Analysis of opening credits - Miss H

What are opening credits?

Opening credits are shown at the very begining of a motion picture, television programme, or a video game. They list the most important members of the production (Major actors) and the crew, the closing credits list an extensive cast and production crew.
Opening credits may or may not be accompanied by music and usually can be shown in the form of text on can be shown on either: a blank screen, static pictures, or a top of action in the show.
There is a correct term for where opening credits are built into a seperate sequence of their own, the correct term for this is a title sequence. For example: James bond and Pink Panther title sequences.

What is the importance of opening credits?

The main title sequence or the opening credits of a movie can be considered the most important piece in a film. Other than trailers and marketing elements, they are the first images the audience sees when the lights go down. The credits outline the filmmaker's intentions and set up the expectations of those watching.

Se7en Opening Credits Analysis.

Se7en analysis:

While watching the 'se7ev' opening credits, it looked very confusing but interesting. In the beginning of the opening scene we would see lots of different camera shots also showing close ups, the audience can hardly see whats going on clearly which made the audience confused but they are still interested in what is going on. The first credit is the production company title, followed by the film name, then the big names and then finally the job roles. The low key lighting used in the scene helps to create confusion withing the audience as the scenes are less clear. The audience is able to see who appears and who creates the film from the information presented, the use of generic conventions of a thriller annotate what message the director is trying to put across. 

 

 Typography:
Typography is the size, colour, order and style of the font used in the opening credits. For example in 'seven' when the production company title appears, its quite small, has an edgy thriller font and it is also in white so it stands out from the dark background and sort of spooks the audience.

By looking at the typography of 'Saw's production name, we can see that there is barbed wire around a needle, this can suggest to the audience that the film will involve some sort of weapon in the film or something involving someone getting tortured. Also the name 'Twisted' also suggest the film is going to be very explicit and it suggests that the film has 'twisted' scenes in it. The bottom of the font shows a bit of shadow aswell, this can show that there is a dark side to the film and there is an element of supprise to it as you cannot always see what is going to happen.