Planning opening credits - Miss Georgiou

Credits are important in the opening sequence of a film as it helps to set the scene and prepare the audience for what is to happen during the film. They do this through the way the credits are presented in their style and font etc. For example, if the credits were white and jumpy in contrast to the dark background I would assume the film is a thriller, but if the credits were pink and in a swirly font,  I may assume that the film was about a romance etc. It is important to plan the credits so that we make sure they are appropriate and conventional to the thriller genre so that they match the images and music etc on screen. Opening credits also introduce famous directors and actors, as well as the production name and a particular trademark.

                                               
When looking at the opening credits of particular thriller films, I looked at the film Se7en as I thought there was more to talk about and the way the credits are presented are interesting. (See clip below)

When analysing the credits used in the above clip, I looked at;

• The colours used in the opening sequence (focusing on the colour of the credits). 
• The Style of the credits
• The thriller conventions used which make it clear to the audience that they are watching a thriller. 
• The order in which the roles appear on screen.

When looking at the colour of the credits, I noticed they were white, which contrasting to the black background, could represent the idea of good and evil; the victim and the villain. This is conventional to thrillers as it gives the audience the impression that this film will be about a typical thriller film with a protagonist and antagonist, which results in the victim being killed, etc. However, this could also build suspense as it may make viewers think, 'is a thriller film ever that simple?', 'is it trying to make us think it is straightforward, so that the shock will have a bigger effect on us?'. It is this confusion and self doubt that builds tension and makes the audience feel on edge so they will be even more shocked when they watch the film. All of this is created from a simple contrast in colours, from white to black.

When looking at the style of the credits I noticed they were in a handwritten style, that was presented and edited to be very 'jumpy', like they were flickering or an earthquake effect. The jumpy and jerky images the audience see is done on purpose as this is how the audience should be/ are going to be feeling like when they watch the clip. It creates an enigma as they do not know who the handwritten styles belongs to. This is the same in the thriller opening as they do not know who the killer is, and so the style used could foreshadow what the viewers are about to see.

When watching the clip shown above, I noticed there were many conventions used to make it clear to the audience that this is a thriller film. The first convention I noticed was the use of the blood dripping on the paper, which can be seen at 0:48 to 0:50 in the above clip. This foreshadows that bad things are going to happen in the clip, such as a murder which makes the audience feel nervous and sit on edge. Another convention I noticed was the use of strobe lighting which increases the pace of the opening, which creates a jumpy effect and builds tension. This fits in with the style of the credits as it makes the audience anxious and nervous to know what is to happen next. The last convention I noticed was the music that was used which was eerie to make people jump. It also was parallel to the images shown and so this suggests that the film will be in sync with the events shown and also with the emotions the audience will feel.

The last element I analysed was the order of which the credits were shown. The order of the credits shown in Se7en is;

• Company Name 
• Production Name
• Director
• Famous Actors 
• Title of Film
• Actors continued
• Casting 
• Music
• Costumes Designed by
• Editors
• Production Designed by 
• Director of Photography
• Co-executive Producers
• Executive Producers
• Written by
• Produced by
• Director

I noticed that the famous actors involved in the film are shown first as this helps to engage viewers into watching it. The title of the film goes after this to highlight its importance, but I did notice that the title is not shown at the very end as this would represent a trailer clip instead of an opening sequence clip. The other aspect I noticed was that the director has listed his name twice in the film, so the audience don't forget who he is and because he believes he is important and so needs to be shown twice.


Having analysed the opening credits of Se7en, I then chose another opening of a film to analyse, which is from Shutter Island, shown below. 

Again, I looked at the following;

The colours used in the opening sequence (focusing on the colour of the credits). 

The Style of the credits

The thriller conventions used which make it clear to the audience that they are watching a thriller. 

The order in which the roles appear on screen.

When looking at the colours used I noticed that some were red against a dark background and some were white against a dark background. The red shown first could foreshadow that the beginning of the film will involve a murder or some kind of danger, as this is what the colour red denotes, which is conventional to thriller films. The red used at the end for the title could also suggest that the whole film is about danger and blood etc, which focuses the audiences attention on what the film will show next. The white colour against the dark background, like the opening of Se7en could represent the ideas of good and evil; the victim and the villain. This is conventional to thrillers as it gives the audience the impression that the film will consist of a protagonist and an antagonist which ends with the victim, and perhaps many other people being killed.


