How are Titles Presented?

How are titles presented?

In order to get a better understanding of how and why titles are presented, I have conducted research into the following opening sequences:

Grease (1978)

• Name of production company
• Name of film
• Name of actors and their characters
• Name of director 
• Name of producers
• Name of associate producer 
• Name of production designer 
• Name of photography director
• Name of composer 
• Name of scriptwriters 
• Source material 

Dark (2017)

• Name of production company
• Name of film
• Name of director 
• Name of producers
• Name of editor 
• Name of associate producer 
• Name of production designer 
• Name of photography director
• Name of costume designer
• Name of makeup artist
• Name of casting directors 
• Name of composer 
• Name of scriptwriters 
• Name of line producer 
• Name of creators 

Counterpart (2017)

• Name of film
• Name of actors 
• Name of director 
• Name of producers
• Name of editor 
• Name of associate producer 
• Name of production designer 
• Name of casting directors 
• Name of scriptwriters 

After viewing the previous opening sequences I have concluded that there is a clear pattern of conventions that titles hold, such as: title of the film, company of the film, usually names of actors (most known to least), name of the director and other people involved in the making of the film and sometimes an insight to narrative information.

How are titles presented in psychological thrillers?

I'm now going to look at the presentation of titles in some opening sequences from my chosen genre, psychological thrillers. Now I'm going to look at the way the titles are presented in order to indicate genre, such as: through choice of font and the way the titles appear on screen.

Seven (1995)

• Capitalised letters and sans serif font reflect the seriousness of the genre
• Font flickers and looks as though its been hand written.
• Rapid editing
• Thumping propulsive music
• Violent, disturbing imagery
• Introduces the themes of the film by showing us inside the mind of a killer

The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

• Capitalised letters for credits
• Bold, dramatic fonts
• Black colour
• Open, empty spaces
• Introduces the main character
• Propulsive music that uses augmented chords
• Misty setting
• Lonely
• Cements the central themes of the film by presenting a character on her own, but willing to push herself to the limits to get the job done

Shutter Island (2010)

• Capitalised letters for credits
• Bold, dramatic fonts
• Red colour
• Tense, dramatic music
• De-saturated colour grading
• Low lighting accentuating shadows
• No people around, lonely
• Cements the central themes of the film by showing violent imagery and things being locked or hidden away in secret

The Night Manager

• Capitalised letters for credits
• Extremely stylised
• De-saturated colour grading 
• Tense, dramatic music
• Low lighting accentuating shadows
• No people around, lonely
• Cements the central theme of the series by juxtaposing the imagery of war with high class living.