Emily Sharp's AS Media Portfolio

In order to figure out what titles to put in our horror film opening, we had to look at title sequences of horror films. 

Se7en

(Production company) presents - New Line Cinema Presents


A (producer) production - An Arnold Kopelson Production


A film by (director) - A film by David Fincher

(Actor name) - Morgan Freeman


(Main title) - Se7en

Alien

In order to develop my own research, I'll be looking at the use of titles and what they infer about their films.

Firstly is The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920).




Secondly is A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984).


Lastly, Dawn of the Dead (2004).

Films are classified by age, and these classifications are set by the British Board of Film Classification.

The bbfc is a non-profit media regulator that classifies films. They do this with the aim of protecting the public (especially children) from ideologically sensitive material.

The bbfc classifies film into these different categories:

Walt Disney Pictures

Glass Eye Pix

Glass Eye Pix is an independent film studio formed in 1985 and based in New York City, mainly known for it's horror films (although it has produced films outside of the horror genre). Their low-budget horror banner is called Scareflix, and was made with the aim of producing budgeted independent horror films by new directors.

28 Days Later is famous for its opening scene where it shows London abandoned. Apart from what's actually in the sequence, I think the use of camera angles and shots does a lot to create the eerie atmosphere.

There are a few main shots used. The extreme close-up...



The use of these shorts are very personal and close to the character - it allows us to empathise with them and puts emphasis on what they are feeling. As we can't see anything else, this promotes the confusion that the character is currently feeling.

The establishing shot...



These shots allow us to get a grasp of what's going on, and allow us to see the situation that the character is in. This is similar to the use of high angle shots.

The high angle or birds eye shot...



The high-angle shot emphasises the use of the establishing shot - it puts the situation into perspective, and shows just how empty London is.
The close-up...




The close-ups are used in the opening to provide context. As we can see, this close-up of a newspaper shows about the evacuation (giving context to why London is empty), similar to other shots shown of people missing.

There are all sorts of settings for horror films. But I find that, the conventional settings often fall into these categories:

The house/home. This is a big one for horrors, especially modern horrors. This is because the home is often the safest place for people, and houses are meant to be safe - they provide privacy and a place to relax. This is why horrors are often based there. People are vulnerable at home because they think they're safe, and having your safety jeopardised is an unsettling thing for the viewer to see. The reason why it evokes such a terrified response in viewers is because of how they empathise with the location - it's a normal place, where such horrors shouldn't happen.


The graveyard or church/religious building. These are frequently used in supernatural horrors or anything involving religion. Since we find the unknown and the supernatural so scary, what better setting to have this occur than a place where people are buried? Plus, a lot of people are scared of evil due to their own religious place - evil is more terrifying if it occurs in a place of worship.


The public establishment. This can include schools, hospitals, museums, offices... Anything that's public and a building, really. But often times, schools and hospitals are used because they're meant to be places of safety, and violating this safety in horror films make them all the more scary for the audience, making them feel unsafe. This is because they can empathise with the situation.

There are all sorts of kinds of props. The most common and noticeable of which that occur in horror films are the weapon.

An iconic weapon in horror films, since the release of the The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), is (you guessed it) the chainsaw.


The use of the chainsaw as a weapon was a great idea. It paved the way for a lot of gore. Plus, the prospect of being killed by the chainsaw is terrifying, and the use of this prop could easily scare the audience.

More common props are often knives, machete's (like Jason Vorhees' weapon), and other sharp objects. But I hear you ask, why knives? why not guns? isn't that quicker? I chuckle and say, because guns are impersonal! The reason blades are so terrifying to the audience is because it requires the killer to get close and intimate with the victim - blades are very personal weapons. Plus, death by any kind of blade is often slow and very painful.

Another thing considered as a prop is the trusty mask. Masks are common props in horror films used to conceal the antagonists identity. Famous examples include the mask from Scream, Jason's mask from Friday the 13th, Michael Myer's mask from Halloween, et cetera.



