Deconstruction of Se7en Opening Credits

Se7en Opening Credits Deconstruction

In the opening credits of Se7en, the villain is shown editing diaries he has made. The villain is never shown so he is a mysterious and unknown character during the credits. Through the credits, it is made obvious that the character has psychopathic and obsessive tendencies when he is shown putting pictures of mutilated bodies into a book.

 

The opening credits are a mix of scratched frames, glitch graphics and bad quality shots. In the background there is a remixed version of Closer by Nine Inch Nail's.

The opening credits for Se7en are very detailed and the mise-en-scene used immediately show the audience that the genre will be horror,

Soundtrack

The non-diegetic music is slow with a beat, this runs parallel with the shots that are shown, although at the beginning there is quite fast paced editing but the music is at a slower pace than the credits, this could be to create an eerie atmosphere. The eerie atmosphere is emphasised with the creaking, mechanical noises and high pitched noises.

The only part where there is spoken word is in a part of the song, it is right at the end of the credits. it says 'you got me closer to God', at this point, the killer cuts out the word 'God' from a newspaper headline.

Camera Angles

There are mostly close ups and extreme close ups in the credits which is probably so that not too much detail is given away about what the character is like, this creates a mysterious and sinister feeling. There aren't any long shots because there is more of a concentration on the small details rather than the room that he is in. The close ups of different objects suggest some kind of importance and relevance to the film. The shots are often blurred, scratched or of bad quality to highlight the idea of deception and mystery.

Mise-en-scene

The person put pieces of hair into a book along with pictures of people. This builds up the idea that the character is obsessed with these people, hinting to what the film will be about. The books, pictures, files and pens could be associated with an investigation, implying more about the character.

The lighting is quite dark and dim from the low quality indoor light, this foreshadows something ominous and dangerous in the film. 

Location

The location isn't shown throughout the whole opening credits, which creates a feeling of intrigue for the audience. It can be assumed that he is in some kind of lair because of all the creepy mise-en-scene around.

Text

The flickering white font with a black background is similar to handwriting, it looks like the text was written by the killer. The text moves around and jumps a lot, it makes the audience feel uneasy and suspicious of the killer.

These opening credits are really good and so detailed, for our opening scene we can take ideas from this. The detailed close ups would be really good for our opening scene as it doesn't give away much information about the killer but at the same time hints at things. The props in the credits such as pictures of people, a book with lots of writing in it and files of information are all things that we could take ideas from and make them ourselves for use in our opening scene.

Se7en opening credits timeline

Our task was to watch the opening credits of the film 'Se7en' and find the different parts with writing to see the typography, placement and effects of it.

The writing was very effective because it was a thin handwriting font that looked shaky. Throughout it, they were in different places on the screen and flickered so it gave an almost insane look where it displays the damaged mind of the killer. Some of the writing was like a coding and machine-like font, very different to the other font so it may be different sub-genres involved. This adds more to the storyline, giving a more interesting plot that people will want to watch.

In the background of some of the credits were fast clips of props like books / journals that the killer keeps and pictures of victims with their eyes scratched out. This is a good technique to use because it foreshadowed what the killer did to the victims and how he killed them without explicitly showing it happening. This is good inspiration as it's easy to recreate being so simple but very effective.

Advantages

• conveyed the genre well
• stood out against the black background so flickering could be seen more clearly
• reflected what was happening in the pictures by twitching

Disadvantages

• difficult to recreate twitchiness and different font effects
• takes a lot of time to edit
• may be hard to get videos in the background (jumping and scratched writing effect) 

Deconstruction of Skyfall Opening Credits

Deconstruction of Skyfall Opening Credits

Skyfall (2012) is the 23rd James Bond film, directed by Sam Mendes and produced by Eon Productions, it is Daniel Craig's third time as Bond. At the time, Skyfall became the seventh highest grossing film in the UK as well as the highest grossing film in the Bond series. It won two BAFTA's, two academy awards and the song played in the credits won two Grammys.

The film is about Bond investigating an attack on MI6 while testing Bond's loyalty to M.

The credits for Skyfall are quite long, which is unusual for opening credits but it is to allow the large amount of people that helped to produce and work on the film to get some credit for what they did. Listing the credits at the start of the film makes it more likely that the names will be read compared to credits at the end of the film. The non-diegetic soundtrack is Skyfall, written and performed by Adele, stays constant throughout the opening credits. It is a dramatic song which is parallel to the dark theme of James Bond films, this is because the song 'Skyfall' was written specifically for the film, so Adele's voice fits in perfectly with how the credits are paced as well as the dark lighting. To create a song that is specific for the film requires a large budget, however smaller studios wouldn't  be able to do this, which means that we definitely wouldn't be able to make our own music unless someone in our group has any musical skills, so we will probably use un-copyrighted music from the internet. 

