Gary Holder
Research into Title Sequences
Skyfall
This is the title sequence from the James Bond film "Skyfall". Bond films are famed for their title sequences which have their own set of conventions. For example the soundtrack is always sung by a contempory artist (in this case Adele) and usually features the name of the film in the chorus. there is also the iconic gun-barrel scene which features in every bond film.
This particular sequence starts with Bond falling into the water after he is accidentally shot just before. This leads into a sequence based in water, as water is present throughout the film (here and the lake at skyfall) this is almost foreshadowing the later events of the film.
The main colours used in this title sequence are red (blood) blue (water and white (foam at waterfall etc.) these three colours are very prominent throughout the film and reflect the theme of violence with the blood and also as i said above, foreshodow the location of skyfall and the lake later in the film.
The underwater nature of this opening sequence means some nice shots such as the one below are possible. the blood in the water can be used to cover the frame allowing for a smooth transition.the silouhette of a woman (the "Bond Girl") is then shown as is common in the opening sequences. Knives and Guns are present throughout the scene to reflect the themes of violence in the film as a whole. At one point the knives even turn into grave stones making the danger seem even more severe.
I also noticed that this title sequence shows the name of the actors as they show up on screen, this allows the audience to associate the name with the face and gives credit to the actors in a visual way. The silhouette of the womans body is a convention among Bond films in the opening sequence.
The title appears right at the start of the sequence which is perhaps unconventional but this may be because the Bond films are such a well established franchise and the title is well known. Daniel Craig's eye is shown in an extreme close up to show the colour of blue which, as shown above, is a prominent colour in this sequence but also because it is a well known aspect of Daniel Craig's appearance.
Thrillers should utilise suspense and mystery to keep the audience entertained. The idea of mystery is introduced in this sequence, first by the shadows which Bond shoots and then by the confusion of Bond surrounded by mirrors and shooting.The use of shadows implies a concealed identity which is a generic convention of Thrillers, and this idea of Bond having to uncover the identity of an attacker foreshadows the film creating suspense. The mirror scene is characteristic of a Psychological thriller as they give us an insight into the mind of a character (in this case Bond's fear/confusion).
Se7en
The opening sequence from the 1995 thriller "Se7en" foreshadows the events of the film but in a way that the audience doesn’t find out too much and an element of mystery is maintained.
The first shot of the title sequence (which was preceded by a short narrative involving a murder) is of a book which could be a reference to the narrative’s biblical links and also to the documentation of the murders that the detectives later find. Low key lighting is used and the shot is a close up so that the identity of the character is not revealed. The title over the top is in a strange font that looks handwritten, the scrawled nature of this font is unsettling because audiences are used to clean, clear fonts for titles. It is also a similar font to the characters handwriting in the title sequence and, as we assume he is the murderer, this is also unnerving.
The next shots I have identified are this white font on a black background, the name is first shown reversed and then quickly shifted, seeing a word backwards seems unnatural and is therefore creepy.
After this there is a bird’s eye view shot of some hand laid on a table, we are unsure as to whether the owner of these hands is alive or dead because of the content of the narrative we were shown before so this creates a sense of unsettling mystery.
The next two shots are extreme close ups of someone with a razor blade cutting their fingers, this is foreshadowing of a detail from later in the film that the murderer cut off his finger prints so as to avoid detection. The dark nature of this shot combined with the inclusion of a potential weapon or dangerous object identifies the film as a thriller to prepare the audience for the film and also to create a sense of anticipation as they still do not know who the character in these shots is.
There is a shocking photo flashed on screen for a millisecond showing the face of a boy/young man with a mutilated face, the way this shot is only shown very quickly means it is almost as if the title sequence is a flashback of traumatic events.
When the title of the film appears it is first in the corner like the other credits but then quickly flashes onto the screen very large, leaving a lasting impression on the audience.
There are also several shots which are red to contrast the black and white of the rest of the sequence and also to reference the violence of the film as red represents blood.
Arlington Road
After the short narrative at the beginning of Arlington road it cuts straight to titles, these cut very quickly from shot to shot and have filters over, mostly red, black and white and saturation filters. These create a very unsettling nature as we are not sure what is happening because the shots are so close up and cut very quickly. It is also interesting how suburban scenes have been made to look sinister with the use of filters, for example the red has connotations of death and violence which transforms the peaceful shots of houses and fences into unsettling images. This is also perhaps because it has taken a safe place and made it seem sinister which is scary to the audience. The titles are cut so quickly that, as below, the same title is often shown over several shots. the use of the colour inversion in the middle shot is useful as it makes an otherwise quite bright shot dark to fit not only with the other shots but also with the overall dark tone of the film.
Throughout the title sequence there is the recurring theme of the suburban location as it makes the audience uneasy to see a familiar location being shown in such a sinister light. This is then taken a step further as we briefly see an image of a child, due to the shocking nature of the narrative at the start we are scared that this child may also be in danger or that it may be foreshadowing of another part of the film. The very dark filters are used again here to convey the sinister themes.Throughout the title sequence there is the recurring theme of the suburban location as it makes the audience uneasy to see a familiar location being shown in such a sinister light. This is then taken a step further as we briefly see an image of a child, due to the shocking nature of the narrative at the start we are scared that this child may also be in danger or that it may be foreshadowing of another part of the film. The very dark filters are used again here to convey the sinister themes.
The red filter on the first shot below is very shocking and perhaps reminds us of the horrific events of the narrative just before and also may be foreshadowing for horrific events later in the film. It is also made more shocking by the fact that before it there are mostly black and white shots. We then get the title of the film , first in the form of the road sign, keeping in theme with the suburban location and then on an almost plain background to make it standout from other titles which have been over shots of houses etc.
There are several other shots that have links to children and are designed to make the audience scared for these children, for example the shot of the three girls running away below make the audience scared as they are unsure if the girls are just playing or if something more sinister is happening. The empty swingset is another example of this as we are not sure if this is an innocent scene or if the children that were playing on the swings have been taken or otherwise harmed. There is also a very imposing shot of a house made to look very threatening by the filters and angle of the shot.
The last shot of the sequence is of Michael Faraday (played by Jeff Bridges, however it is out of focus at first so it looks a lot like the other shots of the title sequence, when it does focus it makes for a smooth transition into the narrative again.
