Analysis of the opening titles

By Louise Fisher

Title Research - Alien The film ‘Alien’ begins with a dark opening which helps to set a mysterious and eerie mood for the audience, it also gives them a clue to what they might expect to see. As the opening begins, the dark black screen wiped with a dark brown colour is obscure looking and creates the illusion of the unknown and not knowing exactly what the form is due to it being mainly consumed with darkness. The titles that appear on the screen show up one by one in a random order - almost like the are slowly revealing a code or revealing the true identity of the ‘alien’ who is partially covered throughout the entire movie. Also, by slowing down the titling to an incredibly slow pace leaves the audience wanting to find out more which attracts them to watch the film.It seems the way the screen slowing moves to left side has connotations with space and the way planets rotate slowly – space itself is undiscovered and unknown which has mysterious feelings - this is why they incorporated it into the titling sequence because it links with the ‘alien’ itself in the movie whose appearance is covered up.This opening title sequence can be compared to the opening sequence that my group and I are making as the general mood that we want to create is dismal and dark. Also the fear of not unknown is a key theme that can be linked to this movie and ours.

Title is slowly revealed; keeps the audience interested and wanting to know more

Like a code which the audience have to work out

Dull, dark colours are used to create mystery and suspense The white over the black is very contrasting and

bold, it stands out against the black making it easy to read for the audience

Title Research - Alien FontThe text is a clear white colour on a dark background which makes it far easier to read for the audience, the colour white also has connotations with new life and peace which connects very well with the music as it is also peaceful yet with a underlying sense of mystery. In contrast to the white, the background is mainly black which signifies death, evil and mystery – all of these match the genre of the film which is sci-fi/horror very well.The bold title is used to capture the attention of the audience; the style itself is quite foreign and alien looking rather than simple because it builds a sense of mystery and suspense.

SpeedThe speed that the title ‘Alien’ appears is very slow; almost like it is a code that the audience have to work out. The slow pace is also used because the movie is a sci-fi movie and generally sci-fi movies use slow paced sounds and texts to set a mood of suspicion and eeriness. SoundThe non-diegetic music begins very slow paced and soft which begins to get louder; the sudden change in tempo and volume creates a very dramatic and serious atmosphere . There is also a slight screeching noise in the background which has connotations with technology as aliens are known to use a lot of technology. Towards the end of the titling sequence the noise has reached it’s loudest and most dramatic which is important as it builds the most tension for when the movie is about to start.

Lighting There is limited lighting across the opening titling sequence because the screen is mostly dark. However the small amount of light (the wash of brown) comes from the planet that we see orbiting on the screen. The reason why not a lot of light is used is because the darkness signifies death and mystery.

PositioningThe titles are positioned at the top of the screen because it is the audiences central focus, this then allows the credits to appear in the centre of the screen and that’s where the alien appears in the film, the middle of you.

Title Research – The Thing The opening of ‘The Thing’ starts with a complete black screen with titles appearing deformed in different parts of the screen. The use of flashing, disturbing images sets a creepy mood; the images are not fully shown by either blurring it which makes the audience wonder what is going on, leaving them wanting to watch more, and then by using a extreme close up of the image are used to start to build tension from the very beginning of the movie that will spook the audience. The sound is dreary and low pitched, sometimes quickly increasing in tempo and pitch which builds suspense and mystery.The opening titling sequence serves as an extremely effective opening as it highlights and captures the mood of a sci-fi and horror movie with the use of low key lighting which has connotations with death and mystery; also the eeriness of the non-diegetic music especially appeals to sci-fi fans as it itself is quite mysterious sounding with low-pitched noises that signify science fiction elements.

White on black font makes it clearer for the audience to see. It also stands out well

Blurred Images create mystery

Black background which has connotations with death and evilness

Alien type images used on screen helps sets the mood for audience that this is a sci-fi/horror movie

Title Research – The Thing FontSimilarly to the film Alien, the text for the opening titles is also white which makes it easier to the audience to read. The style of the font looks very disjointed and abnormal as some caps lock are used throughout words; they have purposely edited the text like that because it links to the themes of aliens and the supernatural in the movie. SpeedI have noticed that the whole titling sequence is also quite slow which is common for a sci-fi/horror movie. The titles appear quite quickly but stay onscreen for awhile before quickly appearing off again; the reason for this is because it matches the high pitched noises that are suddenly used throughout the music – it creates a sense of unease for the audience.

SoundThe non-diegetic music is low and dreary but also very loud – this is to fully catch the attention of the audience and grip them on the end of the seats before the movie has already started to ensure that they are in the right mood. The high-pitched noises have connotations with the aliens and the supernatural.

Lighting The lighting seems to be concentrated on one area of each image; however the lighting is also limited for a reason. The low key lighting helps to give a clue to what the images are but it doesn’t give away too much which is the main focal point of the movie – the fear of not knowing is the most frightening thing.

PositioningThe titles and credits along with the images are all positioned differently on each section; the reason why they have done this is to ensure that it keeps the audience interested and paying attention. It can also be interpreted as one big mysterious puzzle piece which is significant as most horror/sci-fi movies have a puzzling situation that the audience have to work out.

Title Research – FreakedThe titles open on what seem to be a quite cheerful and colourful background with almost child-like font. The purpose of this relates to the genre of the film which is a comedy/sci-fi. The use of the disturbing images combined with the colourful backgrounds and bold white fonts helps to indicate to the audience that this comedy is not necessarily all happy ; but however contains elements of horror/sci-fi.The reason why I picked this titling sequence to compare to our titling sequence is because it was interesting how this film produced their titling based on a mixture of the two themes combined which will help inspire my movie which also has a mixture of two genres – sci-fi/horror.The titles that appear are very flashy and fast tempo – this makes the audience excited and catches their attention. The flashing lights are mesmerizing and they make the audience want to keep watching.The fast tempo rock music used is upbeat and quite exciting; it leaves the audience wanting to find out more about the film

The images are slightly disturbing which is a complete contrast from the backgrounds which are all different colours. It is like the audience are being torn by two different ideas/themes.

Bold letters; arty font catches the audiences attention

Bold white, and clear font makes it clear to read; it is dramatic just like the music

Title Research – FreakedFontThe font is white and bold which links well to the non-diegetic music of the opening titles. The also take up a lot of the space on screen to fill the empty spaces of the frame and so that they are easier to read.

SpeedEach section of the opening titles stay onscreen for awhile whilst lights and images flash which make it look like they are moving at a fast pace – this is done because it makes the audience excited and ready for the movie; it is also quite dramatic and works well, especially for a sci-fi/comedy.

SoundThe non-diegetic music is a fast tempo rock song which is very loud and dramatic to really draw in the audiences attention. This is a real contrast to the film ‘Alien’ and ‘The Thing’ as both use low pitched and slow music however this uses fast tempo music to capture the audiences attention.

Lighting The lighting is very bright and almost uncomfortable for the eyes. The point of this is to add to the dramatic effect of both titles and music; and they all work extremely well with each other to emphasize the genre of the film.

PositioningThe position of the images and credits appear in random order, either to the right or left side however the main title ‘Freaked’ appears in the middle of the screen; it also dominated most of the screen which is effective because the title is the most important part and it needs to one of the main focal points.