 

The lighting stays constantly dark to reflect the genre of the film with a lot of shadows used to create effect and also to conform to the common conventions of a thriller film. The main colours used are dark blue, red and black which connotes an ominous and creepy atmosphere. The song is parallel to the colours because it is a slow and dramatic ballad with low pitched notes.

The mise-en-scene constantly shows military items such as guns, weapons, practice targets and blood, this gives the audience an idea of what to expect from the film and the items are a common convention in a thriller film, especially spy films. 

The location changes a lot throughout the credits to reveal the fast-pace and action in the film, there are parts in a room of mirrors, a graveyard, the sea and an empty and run down building. It also shows the conventions of the genre which is spy, a sub-genre of action/thriller. The genre is also shown through the use of dark colours, dramatic music and the images of weapons.

Throughout the credits the camera is tracking Bond, because he is the main character, and it shows him going on a journey which gives an implication of what the film could be about. In the first part, he is falling into the sea with blood on his chest and is then dragged downwards by an oversized hand. This emphasises the recurring theme in Bond film of uncertainty about Bond's safety.

 

The title of the film is written in a sans serif, capitalised font and is white which makes it stand out against the dark colours behind it. The same font is used for the names in the credits which creates a sense of flow and continuity in the film.

These opening credits would be impossible for us to make because it requires expensive graphics software that none of us have. Therefore, we wouldn't be able to produce opening credits like this, but we can still take information from it such as the text and where it is placed on the screen.

Se7en Timeline in Opening credits

Se7en Timeline in Opening Credits:

We wanted to see what order the names of actors and other important people in movies appear in the credits, this would help us later on if/when we made our own opening credits sequence as we would understand the order of names. We used the movie Se7en to see what they did:

We found that the first name to come up, and therefore the most important, is the production company name. The Directors name then comes up, revealing who the films creation was down to. Followed up is the Lead Actor, often the lead actor is a famous and may-be recognised by the audience (in Se7en the lead actor is Brad Pitt), they are also the first actor name to appear as they have the priory part in the film as it is based around their character and is therefore the most important character featured. After the main actors/actress's appear the title of the film is revealed, usually in big font making it clear what it is and that it has significance. This is then followed by other actors/actress's that have a role in the film, however aren't a main character. Behind the scene people's names then appear such as Costume design, production designers, casting and editors etc. 

American Horror Story Opening Credits

American Horror story: Asylum opening credits deconstruction

 

American Horror story is an american TV show and is part of the horror/thriller genre. It is produced by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk. Overall there is four seasons, season 2 is based around an Asylum.

The opening credits sets up the bases of the narrative and expresses what genre the show is part of. The opening credits to American Horror story creates is styled in a disorientated manner with fast paced shots and static with film grain appear throughout it, this could be relating to the time period as AHS change this every season.
 We also can see this from the use of setting. There are many shots of girl on old fashioned stairs as well as the main bases of the disturbing Asylum which is something of the past as well as the use of costume, primely the doctor's uniform, telling the audience it is set in 1960 era.

The opening credits reveal the genre of the show, through the disturbing images and dark setting we know it is a horror. There is also mis-en-scene showing close up shots of blood and guts as doctor's operate suggesting it is also a thriller



There is also a statue of what looks like the virgin Mary and shots of a Nun, this suggests a religious theme present in the show.

The opening credits also reveal parts of the narrative in which the show is going to follow, we see a patient being strapped to a bed as doctors crowed around him, revealing this storyline may come up in the show.


There is a clip of a girl going down the stairs like a crab, this is relating to the famous film: The Exosist, which is known for that scene's scariness. There are similarities to it with both the girls wearing nightgown, it is coped to relate to the genre of horror as it something the audience can recognize.


The typography is in yello font which is flickering at the sides. All of the letters are in capital letters. American Horror story use the same font and is recognized by the audience. 
 
 

 

Deconstruction of Opening Credits: American Horror Story

Deconstruction of American Horror Story: Hotel Opening Credits

American Horror Story is a TV show produced by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, it consists of five series which are all set in different periods of time. American Horror Story: Hotel is the fifth and most recent series.

The opening credits give a glimpse to what the series is going to be like, there is lots of blood, including people scrubbing blood of the floor, people and children crawling out of beds, children standing in corridors and monsters coming out from the bed. All of this is shown through fast paced cuts which add to the intensity of the short clips. The music used is parallel to the sinister and disjointed short clips in the credits.

Genre

The genre is horror and erotic thriller, which is shown explicitly in the credits through blood as well as women wearing revealing clothes. The wallpaper style background behind the text as well as the colour of the text is red which adds to the common use of blood.

 

Text

The text is in a unique font and it is specific to AHS so it can be easily identified even out of context. It is called 'Rennie Macintosh' and suits the genre of horror because it is quite ominous and abnormal.

