Analysed title sequence

Analysed title sequences

In the title sequence of Halloween 2, within the mise-en-scene, you first see titles of an orange font which is used to connote Halloween as Halloween is associated with dark and orange due to pumpkins being orange symbolising the season and also black symbolising night as night connotes sinister, evil, when sins and crimes are committed which the overall colours are used to make the audience feel immersed within the genre of the film. the black background can be seen as darkness surrounding the pumpkin and the titles as if it is going to envelop them which makes the titles and pumpkin isolated which will subliminally make the audience anticipate tension of vulnerability for any characters in the near future due to evil lurking within the atmosphere which creates a sense of danger for the characters within the film even though the audience has not seen the characters within the film yet . Also the darkness of the background emphasises the colour of the titles and the pumpkin which is trying to enforce those meanings towards the audience so they get a strong feel of the film. 

The titles are in upper case which the director has chosen because the titles has sharp corners which connotes in iconography terms, sharp as a blade, which means to inflict a slow painful death, which has been subliminally done so that the audience can identify what the genre of the film is and what could be expected within the film, which makes the audience engaged within the film. 

later in the title sequence the camera slowly zooms in on the pumpkin which is done as shadow surrounding the pumpkin fully envelops the pumpkin as if the darkness is consuming the pumpkin in which the lit flame symbolises life and the darkness is taking away the innocence and also taking away life which is further emphasised when the pumpkin splits in half and a white skull appears which a skull connotes death which creates an unsettling feel for the audience and prepares them for a tense and horrifying slasher film. 

The camera zooms in the skull's eye sockets as it creates the feel for the audience being consumed into the darkness and into death. This creates a sinister tone for the rest of the film which will make the audience gripped to the film. 

The sound used within the title sequence is an eerie piano theme music which is to create tension as if the music is of a sinister chase music which will make the audience on edge and to create a sinister atmosphere and tone for the film.  

Within the title sequence, the production and institution company is shown first which is then followed by two famous actors' names to engage the audience into the film, which is then followed by the Title, Director, Actors and Actresses which two names are shown at a time, Editors, Executive in charge of production , Music by, Associate producer, Production designer, Director of photography, Executive producers, Written by, Produced by, and Directed by. All the names are bigger than the rest of the other words and are in capital letters, whereas the other words and roles are in lower case. All the titles are shown on the right due to the main focus being on the pumpkin on the left side of the screen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jk1OWy-Ss0o

In the title sequence of Insidious,the colour of the titles are red which connotes blood, danger, evil, and death which the colour is used to create an unsettling feeling for the audience which also reinforces the fear of death which is to frighten the audience which is further supported by the title effects which gives off a mist effect which represents a paranormal theme which also reinforces the fear of ghosts and supernatural horror to the audience. 

The colour of the background is black which connotes darkness, sinister, evil, and death which is used to make audience feel frightened due to the colour reinforcing the fear of death. The sound in the background is ominous which make the audience anticipate that something bad is going to happen. The ominous background creates a strong sinister atmospheric presence which will make the audience feel unsettled and scared. 

The lettering is also in capital letters which slows the audience's eyes when reading so the audience can absorb all the detail and colours of the lettering and background. The titles move which creates the sense of unease for the audience and also due to it moving creates a sense of danger and fear of the unknown as the titles within the environment/ surroundings (background) are constantly changing which creates the feel of no control. 

When the camera focuses on the lamp, the camera rotates 180 degrees which is done to create a sense of unease for the audience and also by the camera rotating, it makes the lamp look like a full moon which the full moon symbolises in some cultures believe that the full moon causes demonic influences. The moon also represents night time which the night can be associated when evil activities and sins are committed which makes the audience feel a sense of dread. The camera pans across the rooms inside the house to create the feel that spirits are travelling/moving inside the home and also it is used so the audience can see the interior of house and to create the feel of vulnerability and reinforces danger to the audience. 

The lighting inside the house is dark which represents and creates a sinister atmosphere to make the audience feel frightened and feel dread as they may surmise that something bad is going to happen. Later in the title sequence the camera pans across a room and the sound of sinister string instruments play as the camera focuses on a shadow of sinister figure which is done to evoke fear to the audience. The camera zooms into the sinister female spirit in the distant corridor which is done to make the audience feel more danger the closer the camera zooms onto the spirit, this makes the audience feel scared and frightened. 

Before the film's title name appears on screen the sound is very quiet and is just a black screen but then the title name appears which is a strong colour of red which symbolises death, evil , and gore which the lighting creates shades that shift on the lettering which creates a sense of unease and also emphasises the size of the title which has a stronger intensity of the meaning it connotes. The title is supported with a sting of sinister high pitched string instruments which has been done to make the audience feel startled and frightened. This sets a sinister and frightening tone for the rest of the film and the purpose of this to make it easier for the audience to be scared/frightened during the film and by this engages the audience to the film as the audience would want to see more. Near to the end, there is a sequence of different places and rooms of the house which were in black and white which those colours reinforce death, sinister, and evil which makes the audience feel unsettled. 

