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Title sequence analysis

http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/se7en/

I've analysed the title sequence of the film 'Se7en'.

The way the title sequence jumps between different scenes and shots makes it seem jittery and jumpy, to add to the horror/thriller aspect of it  and to make it seem more scary and thrilling. Because the shots are more or less from the characters point of view, the jumpy effect makes it seem as though the person has something wrong with them e.g. insanity.
It's not clear what the title sequence is trying to show as you only get small glimpses of gory stuff such as blood and razors. The fact that the images and scenes of close up objects adds to the mystery as you can't tell what most of the things are.

It is quite obvious that the scene that it is cutting between is of a particular person making a sort of scrap book. The colours are very muted, with only the flashes of red standing out to obviously signify blood.

I like the fact you cant fully tell what the character is doing as it keeps it a mystery to the viewer, which adds to the general theme of a thriller. I think this would be interesting to incorporate into our own title sequence because it makes it more of a mystery.

Thriller sub-genres

Within the genre Thriller there are sub-genres which gives more detail to what type of film it is.

Conspiracy Thriller – This type of thriller usually has a hero/heroine stereotypically journalists or investigators who find themselves trapped in a powerful organisation. The story unravels powerful evidence and many enemies who try to keep the secret organisation alive through lies and propaganda. These companies are then brought down by the protagonist character. This type of genre plays with the identification of good to overrule the evil in the world. Conspiracy thrillers often play with the secrecy of governments and major organisations in history. Films in this sub-genre are JFK, North by Northwest, The Game and The Bourne Ultimatum.

 Crime Thriller – The combination of crime and thriller has created a more suspenseful account to showing successful and failed crime acts on film. Crime thriller’s often focus more on the criminals and their activities leading up to the crime or in retrospect the ending of the film leading back to how it started. Crime thrillers usually emphasise action over psychological aspects although there is also a psychological part to this genre as-well. Central topics of the films include serial killers & murders, robberies, chases, shootouts, heists and double-crosses. Films in this genre are Inside Man, Reservoir dogs, Se7en and A Perfect Murder.

Disaster Thriller – This particular genre follows a certain group or person fighting for survival in conflict with natural or artificial disater like floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanoes. Many disaster films have also had causes of human activity that has brought mankind to the brink of extinction through nuclear disasters which are artificial disasters. This type of genre plays with what the future is going to bring for mankind if such disasters were to happen. Films in this genre include 2012, Poseidon, The Day After Tomorrow and Heaven and Earth Are About To Collide.

Mystery Thriller – This particular sub-genre relates a lot to crime thrillers. It focuses mostly on the efforts of the detective or private investigator in order to solve the mystery. This sub-genre looks at the circumstances of the mystery or crime itself in order to figure out what the clues are, audiences usually take part in trying to uncover the crime. This genre gets into the psyche of the audiences as audiences like to follow the protagonist as they are finding out information as well. This brings a more dramatic effect to the film during investigation in order to know what the crime is. Films in this sub-genre are Shutter Island, Flightplan, Identity and Vertigo

Politcial Thriller – This sub-genre looks into the stability of a government and the reliance on a hero or heroine who must ensure the stability of the government that employs him in order to prevent bad things happening. Commonly used scenarios are the US presidential elections and the preventions of world wars occuring. Film like this are The Contender, All The President's Men, Mannen Fran Mallorca and State Of Play.

Psychological Thriller – This is the typical sub-genre of thriller that is put into all the sub-thriller genres. It plays with the audiences minds and produces suspense in the film because it reflects the main characters conflict being mental and emotionally hindered. It shows the mentality of a character and the thought processes that they go through which makes the sub-genre so suspenseful. Films in this sub-genre include Red Eye, Blue Velvet, Psycho and Cape Fear.

Religious Thriller – This sub-genre connects the plots closely with religious objects, institutions and questions. Many religious related films usually unravel the good and bad points about religion in particular the catholic belief. This connoting the good and how it overcomes the bad in films, through a quest to finding out the truth. Films like this are The Da Vinci Code, Angels & Demons, Devils Advocate and The Ninth Gate.

