Research:Opening film title - Se7en

Opening credits are written information within a film which tells the audience who is starring in the film as well as the production roles such as director. The purpose of opening credits is to inform the audience; this helps the audience understand the film as well as outline important people within the film. Opening credits provide the audience with the information of the film such as actors who have played certain roles as well as who is in charge of different production roles such as director, editor etc.

Opening credits are essential in creating a reaction from the audience. For example in a thriller film the opening credits are confusing due to the video content where images don't make sense to the audience and don't relate to each other. Credits can also be enhanced due to the input of sound; for a thriller film sound can create tension and fear as well as build the suspense of the film.

In the opening credits of 'Se7en' some information is presented to the audience. The names of actors are shown in the opening credits in order of famous actors down to amateur actors. This helps the audience know who the characters are in the film as well as become familiar with the film before it starts. Keywords such as 'rape', 'transsexual' and 'God' are presented in the opening of the film. This information in the opening credits is used to confuse the audience as well as relate to the narrative of the film. it also makes the audience think about the links between the words and building suspense.

For the purpose of creating my own thriller film opening credits I looked at what order the information appeared in. The film production title first appeared in the opening credits to present to the audience who made the film. The name of the film and the famous actors who played within the film then appeared next. This allows the audience to know the name of the film they are watching as well as the people who are playing the important characters. The amateur actors names are then presented which are followed by job roles of the film such as casting director, music manager etc. The directors name then appears on the screen finally followed by the name of the film again. 

Generic conventions of a thriller film are also presented to the audience in the opening credits. There is a constant use of close ups throughout the opening credits which allows to see detail such as keywords (as above) as well as emphasising horrific elements which relate to the narrative. From the close ups used the audience can see the characters dirty finger nails; this disgusts the audience and already creates resentment towards the character. Photographs are used in the opening which makes the audience think about the theme of obsession or stalking which relates to a conventional thriller film. Medical equipment such as a needle and tweezers are used which the audience could infer as being weapons or tools to torture a victim who is conventional to a thriller film because the audience expect to see this.

The lighting and colour throughout the opening credits is dark. The low key lighting makes the opening appear mysterious and compliments with the images shown throughout the credits. The colour red is used frequently throughout the credits when some shots are changed to have a red tint as well as splatters of red that fall into a page. These elements within the credits are conventional to a thriller film because the lighting and colour create responses of suspense and making them uneasy before the starting of the film.

Finally the slow gothic/metal soundtrack added to the opening credits makes it effective when connecting to the audience. The slow soundtrack creates suspense within the audience and makes them feel uneasy when they hear scratches of some metal or radio turning. This is conventional to thriller opening credits because this builds the audience up to the rest of the film.

I think that the opening credits from 'Se7en' create impact on the audience because the opening credits are used to confuse the audience. However they contain essential clues to the films narrative which catch the audience’s attention and provoke the audience to work the clues out. 'Se7en' is a good example on creating an impact on the audience because it also makes the audience focus on the film by leaving them to guess the narrative. This opening credit scene has influenced me with my own thriller film as I have ideas on what elements to use to slightly confuse the audience.