Planning opening credits

The purpose of the opening credits is to introduce the actors, director and all the others that helped make the film, it can also be used to introduce the style of the film, it also shows the roles behind the scenes and finally the film title.                                                                            

Se7en used a fairly small font size for the names of actors, directors, etc but the film title started off small and then flickered and became large filling up the majority of the screen making the audience focus their attention on it, helping them memorise it, the colours used were mainly dark, there was black and white used which portrays good vs evil, protagonist vs antagonist, also the red briefly used portrays danger and blood portraying danger, which comes from the antagonist, helping the audience create a relationship with the character before the film even starts due to fear of the antagonist, blood and danger being two conventions of the thriller genre helps engage the audience. They try to make it so the most recognisable people are first, the production compant name came first, then the director, David Fincher, obviously wanted to get his name out in the public eye so put himself first, then the two main, famous actors, Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman were displayed, as well as other actors afterwards, then the casting director, music used, editors, director of photography and finally the co producers, the title name and directors name were used again during the opening credits, this was to essentially drill the name into the audiences head, getting it into the public. The font was in child's writing, this shows the mentally instability of the antagonist which explains why he is doing such unspeakable things but also helps build up the fear of the antagonist, due to him not knowing its wrong and because he is unstable, being relentless and not stopping till he has killed the victim, the fact that child's writing it used contradicts the fearful image of the antagonist as children are seen as sweet and innocent, making it extremely creepy.

My design followed the conventions of a thriller, I used the dark background, representing the enigma of the antagonist and the blood, a convention of the thriller genre, which is red, showing the danger of the antagonist, essentially a warning to the audience, the text is put right in the middle of the screen in a fairly large font size, this focuses the audiences attention on it, helping them remember the name, I tried to use a font that looks slightly eerie, something that is conventionally used in the thriller genre, I used this font and I feel it fits with the effect of the blood, it doesn't look too neat and helps create suspense in the audience, I have positioned the title in the very centre of the screen, making it the sole focus point so the audience remember it. This opening credit does not link very well with the actual theme of our narrative, although it demonstrates use of a convention (blood) it does not link with the main theme of stalking/being watched, therefore will not be used.

This is Amys idea, it suits the idea of our thriller and uses the colours you'd expect to see, black and red, black representing enigma and the unknown and red representing blood and danger, these both help create suspense within the audience from the start, the font used is also a positive, it creates a bold statement, the large letters represent the power and strength of the antagonist, overpowering the protagonist, this helps create fear and shock in the audience, it is also positioned right in the middle of the screen, making the audience focus purely on that. The only thing I would change is where the colours are, I feel it would be more effective is the red was swapped with the black as there would be more of a sense of enigma and there would also be a blood effect.

This is Alfies idea, this also suits the theme of our opening sequence, the CCTV images was an idea we wanted to go with and the use of the CCTV effect works extremely well and fits our idea, the colours again are conventional to the thriller, creating an enigma as well as warning the audience of danger (the antagonist), the CCTV effect helps the audience realise how much of a stalker the antagonist really is and that she is unknowing of him watching her. The only disadvantage is that the text is extremely blurry and the font used is basic, this may not leave the title in the audiences mind, we must make it stick in there heads, this is one of the reasons we picked such a unusual name for the title, the fact that it is in the middle is a positive for making it stand out but the writing around it creates a distraction for the audience, possibly taking their attention away from the title.

We will work on Amys opening credits, with a bit of restructuring we can make the opening credits extremely successful and make it fit the thriller genre, all we need to work on is the use of the colours and I feel we have a great opening sequence, we will use the same order as Se7en does but will not repeat anything also the production company name will be the last thing on the screen before the opening sequence starts opposite to se7en. I feel once is enough for the audience to remember the title as it is extremely bold and eye catching, the names/job roles of people working behind the scenes will not appear directly in the middle like the title, also they will be a lot smaller and not as eye catching, the actors and directors names will be slightly bigger and more central than the others, making them slightly more memorable than the others.