Supernatural Thriller – Supernatural thrillers often bring an otherworld element that shows something out of the ordinary happening to a protagonist that has overcome this powerful factor. This genre is also mixed in with the tension and suspense in addition to also having unsuspected twists during the film. The protagonist or villians usually have a supernatural gift that help them get to the source of the problem. This subgenre is very closely linked in with religious thrillers as usually demons entering the human body, alien life form, apparitions or the possesion of a pivotal character is a element of a supernatural thriller film. Films like this are Fallen, Lady in the Water, The Others and The Skeleton Key.

Techno Thriller – Techno thrillers look into the manipulation of sophisticated technology playing a prominent part in taking over the world giving the new world order where mankind is over run by robots. This particular sub-genre is mainly based in fictional speculations on life that tend to follow a science fiction trend. Common themes linked in with this sub-genre is world wars, action and science fictional occurrences like aliens taking over with new technologies. Films like this include Matrix, The Terminater, I Robot and The Thirteenth Floor.

Title Sequence Analysis

I have decided to analyse the title sequence of the film ‘Red Lights’

http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/red-lights/

As soon as the title sequence begins, the music and sound gives you an idea straight away of what the genre of film is. When the music starts quite high, they use spotlights over the screen with letters flying all over but when the music goes low and as soon as the pitch changes an actor’s name is made with the letters. That name begins to dissolve a letter at a time whilst the music is still in a low tone creating suspense.

You can see the spotlight and lettering flying about.

There is no image in the background showing that he is a main character.



 On the second name shown, it shows a spotlight shining onto the name which allows you to see a shadow of two arms. The names are shown in a type writer effect but not from left to right, the letters are mixed up and you only know what the name says when all the letters are there. The name dissolves in the same way with random letters disappearing first.

When the name of the film is shown a couple of the spot lights turn red which makes the title stand out more as the title is ‘Red Lights’ The music also intensifies when the title is shown and quietens down again once the title sequence begins to name more actors. It makes you feel like they aren’t significant characters as much as the other 3 as you can see more images with the rest of the names.

The background is black, the title is white which allows it to stand out. The red lights link in with the film and you can tell this is the title.

We see a selection of things like an eye, a Jesus statue, a collection of pictures, symbols and writing which gives the impression that they are have a meaning to do with the film. As it comes to show the staff that helped make the film there is a lot more to watch and the music and names are shown faster. The images are shown blurry and too fast to make out what they are exactly but it keeps you intrigued with what’s happening.

 They show photos in the background, statues and lots of symbols in books. This makes it look like they are significant to the story.

 

The main colour shown throughout is all dark colours which keep it mysterious. In the first half of the title sequence the only flashes of colour are the red light which increases the significance of the title. The lettering was white to stand out on the dark background but when the images in the background turn to white, the lettering becomes black. As it gets to the end the music blends in with the sound of an aeroplane taking off which is shown at the end. This links in with the red lights as the airplane is a little blurry but you can see the lights clearly. The showing of the airplane makes me think that the beginning of the scene is going to be set in an airport or on a plane.

One thing I’d certainly like to take from this title sequence and use in our own title sequence is the timing of the images shown with the music. When something important is shown it would be good for the music to become more powerful and louder to signify the importance of the image shown.

Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures

Warner Bros. Pictures

A possible distributor for our film could be Warner Bros. Pictures as they have created a number of films in the same genre as ours, Thriller.
Warner Bros. Pictures was founded in 1918 under the name of Warner Bros. Studios by Albert, Harry, Sam and Jack Warner but became Warner Bros. Pictures as we know it in 1923. During the first few years of Warner Bros. Pictures from 1918 - 1967 it was an independent company but since then it has had 4 new owners with the newest one being the merge with Time inc. which led to the name of the parent company Time Warner. This happened in 1989 and they are still working with eachother to this day.
Warner Bros. have also done a number of television programmes like One Tree Hill and Charmed.


Warner Bros. Pictures is a big company and they make and distribute a number of genre of films, to appeal to different audiences. If they make a film like Inception which is a thriller and a 15 they will make their logo dark, and scary to match their film, like the one at the top which was used for Inception. In films like The Hangover and A Cinderella Story they use the more famous logo, like the one below which is more colourful and nicer to look at, as it matches the films which aren't scary but uplifting and they are comedys so they change the logo to fit in with the film they are distributing.





