Planning Opening Credits***

Planning our opening credits ins essential as these play a huge role in the opening sequence. It is important to plan in order to evaluate whether the credits are successful because actually placing them in the final product. Below, I have planned the qualities of the credits as well as the effect they will have on the audience.


Colour Used:

The title sequence taken from the thriller 'Se7en' in which black and white text is used

After the research I have conducted into thriller openings, I am now able to plan my own thriller opening sequence as I have a deeper understanding of the conventions used in the genre. Colour is significant in the atmosphere and representation created, as the connotations imply to the audience it's meaning. In the research I have conducted, I have found that thriller openings are often based on three main colours; black, white and red. This convention can be found in the opening sequence of the thriller 'Se7en', when black and white text is used to create a dark atmosphere. These colours are often used to create an eerie atmosphere as they appear lifeless; with red suggesting a violent narrative as it is associated with blood. However, from the findings I accumulated by asking the target audience their preferences, I found that they favour a non violent narrative and therefore including red in the opening sequence would be relate to the narrative, confusing the audience. As a result, the colours we'll be using for our opening credits are going to be black and white as the use of these colours will effectively represent the narrative of the opening sequence. Black is often associated with the dark and evil personality of the antagonist, whereas the colour white connotes the innocence of the victim and therefore by including both the credits highlight their contrasting and conflicting relationship. Such eerie atmosphere would not be created if the credits were to deviate from convention, for example using blue and yellow. This would not engage the audience as it does not conform to the generic convention and therefore by conforming the use of black and white text, I avoid disengaging the audience.

Font Used:

To ensure we used the most suitable text for our opening sequence, we researched appropriate font styles on the internet, rather than using more available on Final Cut Pro. Eventually, we found one from the website: www.fontspace.com. The font of the credits we are going to use are type writer style (Truetypewriter PolyglOTT) because the font is relevant to the narrative. When the credits appear, the audience will be able to see the victim on her laptop and therefore will create the impression that the victim is typing out the credits. This provides the audience with a similar perspective of the victim, making them increasingly similar and therefore encourages them to build a relationship with the victim. Therefore, when the victim is made to feel vulnerable, so will the audience.

At the end of our opening scene the title Obsessed will appear on the screen. We have decided to use this font (also found on www.fontspace.com) as the text appears slightly distorted, which is a reflection of the narrative. The theme of the opening sequence is obsession and therefore such distorted text is a reflection of the antagonist's mentality. This is a convention of the thriller genre that can be found in the opening credits of 'Se7en' (image above) as the font is distorted also to reflect the lack of mental stability the antagonist has. This will create an discomforting atmosphere which will keep the audience on edge as it suggests to them that the narrative is eerie.



Size and Positioning:

The sizing and positioning of the credits are very important. If they are too big, it becomes distracting but if they are too small, the audience are unable to read them which may again, become distracting. We will use Final Cut Pro to add the credits in during the editing stages. When doing so, the font size will be 12, as we feel this is large enough to read without becoming distracting. However, the production company name, and the title of the film will be bigger than the rest of the credits, as these are more important. Also, this method is often used in most films.Therefore the production company will be in 14 and the title will be 18 as this reinforces the power and threat of the 'Obsession', which is the title of the film. The positioning of the credits will  vary from frame to frame and therefore be scattered around the screen. We have decided to scatter them around as it is symbolic of the villains mental instability which will be reinforced to the audience as a result. This method was inspired from the analysis of the 'Se7en' opening sequence I did, as the credits of this film are also scattered to reflect the antagonist as well as appear unpredictable.



Order of Appearance:

Credits are shown one by one conventionally and therefore we had to decided on what order they were going to appear. We have chosen:

'Hidden Entertainment Presents' which is the production company name. This is typically shown first as it includes and recognises everyone who was part of production. Also the audience become aware of successful production companies which may encourage them to watch another film they have produced. This is then followed by 'Actors' as people often take note of actors who they feel are good and therefore, gives them another incentive to watch the film. It engages them straight away by recognising actor's names that they know and like. After this, 'Camera Operator' will be shown in order to acknowledge who fulfilled such role, which will then be followed by 'Editors', as both of these roles are equally important. Finally, this will then be followed by the 'Director', as this is an important role that the audience often take note of and therefore, having it last gives them more of an opportunity to remember who it was. The title will then be shown to reinforce the overall narrative of the film, building suspense as the film begins.