When looking at the style of the credits I noticed that it varied depending on the title of the credit. The order of credits shown in the opening of Shutter Island was;

• Director - 
• Producer - 
• Screenplay Writer - 
• Based on the novel by - 
• Director of Photography - 
• Famous Actors- 
• Editor - 
• Music by - 
• Title - 

For the Director up until the Screenplay writer the colour of the credits were red, which changed to white for the rest of the opening, except the title at the end. The style of the credits were quick and blurry, almost like the disturbance old tvs used to receive. This is conventional as it increases the pace of the clip and builds suspense.  As well as this there was capital letters used for everything, unlike in Se7en where capital were only used for the different roles. This could be conventional as it creates confusion and makes it harder for the audience to read, suggesting that this confusion could run through the film. 

This blurred and jumpy effect was used for the director credit until the famous actors, where they were shown in white and in clear focus. This is to emphasise the importance of the actors as these are what the audience will recognise and what will make them want to watch the film. These credits were only blurred and jumpy when appearing and disappearing, so that they fitted with the other credits and stayed conventional. The last 2 credits went back to the blurred and jumpy effect, which then changed into the bold red title of the film which was in full focus. The title was zoomed in on to show its importance, and then the camera zoomed through the 'R' of 'SHUTTER ISLAND', to give the film a way to start. 

When watching the opening to Shutter Island, I noticed there were many conventions used to make it clear to the audience that this is also a thriller film. The first convention I noticed was the use of the colour red which denotes danger etc. The use of this at the beginning and the end of the clip helped to build tension. The second convention I noticed was the use of the blizzard snow throughout the clip. This helped make the opening a bit chaotic which gave the impression that the film was also going to be chaotic. Other conventions I noticed was the use of low-key lighting, the fire at 0:26 to 0:30, the lighting of the match at 0:49, both of which imply danger and suggest the use of fire in the film. There was also the prison cell shown at 0:40 to 0:45, and the iconography of the gun at 0:30 to 0:35, which suggests this will be one of the murder weapons in the film. Lastly, the music was conventional as it built suspense as each credit came up.   

Having researched into how opening credits are presented and why they are presented in that way, we discussed in my group the credits we wanted to include for our opening thriller, which are;

• Company Name - Dark Productions
• Director - Lillian Amaning
• Actors - Ayesha Bhatti & Yasmin Bhatti
• Title - Nostalgia
• Casting By - (L) Katie Mitchell
• Music By - (A) Olivia Edwards 
• Costumes by (D) Daniel Woods
• Hair & Make up by (A) Laura Smith
• Editor - Deanna Mathers 
• Production - Ayesha Bhatti
• Director of Photography - Lillian Amaning 
• Director of Photography (underwater) - Deanna Mathers

We then had a go at creating some examples of what we would want the credits to look like. We used the editing software 'Final Cut Pro X' to do this.

The first example was Lillian's idea, which can be seen opposite. She wanted to show the contrast between the black background and the red writing on the white paper. The use of the colour red is conventional as it could represent blood, which foreshadows that something bad is going to happen, such as a death. She showed this on a piece of lined paper to present the idea of the narrative being realistic, as everyone can access paper, and so our narrative could happen to anyone. This would make the audience feel nervous for their own well-being when watching our thriller opening. The contrast of colours could show the difference between good and evil; victim and villain, which is a typical element to include in most thriller films. Lastly, she used a bold, sharp font to emphasise the title 'Nostalgia' to make the audience think about its meaning; Nostalgia - Longing for the past - which gives them an idea as to what the film is going to be about. 

The next example is my idea, which can be seen opposite. I wanted to show the contrast between the colours white and black, which could represent good and evil; victim and villain. This is a typical element to include in a thriller film, and I wanted to show how closely connected they both can be. I used the credit including the ink smudges to make our narrative realistic, as ink is an accessible item, suggesting like Lillian, that the events occurring in our narrative can in fact happen to anyone. This could also be a negative metaphor saying that the film will not run smoothly, and so foreshadows that it will not involve a simple narrative. It could also suggest that what happens in our thriller opening, such as the death of the little girl, was accidental, just like ink spillages are accidental. 

We showed each other our individual ideas and decided to use the best parts of both of them to come up with our best credit, which can be shown opposite. I liked Lillian's idea of making the audience think about the meaning of our title 'Nostalgia' and so the use of the red colour for the credit with a black outline is to do just this. We both wanted the colours to represent the differences between good and evil; victim and villain and so the use of the colours red, black and white help to do this. Lastly, Lillian like my idea of using the ink, and so we both decided to keep this idea, but change the colour to a dark red to make it seem like it was blood. This is conventional to thrillers, and will make the audience guess their will be a murder/death of some sort, which creates the sense of danger, which also helps to build suspense.