Megans plot idea

Sophie: Laurens best mate.
Lauren: Girlfriend of Joe.
Joe: Boyfriend of Lauren.
Jack: Joes best mate.
Harry: Old friend of Joe and Jack, on drugs.
A group of teenagers go camping in a woods 10 miles out from the nearest town. As they pass through the town they notice that it is very quiet. They see an empty petral station and notice a light on. One of the girls suggest they should nip into the shop for some more alcohol. When two of the group members, Lauren and Joe get into the store they walk over to the fridge and get some beer. They look around the shop and see the till but no cashier. So they place the money on the till and begin to make there way to the door.
 They hear a creak and turn around to see an old man stood behind them and he begins to warn the two of them not to go out into the woods at night alone as something will happen. But they laugh and carry on walking back to the car. They tell their friends what just happened and Sophie becomes scared and begins to question whether they should still go camping or just go home. The other four laugh at her and call her a chicken. They get to the woods and set up their tents, it becomes dark very quickly so they all begin to search for some sticks nearby for their fire. They set the fire up and cook some of the food they have brought with them. As they are all sat around the fire, Harry gets his drugs out and offers them to the rest of the group but they all refuse. He goes off to the toilet further in the trees near a river. He begins to wee and hears some rustling in the bushes. He shouts at the person in the bushes assuming it's his friends and tells them to get lost. As he turns around to walk back to the camp he sees the person is still there looking at him. As he walks closer he notices it's not his friend and that it is someone wearing a mask. He screams and runs back to the camp with a bad leg after falling over a few times. He begins to tell them what he saw. But they all assume he is hallucinating from the drugs and go to bed.
In the middle of the night the wind is howling and the trees are rustling making Harry more scared. He gets out of his tent and intends to jump in Jack and Sophies but is interrupted on the way. The thing he saw earlier snatches him and slits his throat. Sophie wakes up and sees a dark figure stood outside the tent she grabs a pen knife and slowly looks out of the tent, as she does this the man grabs her hair and drags her out from the tent. Her screaming awakens Jack who runs out of the tent and jumps on top of the man telling Sophie to run. Scared for her friends safety she runs over to Lauren and Joes tent and sees they are dead, as she runs into the forest she notices a body who looks like Harry sat behind a tree. She runs over to him begging him to help Jack but as she shakes his body, his head falls off.
Meanwhile, Jack is being chopped up by the man in a mask. Once he is done he walks off into the woods with his axe in the direction that Sophie had ran. For a few minutes he chases her as she runs away building tension with music. As Sophie looks back to see where he is she runs into him who then begins to strangle her. But she hits him in the face and he lets go dropping her into the river where the current is strong.
She wakes up on the side of a large pond, covered in blood with no idea where she is.

Shannon's title sequence analysis

http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/the-negotiator/

I chose this particular title sequence as i feel it creates tension due to the still images used which then cuts back sharply to the titles. All images are in a dark, blue tone making them more eery. There is then a crane shot of a tall building possibly establishing where the movie takes place. The sequence then shows several extreme close ups of hands, clenched fists, male faces possibly indicating these are significant to the film. The people who are shown in extreme close up are often in the background of still images, possibly showing they were in the background previously however play a huge part in the plot of the story. A dark almost 'barcode like' effect is used over the still images. I particularly like this effect and would like to use it in our own title sequence as it adds to the 'darkness' of the film and gives it a contemporary feel.

Idea for production image

15 film certificate

What does the 15 Symbol mean? What does the 15 symbol mean?

 No-one under 15 is allowed to see a 15 film at the cinema or buy/rent a ‘15’ rated DVD.  15 rated works are not suitable for children under 15 years of age.

Are there any limits on what sort of theme a work can have at 15?

No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate for 15 year olds.

Is 15 really stronger than 12A?

 Yes. 15 works are stronger than 12 or 12A rated works and could include any of the following:

strong violence

frequent strong language (eg 'f***').

portrayals of sexual activity

strong verbal references to sex

sexual nudity

brief scenes of sexual violence or verbal references to sexual violence

discriminatory language or behaviour

drug taking

How much strong language is there in a 15?