Within the sequence of photos shown, various objects within the photos move, which connotes paranormal elements which reinforces the fear of ghosts which will therefore make the audience feel frightened and also identify that this film is a supernatural/paranormal through these codes and conventions being portrayed within this title sequence. 

Within the title sequence, the institution and production companies was shown first, followed by the Director, Title, Actors and Actresses which one name is shown at a time but the lesser-known actors and actresses are shown with two names at a time, Casting by, Costume designer, Music by, Edited by, Production designer, Director of photography, Line producer, Co-produced by, Executive producer, Produced by, Written by, and Directed by.  

The pattern of names appear from left to right vice-versa i.e. name appears on the left side of the screen and the next name appears on the right side of the screen and does this pattern throughout the title sequence. All title and words are in capital letters and the names are bigger than the other words within the title sequence.  

       

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1e1feo4DUk

In the title sequence of A nightmare on Elm street, the title name is red, bold, and in capital letters. This title name visually connotes blood, evil, and danger which are all codes and conventions of horror. Capital letters is used for the title name because it slows the audience's eye down when they read the title name. Also the capitals of the title name emphasises the name, also by the title being in capitals, it creates a sharp effect which can symbolise a sharpness from a blade which is a code and convention of iconography of horror as blades symbolise a slow and painful death. The letter 'A' is on top of the letter 'i' in the word nightmare, which replaces the dot on the letter 'i' to make the title look more squashed and dense to reinforce the connotation meanings. The word 'nightmare' within the title is emphasised through big, bold, red capital letters to further emphasise the meaning of nightmare. The words ' Elm street' within the title has white font which can symbolise life and innocence as a street will contain residents that live there. The red word 'nightmare' is bigger than the white words 'Elm street' which can symbolise vulnerability which is further emphasised by the white words being thin and the red word being large and bold. It is if the evil and danger is bigger than the innocence which overall shows that there is great vulnerability.  The background is black which emphasises the titles even more. The colour black connotes sinister, darkness, and evilness which is the codes and conventions of horror which is envelops around the titles. 

The rest of the titles are white and thin. The names credited are in capitals and at the bottom of the named role. 
Within the title sequence, the production and institution companies are shown first which the director is shown after as the famous director may engage the audience to watch the film. The title follows after the director, then it is the actors and actresses which the main actors and actresses' are shown on the left side of the screen, which only one name is shown at a time, but the lesser-known actors and actresses are all shown on the right side of the screen which may have been done to save time. It is then followed by 'Casting by', 'Director of photography', 'Mechanical special effects designer', 'Associative producer', 'Film editor', 'Music by', 'Co-producer', 'Executive producers', 'Producer', and 'Written and Director'. In this title sequence, the names of all the people credited are all in capitals and are bigger than the roles listed within the title sequence. The majority of the titles within the title sequence is on the left as most people read from left to right.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tn_DjzN8410   

Overall, all three title sequences analysed has a similar order in terms of the institution and production companies appearing first followed by the director, actors and actresses, etc. But in the more modern films such as Insidious, there is different roles which are not included in the other two title sequences (Halloween 2 and A nightmare on Elm street) such as Line producer and Costume designer. This tells us that modern films today has evolved over the past years as there is more roles required in films today. The title sequence of Halloween 2 is the most basic title sequence compared to the other two title sequences as the titles are constantly in the same place and has no variance whereas A nightmare on Elm street is less basic than Halloween 2 as some of the titles are in different places on the screen when they appear and also the letters and words are not perfectly horizontal whereas the titles and letters in Halloween 2 are perfectly horizontal which looks very basic. Insidious is the least basic as the titles appear at different places on the screen which they fade in and fade out when the titles appear and disappear and has mist effect coming off the titles as well.

My preferred type of title sequence is the title sequence of Insidious as there is a lot of variance and has some effects such as fade in and fade out and emits mist when the titles appear and disappear as it sets a tone at the beginning of the film which engages the audience the most.

In my title sequence for my film, I am going to try and achieve some of the features from the title sequence from Insidious such as the effects involving the titles and them being at various places on the screen when they appear i.e. one name appears on the left and the other name appears after the previous name on the right. I will also use the font style of the titles form Halloween 2 title sequence as it has a sharp effect connoting a type of blade and use the colours from Insidious to represent blood, danger and evilness and also by the titles having those features it connotes the horror slasher genre. I will choose these features for my title sequence as i want my title sequence to be very interesting and engaging for the audience, and also the audience can identify straight away what genre they watching.