As well as the actor's names, the Ten Commandments are written, in the same font, which gives an indication to viewers about the 'Ten Commandments Killer', who is a part of the plot. This implies that there is a religious aspect to the series.

Lighting

There is a lot of flickering and lights flashing but apart from that the lighting is dark or dimly lit. The flickering adds effect to the disturbing scenes shown in the opening credits.

Location

The location adds to the eeriness of the credits, it is obviously old fashioned which gives indications of what year it is set in. The location of the hotel is shown explicitly through shots of people in the corridor that are filmed through the peep hole in the hotel door.

Music

The music is slow and eerie with lots of mechanical noises that stay the same throughout the whole credits until a part of the credits where there is a girl with loads of lipstick on her face and the music gets louder and more dramatic.


These opening credits are very detailed and contains a lot of different scenes, it would be very hard to create opening credits that are like this because they are very expensive and time consuming, and due to the fact that we are only students it is practically impossible to create something of this scale. 

Deconstruction of Se7en opening credits

The task was to deconstruct the opening credits of the film 'Se7en' so that we may find inspiration and conventions that conform or subvert, giving us ideas for our opening scene.

Mise-en-scene: there are short close-ups of the killer's hands as he is shaving the skin off of his fingers with a blade to get rid of the fingerprints. There are also pictures and books with a lot of writing in like a journal. The pictures are of people or victims with different ways of killing them, for example with weapons through their head or their eyes blacked out with a pen. These props set the film up to be very sinister to the audience within the first few minutes.

Editing: the shots are overlapping so it looks quick and flickery, and slightly blurry. It seems to give the feeling that a lot of things are happening at once and makes it more fast-paced and busier - suggesting multiple things may be happening in the plotline.

Sound: there is only a non-diegetic soundtrack used. It sounds almost robotic and machinery like, and there's a static kind of sound like a radio signal emitted.

Typography: there's very thin writing used which makes the film seem like it will be quite creepy and chilling, conforming to the genre. The colour is white which is usually a symbol of purity and may link to the religious references in the film.

This film's opening credit sequence is very effective because the twitchiness and flickering of the writing and video clips set a fast and suspenseful pace that can convey the damage of the mind of the killer, and show his psychological problems. This would be good for any film because it immediately foresees the mental state of the villain so we are straight away captivated and are expecting them to have an interesting backstory or upbringing that made them this way.

Se7en opening credits deconstruction

Deconstruction of Se7en opening credits

Genre: Psychological horror

 

Typography: 

The typography used in the opening credits to display the title of the film and people involved in the making is in plain white child-like text, flashing up in time with the mechanical music and often is edited to look static to make it seem disorientated, representing the killers mind. This fits in with the narrative of psychological horrors where it divulges in the killer's mind rather than the victims.

Mise-en-scene [1]: 

in this short opening sequence there is numerous pictures shown of body parts, the pictures look as if they are old and have been taken from a newspaper (eg. there is a picture of a person with a screw in their skull. This highlights an obsession for operation's from the killer's POV and is sinister as it reflects on the killer's intentions.

Mise-en-scene [2]:

There is many relgious connotations throughout the opening sequence, as we see the killer reading the bible and highlighting parts of it. Suggesting the killers inspirations and motivations for his killings. This links in with the theme that many psychological horrors have religion as a reasoning for the antagonists murders. This also links in with the title of 'Se7en' that relates to the seven deadly sins.

Editing:

In the editing process of the opening credits, they have overlapped some of the clips to make images look faded over the top. From an audience perspective the clip looks blurry and out of focus, creating a disorientated look to it. As well as this transitions from clip to clip is smooth through the use of textures overlapped on top make it seem fast paced and a lot on screen at once. The use of the red texture (shown in the right screenshot) symbolizes blood, and danger.

Music:

The non-diegetic music in the background sounds like static or when there is no signal on a radio, and is mechanical. The use of this music creates an emotions of helplessness as it sounds like 'no signal on a radio' suggesting no help will come to the victims aid.

Context:

Close up of the killer using a sharp edge to cut of the skin from the top of his fingernails showing he is cutting of his fingerprints, this suggests themes of crime as the killer doesn't want to be identified through his fingerprints when he commits a crime. This foreshadows later events in the movie.

Deconstruction of Opening Credits for Se7en

Opening Credits Timeline



Se7en (1995) is an American neo-noir psychological thriller that stars Brad Pitt, Gwyneth Paltrow and Morgan Freeman. It was directed by David Fincher and is based on a screenplay by Andrew Kevin Walker.

 



 

The text in the credits is very suitable for the genre, so we could aim to create a font that is similar to this so that it is creepy and fitting for our slasher genre. I really like how there is a lot of detail in each of the close-up shots, for example the close ups of his fingers, these shots give the audience information about what is happening and gives an insight into what the character is doing, so it would be good for us to include some detail like this in our opening scene. The writing in the credits tells us what names to put into opening credits, such as costume design and co-executive producers.