Influences

When filming we used similar shots from one of the films we were inspired by, Insidious.

 1.)

Both of these shots use a wide pan or track to show the scene, the character is small within the shot and isn't focused on the camera, it looks like they are being watched.

2.)

In these shots a light source is the only thing visible, it emphasises the darkness in the scene.

3.) 

We used similar shots to create tension. They both use darkness and black/white to make the image seem unclear, we can only see some of the shot, this is the enigma that is typical in horror.

Title Sequence Inspiration

Some films that influenced us are:

Insidious

Some of the things we liked in this title sequence was the dark shots used later on in the video, we like how we only see certain things and our vision is obscured by the darkness, we want to do the same but with darkness AND video static like the camera has been possessed or corrupted.

The Purge




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In the title sequence for The Purge we liked the security footage and decided we could use video effects to make our clips look similar to this. We also used overlaid text or dates and time to make it look like the video was shot from a security camera.

Guillotine



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We also took inspiration from the music video of the song we are using for our title sequence. We like the way the static makes it look disrupted and how it obscures the view outside of the window. The static makes what looks like a ordinary car ride to something that looks horrific.

Insidious – Title Sequence Analysis

Insidious – Title Sequence Analysis

In the beginning of the title sequence for Insidious the camera track down on a lamp, we then see the camera tilt and the text tilt the opposite way. This makes the setting seem “off”  and makes the viewer uneasy about what we see. The camera tracks down and moves along a boy’s bedroom. The high angle in the shot along with how the camera moves(slowly) make it seem like someone is watching the oy and we are looking from that perspective. The camera continues to track along down a hallway where we see a woman in the dark holding a candle. We don’t see who this is at first and the camera moves in slowly, all in one shot, to create tension. This tells us that it is a thriller or a horror movie.

The next thing we see is the title pop up and flicker in the darkness.
The typeface used looks evil because it looks like it has forked tips like a snake’s tongue or the devil’s tongue/horns. The text is also red like blood and sharp and pointed like blades. All of these small details make this typeface a good fit for a horror film.

After the title, the rest of the sequence is shots of parts of the house, the shots are often from a really low or high angle or from behind a corner to nake it seem like someone is sneaking around the house. The shots are very dark toward the edges in a vignette style, this is used to make the shots seem claustraphobic and to also obscure the viewers vision to create tension, the viewer doesn’t know what is going on around them.

There is use of a canted angle to similar effect as the one at the beginning of the title sequence to make the viewer feel uneasy.
In some of the shots there are shadows or footprints just barely visible. In one shot there is a shadow overlooking the stairs this makes us think some one is being watched or followed and also could represent the genre of because there is an enigma because we don’t know who this is and why they are in the house, common in the horror genre.

The soundtrack in this sequence is eerie and sounds like a slow screeching. When the title for the film comes up the screeching gets more intense and then dies down and gets slower again for the rest of the sequence. The soundtrack fits well because it creates tension, it builds up and crescendos at the title to shock the viewer.
The credit text has an effect where the “ghost” of the text floats upwards, this fits within the horror genre and potentially hints that the film has ghosts in.

Saul Bass - Designer Presentation

Saul bass - Designer Presentation from charliemead

My presentation on title designer Saul Bass

Bob Kurtz - Designer Presentation

Bob Kurtz from charliemead

My presentation on title designer Bob Kurtz

Se7en - Title Sequence Analysis

Se7en – Title Sequence Analysis

In the title sequence for Se7en we can tell what genre it is because of multiple things that are common in psychological thrillers. The eerie music is used to make the villain seem unstable and make the atmosphere unsettling, eerie music is used in psychological thrillers to show to create certain moods. Psychological thrillers stereotypically have an enigma that intrigues the viewer and makes them want to keep watching, in the Se7en title sequence we see someone collecting and writing strange things in books, the viewer wants to find out who is and why he is important to the film. This is also why the villains face isn’t shown in the title sequence and not even until the end of the film, only close up shot of his hands, because this keeps it mystery that the audience want to find out.

I think the soundtrack of the sequence was chosen because it is eerie and industrial. The sounds in the track like creaking and scratching (that sounds like screams) create an unsettling atmosphere. Without it the sequence would look like a man making a book of research, possibly a medical book, but the soundtrack makes it seem like he’s doing it for more sinister reasons and make the person appear to be a villain. The metallic, industrial sounds are used because they tie in with other aspects of the sequence such as the typewriter font used for the credits and the machinery and tools that are shown during the sequence, it makes everything seem unnatural.

The typography used in this title sequence is white to contrast its dark setting. The type is effective because its looks messy, the letters aren’t aligned and that could represent the villain not being stable. The other type used is a typewriter-like font which contrasts with the hand-written font because it is an industrial machine-made typeface. The typewriter font links to the soundtrack and the mise en scene of the tools he uses in the sequence.

From the mise en scene it looks like there is someone making books of research with photos, tape, extracts from text, we also see him remove his fingerprints. From this information we can tell he is a criminal because he wants to leave no fingerprints and also that he is a meticulous character because he has big pages filled with writing, self-developed photographs and hand sewn books. We see the person crossing out words like “intercourse” and “homosexual”, this along with the religious texts connotes that he is religious because of sex before marriage and homosexuality being wrong in the bible. The seven deadly sins are written about in his books which could mean he is an extreme Christian. Christianity being holy and pure contrasts with the dark imagery we see during the sequence like the disturbing photographs.

We find out in the sequence that the person is going to commit a crime because he is removing his fingerprints. The disturbing images of injuries and deaths could mean that he is a murderer and he is researching ways to kill people and the religious clues could infer that he is a deranged Christian thinking he can stop people who sin. We know that he is collecting research because he has notes and old photographs that he is compiling into books, most of the things relate to the human anatomy.

The title sequence has an erratic pace with some short clips and some longer clips. The erratic pace could infer that the villain is also unpredictable which could also be why he cut off his fingerprints so he can’t found. Being unpredictable also means that the audience doesn’t have a solid idea of what the person is going to do. The inconsistent pacing also leaves the audience confused because they do not know if something unexpected is going to appear or not. There are fades used as transitions. I think these are used to constantly show something happening on screen and overload it with strange writing and pictures so you can try to see what he is doing with them and decipher the enigma. Editing is also used to overlay scratches and film grain on the clips, this is to seem distorted and almost like a homemade low budget video almost like something the villain himself would make, which could also explain why we don’t see the person and only what he is doing with his hands.

Introduction and STINCS

For this course we will be making title sequences for a film we have made up.

It is important to take the following into consideration when making or analysing a title sequence:

S ETTING - When and where the film takes place

T HEME - Themes of the film and what it may be about. e.g. love, jealousy etc.

I CONOGRAPHY - Costumes, make-up and only props relevent to the genre.

N ARRATIVE - What the story is about.

C HARACTERS - Hints at who the characters are and what they are like.

S TYLE - The cinematography, sound, editing. What the film will look and feel like.