Texual Analysis

This is the opening sequence to the 1995 thriller film "Seven". Seven was directed by David Fincher and written by Andrew Kevin Walker. The story follows a retiring detective (Morgan Freeman) and his replacement (Brad Pitt), jointly investigating a series of ritualistic murders inspired by the seven deadly sins.

The opening title sequence to Seven is very dark, its starts with a book being opened which suggests that the audience are going to be taken on a journey filled with twists and turns.
The title sequence uses very quick shots, this makes the audience feel disoriantated but makes them intrigued and want to see more of the film. Alot of images are flashed at the screen making the viewer feel confused and it is slightly unsettling.

The music used again is very eerie and disoriatating, it keeps the audience alert and making them to want to know more. The shots being very short make sure that the audience dont know too much and it leaves many things unanswered. Towards the end of the opening the music picks up starts to begins to make a climax

There are alot of shots overlaying eachother again adding to the pace of the piece and adding more dramatic tension. Images of peoples faces being crossed out are seen which suggests that the film will have a disturbing nature to it.

We never see a specific person only there hands this suggests that the identity of the person will be unknown throughout the film.
The book becomes very significant towards the end of the piece, we see the figures sewing things into it more images suggesting death and violence are seen.The flashes between shots make it hard to focus on one particular element suggesting to the audience that the film they are about to watch is not what it seems

Textual Analysis

This is the opening sequence to the 1992 horror movie "Candy man". After watching the title sequence i will know look at the elements used in the opening and evaluate them.



Candyman is a 1992 slasher film starring Virginia Madsen, Tony Todd and Xander Berkeley. It was directed by Bernard Rose and is based on the short story "The Forbidden" by Clive Barker. The plot is centered around the urban legend of "The candyman" and how it is now being reality. Candyman was not a mainstream film so the opening credits are quite simple, but really effective in the way they draw the audience in.
The pace at the beginning of the opening sequence is quite slow using one continuous shot,The slow pace and apparent tracking of a vehicle creates and uncertain eerie effect this puts the audience at ease and also they can relate to the setting as it is a typical scene (main road); this connects them straight away to the film. The journey of the the car represents the journey the audience is about to take with characters in the film.
The tunnel, brige and water bellow and the complexity of the road junction, creat imagery of a tunnel with illumination of learning something
the fall form a tunnel, the bridge and its water below and the complex road junctions. The water represents the sub- conscience and represents the strength of the characters in the film, and how their presence is greatly important.
The music used in the opening sequence is non- diegetic, We are presented with a combination of the stactic radio and gothic cathedral-esque eitha with a choir or organ. This gives it a dark era which is relative to the folkore premise and the story like realism of the film.

Finals Hours of Editing

We have spent hours this morning editing to which we can be satisfied with to a very high standard. The music will be inserted tonight by John as the music in which he has composed is on his computer at home. We will then have the final piece tomorrow by 4 o clock.


We have now completely finished our main task, which was to make an opening title sequence. The music goes well with our piece and we are all very satisfied! As ive posted the music certainly does compliment the footage that we have capured and has given it the theme and feel we wanted to achieve. The footage is effective and to the satisfaction we required our piece to be like. 'The Cursed' is chilling and ghostly, which represents her past and I feel the opening title sequence in which we have created significantly proves that.

Structure of our Opening Sequence

After watching various title sequences on Youtube we tried to find the standard order in which credits appear. The clips we watched included 'Catch me if you can' and 'Kiss Kiss Bang Bang'. In both these clips the structure was as follows:
The Name of The Film Studio
The Name of the Production Company
Who Makes the Film e.g A steven Speilberg film
Main Actors
Name of Film
More Actors
Casting
Music Composer
Costume Designer
Cinematographer
Editor
Production Designer
Executive Producer
Producer
Screen Play Author
Director

Change of Music

The Cursed | Upload Music

After nearly finishing the editing process, as a group we then decided our current music John had composed did not have a quick enough tempo and this slowed the pace of our opening, which meant it did not cause as much tension. John has now composed a a new piece changing the structure and tempo of the piece, by using this new piece we hope it will increase the audience's anxiety during the opening sequence which will prepare them for the rest of the film.

Another Horror Opening Example

This is the opening sequence from British made film Creep

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peggLQ1fLg8

The Opening is very disorientating with most of the shots being blurred to create an un-easy atmosphere. This sequence relies alot on it music, as for most of the opening it is just the titles flashing up. The sounds of trains can be heard and the lighting effect over the titles looks like the lights of an oncoming train; this creates a tense atmosphere making the audience feel uncertain,but this invites the audience in and make them want to see more. The blurred images return, again causing the audience to feel confidence and curious to what is going on. All the shoots used are tracking to continue the theme of uncertainty and disorientation. The images we see are related to death and violence enhancing the genre of the piece and setting the audience up for the rest of the film.

