Film Titles & Typography

Film titles & Typography

I I wanted to look in the use of film titles for different genres to get ideas for our own film title. I looked into supernatural horror and slasher as they are the two genre's we were most interested in.

     Supernatural Horror:

The uninvited: This relates to the genre of horror, and through the use of the title as well as the creepily made movie poster where the supernatural being is peering into the window, is used to scare the audience further as they realize this could happen to them in their own home. The title symbolizes something unwanted terrorizing someone and tells the audience what is expected from the film. The typography used is san serif and looks like condensation on a window making it look cold and linking in with the title of the 'uninvited' it also suggests it's location is set in a house.

Paranormal activity: Despite it already being a well known franchise due to it’s amount of films made for the series, the title shows it is a supernatural horror revealing something dark and strange is going to happen. The title is san serif and it is in a red colour, symbolizing the danger of what is going to happen in the movie, it also helps the title to stand out.

The Babadook: Sounds like a child-like word, as if it has been made up from a child’s imagination. This gives an insight to the narrative of the movie. The title is once again red in serif text, symbolizing danger and the gore of the 

A lot of films use the word ‘the’ at the beginning of their titles to further emphasis the title as something important. However a lot of horror movie’s stick by the stereotype of having a single word as their title (Orphan, Annabelle, Sinister) and it is usually something linking to the genre they are part of.

Slasher:

Scream: I looked at the film; Scream and thought about how the title links well with the genre of slasher, suggesting something horrific is going to happen as we associate screaming with fear, showing what the audience can expect from the film. The typography is simple white san serif, it is unique due to the sharper point of the 'M' on 'Scream' the colours contrasting the black colour of the movie poster making it stand out. 

Nightmare on Elm Street: Nightmare on Elm Street uses the colour red on their title to symbolise the blood and gore of what the audience can except to see, relating to the genre of slasher and makes it look dangerous. The typography has the word 'Nightmare' in a larger size, making it stand out. The word 'nightmare' associated with fear. The title also reveals where the location is set, Elm Street.

The Cabin in the woods: The title to this movie is creative as it relates to the location in which the film is based. Conforming to the common conventions of thriller movies, as it is set in an isolated location, in a woods, where there is no help nearby. The typography is serif and is in black, it has been edited to have scratches over the text making it look old, dirty and as if it has been scratched by the claws of something, giving it a sinister feel.

Deconstruction of opening scene: Oculus (2013)

Oculus opening scene (2013)

Oculus opening scene clip from YT:

Titles

This scene includes the opening titles, labelling all the productions involved in filming involving: Relativity, BH productions and Intrepid pictures. 

Genre

Through this short clip we are able to establish what genre the movie is. This is due to the dark color scheme, creating fear as we can't see much of the actions and relating to common conventions of supernatural horrors as the supernatural occurrences often happen at night. As well as this the scene is set in a house, where most Supernatural horrors take place to strike fear into the audience as it is in a setting that is person and could happen to the viewers.

Typography:

The title of the movie: Oculus is displayed on a black screen and is a simple sans serif text. It looks as if clouds of smoke is animated over the text to make it look eerie. This further highlights suspense. 

Music

diegetic breathing:

On this close up of the girl we can hear her breathing heavily. This represents her fear at the events unknown to the audience and shows that what she is doing is risk taking and fearful. This builds tension as the audience wonders what is making her so scared. 

diegetic Creaking door:

This is a common convention of supernatural horrors, as it signifies the entrance of the unknown. In this scene the girl is sneaking through a door as the non-diegetic background music is quite and low contrasting the sound of the door opening, exaggerating the door creak to make it seem louder and the audience worry about the girl getting caught.

non-diegetic music:

The non diegetic string music in the background starts of low, building tension, however, as they run to the door it becomes fast paced symbolizing the beat of their hearts as they race to the door. The music ends as the trigger on the gun is pulled suggesting the end of a life.

Representation

In this scene the two children are shown to be the victims as they fail at getting to the door in time and are caught by the man who raises a gun to their head. A common conventions of horrors is that it is often children who are the victims, as we see them as innocent and vulnerable and thus making a bigger impact if they get hurt due to us feeling sorry for them.

Supernatural horror deconstruction - Paranormal Activity 4

Supernatural horror deconstruction - Woman In Black