1. Opening title sequence
research
Freyabruce
I chose to look at seven, red dragon and shutter island as I felt they were some of the main
influences when looking at creating an opening title sequence, as I thought they were successful
in creating an effective psychological-thriller.

2. Seven
1996
David Fincher

3. Here is Two examples of the way that
the titles are used in the opening title
sequence of seven. The font used is
white to create a chilling effect and a
strong contrast of the dark background,
fitting with the psychological/crime
thriller.
The titles appear very quickly an flicker, the
writing is overlayed making it tense and fast
paced. They are always placed off centre to
create an edge, and to make the viewer
focus on what's happening in the
background.

4. Mise-en-scene
The colours used are very dull. In this
screenshots of the OTS you can see
someone with dirty hands slicing off their
finger prints, this is effect as its scary and
unusual, making the viewer want to watch.
The opening title sequence of seven
is based on flickers and overlays of
the main props used in the film.
Showing significant details to the
main antagonist.
The props used in the OTS are books, blood,
photos, knifes, dark lighting and shows the 7 sins
as the end, which again enhances the theme.

5. In the OTS lots of close ups are used, epically when they are doing things
for example developing photographs, the use of a close up is that it creates
mystery as you cant see what else is going on and its extremely focused on
the one thing. Creating a lot of emotion onto the viewer.
The jolty-ness of the camera contrast to the editing creates suspense.
The sound in the OTs Is a very
heavy beat with high pitched
squeaky sounds, this builds up
tension as it is non diegetic.
Distorted screams in the
background again add a lot of
tension.

6. Red dragon
2002
Bret Ratner

7. The majority of the shots in
the OTS of red dragon are
close ups, creating a height
of intensity and emotion.
The camera often follows the
action, for example the book
turning over the page. The
camera follows it to give the
viewer the feel that they are
opening the book.
The close up of the mouth makes you feel very uncomfortable
because of the colours used and the fact you cant see the rest of
the face, and only a creepy smile.

8. The titles used in the OTS of red dragon
are son-serif, quite bold and in capitals.
Using the colours of red and white again
relating to the genre of the film,
creating a subconscious atmosphere.
The juxtaposition of using red and
white together is effect when
comparing it to the dark lighting
background.

9. The mise –en-scene used
in red dragon OTS Is a lot
of dark lighting, a
newspaper and magazine
clippings with hand writing
all over them. This creates
mystery as you wonder
who's done it and why.
The music is very fast and loud, with high
pitch in the background, creating a lot of
tension, relating to a typical thriller.

10. Shutter island
2010
Martin Scorsese

11. In the opening title sequence of
shutter island we are introduced to
a setting of an island. We are shown
this with a steady wide establishing
shot, that zooms in. During this shot
lines flash over the top to create a
jumpy effect. The colours are very
dark and the weather is quite
depressing, suggesting clear themes
of the film through pathetic fallacy.
In this shot, the camera is looking up at
gates opening. It is a steady POV shot as in
this bit a car I coming through the gates,
therefore the camera moves in as the
gates open. This is an important shot for
the OPS as it indicates a more specific
scene, and creates intensity being a POV

12. Mise-en-scence
The mise-en-scene in the
shutter island title sequence is
very powerful as it creates
mystery and darkness, key to
thrillers.
Fire out of focus and the back of a chair again creates mystery. Chains, and prisons
bars indicates the scenery and introduces another sub-genre or crime into the film.
Extreme close up
of a gun and a
foot, with high
contrast lighting,
showing dark
areas apart from
the gun to
highlight it.
Making the
audience
question why the
gun is on the
floor.

13. • He is the two main ways that the titles are presented in the shutter
island opening title sequence. The font is quite bold and sans-serif.
Using the colours red and white to link in to the main theme of
psychological thriller as red is usually represented with blood and
death, and white as quite chilling. The titles enter the screen quickly
and shake to create a sense of edge, placed in the corners to give the
same effect.