Research: Opening Credits & Typography (Miss Heath)

Research: Opening Credits & Typography(Miss Heath)

What are Opening Credits
Opening credits are written information presented at the beginning of a film which informs the audience on who is starring in the film as well as the production roles such as directors and actors. Opening credits are used before a film as it helps the audience familiarize themselves with the characters before the film starts, It and also influences the audience into continue watching the film as they may see a famous actor or director in the opening credits.


Purpose of film credits

• Advertising
• Giving credit to those who took part
• Influence Audience to watch it by placing their most popular actors/directors in the credits.
• Shows different shots of the film setting
• Helps sets the tone.

What information opening credits provide?
The audience expect to see at least two main actors which are used to grab their attention then a list of the different producers that were involved in making the film from the order of important to least important.


How they make the audience feel?
Opening credits are effective in thriller films when when the films use sound in the opening as this is done to create tension. Images are often used in opening credits to confuse the audience and have them asking questions. In addition, Most images have to story to tell later on in the film.

What you expect to see in opening credits?

In a film opening credit the audience will be sitting in their seats expecting to see the names of the important actors that featured in the film, this also includes the direction. 
This is done as it influences the audience to watch the film, e.g. A group of girls will most likely watch a film knowing Johnny Depp is in it.

Se7en Analysis

In the 'Se7en' opening credits some information is presented to the audience is designed to confuse them. For example 'Rape', 'God' these keywords are presented with a focus of confusing the audience and also allowing them to relate it back to the narrative of a film. The opening credits also included the name of the film and the characters and directors that we're involved in the making of the  film. This is done so that the audience can know the names of the people playing the important parts of the film. In addition, If you've noticed the sequence in which the characters were revealed went from the most popular actors to the amateur names, Then job roles such as director, sound manager etc... was presented.

All the information in the opening credits we're in a sequence of one after the other, which meant it was all messed up and solely produced like that with the intention confusing the audience while allowing them to relate this back to the film narrative which gives them a idea of what to expect from the film.

Lighting
Low key lighting
Flashing lights
Protagonist Colours (such as red)
Montage
Information Presented
Actors
Serial Killer
Victims
Organised crime
Successful (can tell by all the victims presented)
Changes from Extreme to less extreme (Needle through finger)
Generic Conventions
Sound
Close up
Montage

Typography

Typography is a term for the font that is used in the media world. Font can be used in anything, for e.g. film credits. Typography also includes the size of the font that is used and the colour of the font.








The typography used in the opening credits of the film 'Se7en' emphasizes the thriller genre of the film. Two different types of font styles are used in the opening credits as the font style changes between the list of production role and the person who is doing the actual role.

Newspaper letter cut outs we're also used in the opening credits of the film 'Se7en' as it is what you would associate with a stalker or a serial killer, sending there victims messages using cut outs. This allowed the audience to get a sense of the kind of film they are about to watch as in the opening credits they also seen red crosses amongst peoples faces which suggest that this mystery character is probably a serial killer. I believe the typography used in the film 'Se7en' is in fact conventional to a thriller film as it the style of the fonts and the colours used along with the soundtrack help create suspense and also confuses the audience.

In My Thriller...
From looking at different film openings, I've decided that I will use medium size text with a sort of blurred font style to try and disorientate the audience, the font colours for my thriller opening will be in red or black as they both symbolize  death.
The thriller will also include different montages of flashing scenes and a text that has a secret meaning which is often revealed later on in the film. I will use low key lighting and close ups on a mystery character to not reveal the face of this hidden anti/Protagonist.