General research into title sequences

The Incredible Hulk (2008)

The prologue of The Incredible Hulk (2008) contains a lot of narrative enigmas. Examples include newspapers containing information about the monster (the Hulk) and classified/photo evidence of the Hulk. This creates a narrative enigma because of what we don’t understand, delving our interest into the film further. Many questions are not answered this early on, some including: why is the Hulk so protective of the research lab lady? Why do people want to hunt the Hulk down? Some things can be inferred, from when the Hulk as a human winks at her, suggesting they have a deeper relationship. The only way these things can be furthered and understood is by watching the film.

Other things in this title sequence also tell us the genre. Superhero films often contain a lot of action, and The Incredible Hulk does not fall short of this. With many explosions, scenes containing the army and fighting happening, it is easy to infer this film will also have a lot of action. Action could also be inferred through the intense, parallel non-diegetic soundtrack played. Another common trope is how the superhero got their powers (e.g. Spiderman being bit by a spider), and The Incredible Hulk shows this through the use of X-rays and chemical reactions being green. Relating to the Hulk, as he is also green, we can assume that the Hulk got his powers from a lab experiment gone wrong.

Love Actually (2003)

Love Actually (2003) is a romantic film, and the title sequence showcases this well. A soft voiceover tells us about love, and where to find it. This short monologue would probe viewers to find out how this relates to the film. The visuals playing as this is being said are family and friends greeting each other at Heathrow. This connotes belonging and love as everyone wants someone to be excited about them coming home. A lot of the audience can relate also, either waiting for family or friends or being the family/friends arriving home. The high key lighting shows the arrivals terminal shrouded with good feelings as people arrive, which in turn makes the viewer feel good. The light hearted music which is parallel to the film can also be considered as making the title sequence into a feel good moment.

Seven (1995)

Seven’s title sequence, made by Kyle Cooper for David Fincher is considered a game changer in the world of title sequences. The artistic novelty of the books makes it a very visually pleasing one to watch, as John Doe takes such care in the order of how his books look. The grey scale, dirty film tells you that this film will not have a happy ending, and is quite grim. The also complete contrast with white and black within some scenes makes it easy to see what exactly is going on, even if it is gruesome and twisted and audience members want to turn their heads. We can tell that he is likely to be the antagonist as we cannot exactly see what he is doing, which displays a level of secrecy villains need to have to ensure their plans do not get spoiled.  The hand written typography shows that there is degree of care this villain shows as it is very neat, but selfish as he is alone (we only see one pair of hands) and keeps to himself.

The glitching of the film signifies chaos, and that the film will have a lot of wrong doings happen. John Doe is a ‘glitch’ in the system of humans as he is a bad person. All of the close up shots on his hands and books keep his face hidden, and do not allow the viewer to guess who the villain is within the first few minutes of the film. Nine Inch Nails ‘Closer’ plays in the background with scratching and screaming, making the viewer uncomfortable with the noises and dystopian music Nine Inch Nails produces.

To Kill A Mockingbird (1962)

To Kill A Mockingbird served as inspiration for Seven, due to its many close up shots and focus on objects. Scout, the child of Atticus is playing with her toys, and scribbles ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ on some paper. This displays the level of innocence the children have and the amount of learning the young children will have to do in the heavy topics of racism and equality the film has. Crabbing on a dolly follows the objects on Scouts level, making us feel as small as Scout does. The objects also could hold meaning, creating an enigma to how they relate to the film. The black and white tones also create depth, and allow us to focus on the objects rather than the colour.

Dr Strangelove (1964)

Dr Strangelove does not have a typical title sequence as the text takes up most of the screen. This could have been done to cover up whatever was going on in the background, suggesting that the plane meant something bad was going to happen to it. It could have also been done to keep the films content a secret, probing the viewers to carry on watching if they were really that interested. The typology is scribbly and handwritten, making it seem very personal and human.

Vertigo (1958)

Vertigo uses a lot of close ups to keep the focus on the girl and her simple features (eyes, nose, mouth). This could create an enigma to how the girl is related to the rest of the film. The lack of variation in colour (only showing red) could signify that the film is only full of what the colour connotes, which is danger or love. The heavy crescendo music also suggests that there is a serious tone to the film, making it perhaps fall into the thriller genre. Also, the moving text has not been seen in any of the previously mentioned title sequences, adding an element to also not only read, but also watch.

American Psycho (2000)

American psycho has a very minimalistic style, with many of it relating to small items of food, and how they are presented on the page. The food such as the raspberry sauce could also be inferred as blood, tricking the eye and perhaps confusing the viewer, but intriguing them further. It also has quite light and easy listening style music, which is the opposite style of music when we see the word ‘psycho’.