The reason masks are used is, as I said, because it conceals the killer's identity, and the sense of unknowing is often a scary one for the audience. Plus, it allows for some very terrifying designs, such as the blank expression of Michael Myers, which shows that he is apathetic and has no mercy for his victims.

...all of these properties of the costume have an effect on the viewer. For example, the use of colours such as red, orange and yellow (which are often associated with negativity - especially red) can make the viewer feel a sense of danger and that the costume is an indicator of what is going to happen (foreshadowing).

This also applies to the other, 'cooler' colours present in the costume. Whilst they may be used because they are complimentary to the colours already present, there are a few interesting associations to the colour purple. Whilst it positively associates with the Monarchy and being regal or rich, it is also considered as artificial and unconventional, as it's a colour least present in nature, and the first to be synthesised. This can make the character seem unreal and unnatural to the viewer. This is backed up by all of the other vibrant colours used. 

Vibrant colours also being associated with poison - hence why the viewer might feel physically unwell as a result.



This can also be a giveaway of the character. The use of unnatural colours suggests that Pennywise is a constructed persona.

Other physical attributions of the character include the bad teeth. This shows that he may have bad personal hygiene, which causes the viewer to see him as unappealing and gives them an ability to picture what his presence may be like, for example, that he would have bad breath.

There's a lot of juxtaposition going on with Pennywise's costume. For example, clowns are often seen as positive or portrayed in that way, as entertainers. However, this film plays on the fear of clowns - experienced by many people. This is probably why they made the costume so simple, rather than making it conform to horror costume conventions.

And if those subtle hints aren't enough, there's always the terrifying expression which can easily show you that he is the antagonist in the film.

Ugh, so terrifying. And definitely WAY too close.

The movie Se7en uses a couple of fonts in the opening sequence.   
We'll call these font A...



...and font B...



The fonts used in this opening work well with the theme of the clips they overlay. Since the theme of the opening seems to be research, it's not a surprise that they used a typewritten style font and a handwritten font.

There's a good use of colour for these titles. Since most of the clips shown are dark, the credits stand out because they're a much lighter colour. They also make sure to overlay the titles on the areas that are darkest on the clip, ensuring they stand out as much as possible. This draws the viewers attention.

The fonts are also quite typical of horrors/thrillers. They appear old, battered and rough, using texture to appear this way. They're also very disjointed and uneven. This 'unclean' look of the fonts could cause some 'visual discomfort' for the viewer. 

Font A, being a font typical of typewriters, could show anonymity - something often associated with horror. This contrasts with the use of Font B, which is handwritten and more personal.



Font B is my favourite font in this case. The use of handwritten font is not something you see very often, so it's atypical of film titles, which makes it interesting to the viewer. Using this font brings up the question, who's handwriting is this? Is this the handwriting of the guy we're seeing in the opening? These questions help develop context for the character, as the viewer automatically associates the handwriting with the character shown.

What's also interesting is the kind of handwriting it is. It's badly written, and appears very childish. Since the viewer probably realises this isn't a film for children, about children, it can give this 'uncanny' and uncomfortable feeling, as, if an adult writes in this way, it's often associated with mental illness or instability - another common theme in horror.

The editing of the titles are very jumpy and erratic, which can back up this point. This could foreshadow chaos, or show that the character thinks chaotically. 

Here's the full opening:

Conventionally, the aim of psychological horror is to create fear and discomfort by using common/universal fears and vulnerabilities. Films in the psychological sub-genre also face dark parts of the human psyche that people would normally repress.

Psychological horror focuses on mental conflict. This is usually done through the 'archetypal shadow' characteristics: self-doubt, paranoia, anxiety, distrust and suspicion of others and the world around them.

Another convention of psychological horror is the plot twist, usually in the form of internal conflict of a character. Examples of this would be films such as Sixth Sense (1999), which is famous for its plot twist (spoilers ahead).




Conventional settings of psychological horrors are domestic, for example, a home/house, a school, a hospital, et cetera. This is because psychological horrors focus on realism.