Opening Credits Analysis- Miss Frisendar

Opening Credits Analysis

Se7en Analysis

The opening credits to the psychological Thriller Seven, is effective due to the , Mise en Scene, cinematography, editing and lastly the use of diegetic and non diegetic sound throughout which adds to the shock and suspense within the audience before the film has even begun.

We are first shown the production name, following with the director and then by the actors names. this seems to be in order of importance and in some cases popularity as Brad Pitt was shown first. The style in which the text is superimposed is on a blank black screen in a white, Gothic font which appears to be as if it is scratched into it. Additionally to this, we as the audience are produced with the antagonists hands alone and not their face, this is a generic convention to a thriller genre as the antagonists identity are typically hidden with  either a mask or different shots of their body in order for the audience to try and guess the character.This as a viewer creates a suspense and entices the audience into the narrative  to see if their intentions were in fact right as to who the antagonists identity is.  
Furthermore, another element to the opening credits which is effective from the Thriller Seven is the use of diegetic and non-diegetic sounds. The most effective use of Diegetic sound is the screaming of what we are led to believe is the innocent, vulnerable girl victim which keeps merging into the non-diegetic fast music, this lets the viewers guess what is expected within the film.

The After Life

We had to analyse another Thriller films opening credits as well as Se7en to see the impact they have on the film and if it creates a suspense in the audience before the film has even begun. As a group we should also get some ideas from with in these Opening Credits to add into our own Thriller opening, for example we may decide to use a similar colour and style of font to add an effect on the viewers experience before the films even begun.

From watching The After Life opening credits I have discovered that the use of colour has a big impact on the audience as the font is red which straight away makes us think of danger and blood which links to the theme of death which is a main convention to a Thriller film. Also the background is white which represents innocence and pure but to the audience it may give them the idea of heaven which links to what the film is about hence the title 'The After Life' and also the fact that the opening character is a funeral director (Liam Neeson) who deals with dead people who are now in 'heaven'.  

Another aspect I have found whilst studying the opening credits of The After Life is the order of appearance of the cast members, this goes in the order of the most recognised actor to the audience first and the least likely last. This allows the viewers to relate to the film a bit more as they also know that the first name to appear us going to be one of that main characters and how relevant they are to the film, the audience could also be able to guess what kind of role this specific actor is going to play and give them an idea f what may happen in the film before it actually begins. 

Throughout the opening scene there are numerous actions which portrays the thriller genre, for example in the first few minutes we are shown a dead man in a coffin being prepared for his own funeral in this shot there is a use of low key lighting which allows us to clearly see shadows around him which is yet again another thriller convention and can give the audience an idea that there is going to be many more murders within the film.