Logged shots- DAY TWO

3.35-3.45: PAN 1 YES
3.45-4.03: PAN 2 YES
4.03-4.09: PYLON SHOT NO
4.09-4.51: WALKING TO CAMERA YES
4.51-5.01: BACKWARDS WALKING YES
5.01-5.11: EMPTY SWING YES
5.11-5.35: SOPHIE SWING YES
5.35- 5.47: SOPHIE TREE YES

Logged Shots- DAY ONE

1.24-1.59: OTS MIRROR SHOT YES
2.00-2.12: OTS MIRROR SHOT LIPSTICK YES
2.12-2.20: OTS MIRROR SHOT YES
2.22-2.32: CU MIRROR SHOT YES
2.32-2.44: CU MIRROR SHOT YES
2.44-2.51: MIRROR SHOT NO
2.51-3.16: MIRROR SHOT YES
3.16:3.20: MIRROR SHOT MAYBE
3.20-3.25 HAND MIRROR SHOT NO
3.25-3.35: HAND MIRROR SHOT YES
3.35-3.49: CU OF EYE YES
3.49-4.06: BED SHOT MAYBE
4.06-4.19: SIDE OF BED NO
4.19-4.34: BED POLE YES
4.34-4.47: KNEELING SHOT NO
4.47-5.03: CU OF EYES YES
5.03-5.21: CU OF FACE YES
5.21- 5.50: CU OF FACE YES

Day Three FILMING

On the third day of filming we filmed all the shots that we wanted of the melting doll. The intention of these shots is to represent the degregation of innocence in the film. The device we used to melt the doll was a heat gun,we used a well ventilated area in order to successfully disfigure the doll. We taped the dolls mouth and hands to signify the sense of inprisionment and helpnessness, in which this is a reaccuring theme in our film. The burning of the rose has a strong and vivid sence of harm and corruption and the strong oxymoronic connotations with the juxtaposition of the beauty that contrasts with the harshness and destructive properties of fire. This would suggest a theme of lost beauty and this is metaphorical for how the characters once ideal life quickly descends into chaos. From melting the rose we successfully portrayed the images of a burning rose gradually getting more disfigured, which lead to the audience's perception of the characters sanity at certain points in the film.

Day two FILMING

During day 2 of filming we did exterior shots of a field and also shots of my character of a swing to represent her thinking about her childhood memories. We did filming in a park, where we filmed an empyty swing and also myself on the swing almost looking possessed. For this Shoot i was wearing a short, colourful dress to again reflect that my characters childhood memories were still fresh in her mind.

For most of the shoot we used medium long shot to make sure the audience could establish the location.

Day One FILMING

We began filming footage for our horror film early January 2010. On the first day of filming we filmed the shots of myself putting on make up in the mirror. We decided to film in a dark environment and used the nightshot mode on the camera as this gave a grainy effect which creates a feeling of suspense. One challenge we encountered was positioning the camera to get a good shot but also not be visible in the mirror, also firstly i found it hard to concentrate when acting, but after a few shots we go into it and produced some good footage. We decided to use an OTS shot as this off center positioning allowed us to see all the action but also prevented the camera from being visible. We decided that I should be wearing a nice dress as the juxtoposition of a stylish outfit with the dark foreboding connotations of the action would create an unsettled feeling in the viewer.
Stacy did my hair and makeup for the mirror shot; she used really dark eyeshadow and use dark red lipstick to make my eyes and lips really stand out in the shot. We made my hair very messy to show my characters distress in the shots.

More Research

After Looking through many horror films on you tube we have decided that we need to use blemished tones, unfocusing and dirty techniques. We need to make sure the actress we use for the project can reflect a good expression of inhuman lack of emotion.

Imagery

Whilst discussing our ideas we decided that we wanted to use imagery,John found an image on the internet which we considered to be related to our premise. It is an optical illusion which can be interpreted as a skull or, a woman in a mirror. The iconography of death (the skull) and the periodic feel of the woman create a foreboding. This is an effect we would like to include in our opening to make the audience feel uneasy and tense.

Using a Quote

'An orphan's curse would drag to hell, a spirit from on high; but oh! more horrible than that, is a curse in a dead man's eye!'

We have decided to include a frame in which depicts this famous quote from Samuel Taylor Coleridge as it enhances our premise and is refelctive on the device used by films of the past.