Research into aspects of the thriller genre task 2 thriller title sequences. By jess hedley.

1st title sequence. Harry potter and the philosopher's stone Watch the first 30 seconds! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JVXQSsR-1Yat At the start of the title sequence there is a wave like transition with non diegetic sound of horns which creates a feeling of heroicness and power. In the wave like transition there are houses shown but they disappear as the transition clears, this gives the opening a enigma and a sense of magic which links in with the film. The logo then appears turning into the centre of the screen after the wave transition finishes. It is placed in the middle to get the attention of the audience and to show the importance, as it is the producer company of harry potter.

1st title sequence continued. After the logo appears it fades into a new scene and the denotations show a baby with a scar on it’s head, the camera then zooms into the baby’s scar on it’s head. The use of the extreme shot magnifies beyond what the human eye would experience in reality. This shot is used to create a dramatic effect and creates a sense of mystery towards the audience and shows significant importance. After the extreme close up onto the scar, beams of light come out of the scar and it explodes into the title of the film “harry potter and the philosophers stone”.

1st title sequence continued. The font used on “harry potter and the philosophers stone” is spike like and the “p” is shaped like a scar which links in with the scar on the baby's head. The font is in gold which resembles wisdom and magic therefore helping the plot of a magical illusion. In the background it is set like a storm with dark, gloomy colours which contrasts the gold colours representation. There is also lightening and non-diegetic sounds of lightening crashes, which creates pathetic fallacy therefore showing us something bad might happen in the film.

The dark night rises. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDpjSr9VhG0&safe=active The opening title sequence for ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ establishes a dramatic a mysterious atmosphere. This is due to the pace of the non-diegetic soundtrack being played as it is quick and creates an almost panic effect. The logo appears turning into the centre of the screen after the transition finishes. It is placed in the middle to get the attention of the audience and to show the importance and the company who produced the film. Also, the colours in the opening only consist of black, white and grey, this again strengthens the intended atmosphere and helps create an enigma towards the audience watching. The colours black, white and grey create a feeling of gloom and horror making the audience intrigued. In the title sequence we are shown some of the characters in the film, but they are only pictures. Doing this helps engage the audience more as they will be thinking of the characteristics of them characters and create imagery of what they are like. The title contained within the image alter positions simultaneously with the camera movement, which is usually a close up on the different people’s names. We are only able to guess what will happen in the film as we are not shown any of the plot which helps the sense of the enigma being created.

Se7en https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-k2gsEI34CE&safe=active The opening sequence for the film ‘Se7en’ does not directly reveal any of the characters within the film. It starts with a close up shot of a book turning pages. the soundtrack highly impacts the atmosphere created as It consists of an creepy continuous sound with infrequent screeches, as the sequence progresses the music becomes louder and the tension builds. As the music increases in loudness this creates a tense impact on the audience making them feel nervous. Also, The titles move unpredictably creating a jumpy feel for the audience which sets the genre. In parts of the opening title It shows a person who does not state which gender they are, writing and cutting things up. this helps create an enigma as the audience will be curious of what he or she is doing. The titles are white on a black background which helps emphasise the titles to the audience. The font of the titles are sharp and handwritten-like giving it a spooky mysterious effect. The plot is not revealed to us and leaves the audience wanting to find out what will happen as we are given clues through the opening sequence leaving them already on a cliff hanger.