This is a member of my groups analysis of Se7en, from it I have learnt about what is common in thrillers and some techniques we could use in our own:
The establishing shot of the film is a close up on the pages of a book. This suggests it will be quite a significant item in the film as it is an image used constantly throughout the opening. Also throughout the opening they use quite a few close ups on the hands which suggests they are also quite important. They are busy doing things and they grate off their own fingertips which adds a sinister mood to the film almost immediatly. The music used goes really highpitched at some parts of the opening. This adds to the tension which is being built by the sinister images being shown. It is quite jumpy which adds to the impression that this film is going to be scary. It is parallel sound, we would expect this music to be used in a horror film. Lots of sharp silver objects are shown throughout the opening like the sissors and the needle. This adds a sense of danger and helps to build the tension, also the impliments are very clean which could show that they are well looked after or that they are new either way they are going to do their job properly and professionally. Just like in Anatomy of a Murder they use white font on a black background. The white stands out on the black which juxtaposes, it gives the impression that innocence doesn't belong in the film and that purity isn't going to be shown. This emphasises the horror genre of the film.
From this analysis I have learnt about using colour to convey significance, for example the woman who died wears a red dress, we are going to use this technique in our own title sequence.
From this I learnt about animated title sequences, and how these can be used to create a intriguing effect, I don't however think I will be using this technique in my own title sequence, but analysing this one has helped me to decide this.
From this I learnt about film noir - which is our chosen style of film, and how shadow and music can create tension and excitement.
Saul Bass was an American graphic designer and Academy Award winning film maker, best known for his design of motion picture title sequences and film posters.
Bass became widely known in the film industry after creating the title sequence for Otto Premminger's The man with the golden arm (1955). The subject of the film was a jazz musician's struggle to overcome his heroin addiction, a taboo subject in the mid-1950s. Bass decided to create an innovative title sequence to match the film's controversial subject. He chose the arm as the central image, as it is a strong image relating to heroin addiction. The titles featured an animated, white on black paper cut-out arm of a heroin addict. As he hoped, it caused quite a sensation.
For Alfred Hitchcock, Bass provided effective, memorable title sequences, inventing a new type of kinetic typography, for North by Northwest (1959), Vertigo (1958), and Physco (1960). It was this kind of innovative, revolutionary work that made Bass a revered graphic designer. Before the advent of Bass’s title sequences in the 1950s, titles were generally static, separate from the movie, and it was common for them to be projected onto the cinema curtains, the curtains only being raised right before the first scene of the movie.