There could potentially be a great deal. At 15 there is no upper limit on the number of uses of strong language (eg f***).

Occasionally there may be uses of the strongest terms (eg 'c***'), although continued or aggressive use will not normally be passed 15.

What about discriminatory or offensive terms?

There may be racist, homophobic or other discriminatory language, and the work could explore themes relating to this.

However, at 15 the work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory language or behaviour.

How much sex and nudity is allowed at 15?

At 15 sexual activity can be portrayed, as long as there is no strong or graphic detail. Some sex scenes can be quite long at this category and may involve some nudity and movement. Though nudity may be allowed in a sexual context there should be no strong detail.

There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context.

There can be strong references to sex and sexual behaviour, but especially strong or crude references are unlikely to be acceptable unless justified by context.

Heterosexual and homosexual sex and sex references are treated the same.

Can there be strong violence?

Yes, at 15 violence may be strong. It should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury, however, and the strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable.

Strong sadistic or sexualised violence is also unlikely to be acceptable.

Easily accessible weapons may not be glamorised.

What about sexual violence?

There may be detailed verbal references to sexual violence (for example descriptions of rape or sexual assault in a courtroom scene or in victim testimony) but any portrayal of sexual violence must be discreet and have a strong contextual justification.

What about horror works?

Many horror films are rated 15. At 15 there can be strong threat and menace (as long as it is not sadistic or sexualised), although the strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable.

Can you see drugs in a 15 rated film or video?

At 15 drug taking may be shown but the work as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse.

The misuse of easily accessible and highly dangerous substances like aerosols or solvents is unlikely to be acceptable at 15.

What about dangerous behaviour or things teens might copy?

We consider the risk of potential harm to impressionable teenagers. For example, dangerous behaviour such as hanging, suicide and self-harming should not dwell on detail which could be copied.

Original questionnaire

Thriller films

A Thriller is a film that uses suspense, tension and excitement as the main elements. They capture the audiences attention by giving them a high level of anticipation, ultra heightened expectations, uncertainty, surprise, anxiety or horror. They more often than not contain cliffhangers, red herrings or plot twists. They also usually consist of a villain-driven plot that presents obstacles that the main character must overcome. Common sub-genres are psychological thrillers, crime thrillers and mystery thrillers.
Some examples of thriller films and their plots:


The Silence of the Lambs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQKs169Sl0I

A young FBI cadet must confide in an incarcerated and manipulative killer to receive his help on catching another serial killer who skins his victims.

Psycho

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NG3-GlvKPcg

A thirty-something secretary steals $40,000 from her employer's client, and subsequently encounters a young motel proprietor too long under the domination of his mother.

Inception

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66TuSJo4dZM

In a world where technology exists to enter the human mind through dream invasion, a highly skilled thief is given a final chance at redemption which involves executing his toughest job to date: Inception.

Ellie's 2 minute plot

A woman is sat in a dark, small room being interregated by a unknown figure. The only thing you can make out about the figure is its silhouette. Her hands are tied behind her back and she looks bruised and battered. The whole way in which she is acting suggests that she's weary and tired, as though she's just woken up after a day or two of being knocked out/sleeping. A bright lamp is the only source of light in the room and it shines bright into her face so that she cant identify the person asking her questions etc. She pleads to be let go and asks what she wants with her, as she cant remember anything. She drugs her again and she passes out.She then has a flashback to what brought her to this room. The flashback starts with a normal day. She is walking out of the house, yet starts to feel uneasy, as if someone is watching her. She looks round but cant see anyone, and carries on. The shot cuts to a point of view shot to make it look as though someone is watching her. She starts walking down the street when she notices someone behind her, walking at a fast pace. She crosses the road to try and decide whether or not the person is following her, but they also cross the road. This is when she starts panicking. She runs to a nearby woods to try and get shelter, but it all backfires and the person finds her. She falls over a branch and the person soon catches up. they say 'I know what you did...' and proceeds to drugging her so that she blacks out.

Remake of V for Vendetta interrogation scene

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmsr_8OVb24