the end of the film when it all falls into place. This would capture an audience's interest and make them want to watch further, in order to find out what all the elements of the opening titles mean.
Mise-En-Scene
The titles consist only of close-up shots of various objects involved in making a scrapbook (which is later revealed to be the killer's). There are items such as pens; objects being scanned, cut/stuck, close up shots of hands, and books/book pages being turned. The fact it is all close up shows intense detail, whilst also remaining mysterious. As well as this, the opening titles themselves appear on the screen, usually surrounded by black. The titles overall are very dark and appear to be dull, setting the tone of the film straight away. There are also flashes of the colour red as well as flashes of white, which may symbolise blood or a death that could happen later in the film. The typography used for the titles is a handwritten style, and it flashes on with SFX grains and stitches added in post production, as this look is most associated with old-fashioned filming equipment and gives the titles a self-made appearance.
Cinematography
Mostly close up shots are used in the opening titles. This is because if, for example, a mid shot or long shot was used that revealed the character or other parts of the plot, it would remove some of the mystery that intrigues an audience in the first place -which could make them less likely to keep watching. Any shots that move are usually pan/tilt shots, which are used to show other parts of the book/items in more detail.
Editing
These opening titles are very fast paced, with frequent cutting as well as jump cuts. These cuts are often incorporated with flashes of light/colour to add emphasis to them. This gives the impression that the film itself is going to be fast paced, and it also keeps the audience interested. Jump cuts also give the impression that the making of the scrapbook has been going on for a long time -therefore possibly providing more information about the character to the audience. There is also the use of dissolve effects during cuts, which again give an old-fashioned camera effect.
Music
The music in the opening titles is a remix of 'Closer' by Nine Inch Nails, a rock band. The rock music genre fits well with the theme of the film, as rock music is typically seen as 'aggressive' and this matches the aggressive themes of psychological thrillers/horrors. However this remix also starts slow and quiet, and gradually builds to a climax at the end of the credits, which could mirror the film itself having a dramatic ending. You can also hear noises that match the action in the titles, for example the sound of pages being turned or paper ripping. This adds particular emphasis on certain moments of the scene. The music is also timed perfectly so the beats are heard as cuts happen or text appears, again adding emphasis.
HOW THIS TRANSFERS TO OUR OPENING TITLES
In our opening titles, we plan on replicating the fast cutting and the jump cuts used in the 'Se7en' opening titles in order to create a fast-paced dramatic mood from the start of our film. We also intend to use close up shots of various objects in an art studio in order that will be filmed in a similar way. As for music, we intend to also use rock music in our opening titles, and we will search for music similar to 'Closer' in order to give the correct mood we want.
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