Peer Assessment 

Analysis of a Horror Opening Titles (1)

The Opening title that I have decided to analyse is "Insidious"

When looking at these 9 screen shots from the horror opening titles to the film "Insidious" we can see many different things that we can analyse from this so lets take a look...

Q.)How Does the title sequence establish genre, character and narrative?

When looking at this title opening title we can see that the genre of this title could relate to the topic of "paranormal" aspects. I can think this because when watching the title we can see that this could be what is happening because, when looking at the writing within the credits it is showing the writing fading slowly away which this could be linking in with how a ghost fades away giving it that paranormal theme. When looking at this we can even see that the images of empty rooms within this house that it could be showing which has been shown in one of the screen shots above. With the emptiness of the rooms that have been shown, this could be showing a start of a new house maybe the sense of new beginnings, showing that new things always don't always turn out good.

When looking at the characters within this opening title we can see that when looking at the characters we can see in one of the screen shots above an image of a photo frame that could be representing the family that is linked in with this film. When looking at this family we can see the normal happy family however with this being a horror film we could possibly see that this family is going to go through pain and horror with many twists and turns to it.

Q.) How does the title sequence attract an audience's interest?

The title sequence would attract the audience because of how dark and in depth of the paranormal effect. With just watching the sequence we have linked it in with the genre of horror, however this would be creating the effect for the audience because of how it sets the scene with only using the colours of black and red creating that sense of mystery and danger within the film. However when looking at the title when the title of "Insidious" appears it is shown boldly with mixed colours of the black and red colours which are being shown throughout the whole sequence, with title have red and black being mixed together we can see the different senses of danger and that sense of mystery. With the use of the slightly small images with the black background it is also giving it the sense of darkness and the fear of knowing what is going to happen and what are these images representing within the title could these be linking in with the actual movie could these be screen shots of this? Therefore these titles will create and effect for the audience because of the mystery that is being shown within the titles wanting to know what is going to happen in this film and why is this going to happen the audience would want to know what these are meaning and the use of the titles are teasing the audience creating an interest of what paranormal activity/stories are going to happen and why? 

Q.) What do you consider to be the target audience of this film and why?

When watching this opening title of the film "Insidious" I believe that the target audience of this film could be for 15 years and old maybe going onto the 18 year old's this is because of the depth this would go into because thinking about the possible violent or traumatic scenes that could be included in this film. However thinking about this some people maybe under 15 would still consider watching this maybe because of parent permission however a film as a suitable age range for the reasons of what the film includes for example the violence, any swearing, etc. Therefore I believe this filmed is aimed at 15 years and older attracting more to the younger audiences then the older because of the features it includes and many younger people watch daring films then those older people who would of watched many of these films including the suitable age features.

Q.) Who are the producers of this film and why is it evident to the title sequence?
The film insidious was produced by: Jason Blum, Steven Schneider and Oren Peli. When looking at these producers we can see that they all are producers of "Paranormal" films including the films like paranormal activity and The Purge. We can see this is evident within the title sequence because it is showing the horror and the sense of paranormal activity within the opening with the sense of fading fonts and words, the colour use of the darkness and the red maybe for the fear of the past, when looking at these producers we can all see that they link in with the opening titles as they are all based around Paranormal films and Insidious is a "paranormal" film.

Below is a Video showing the Insidious title openings:

Analysis of a Horror   Opening Titles (2)

The second opening titles that I decided to analyse was "The Omen" The Video to this is shown below: 

Q.)How Does the title sequence establish genre, character and narrative?

When looking at the opening titles to "The Omen" we can see straight away that is in linked in with the genre of horror. With this is mind we can see that for the credits of the title it has used the colours of white and black which are not really cheerful colours, representing the darkness and mystery of this title. However, we can see the white in this does stand out with the black making it bold and easy to read, however it is still giving us the genre of horror. When focusing on the music that is used in this opening title is linked in with the sound of the devil, almost showing it like a hymn of the devil worshiping linking this in with religion. When focusing in on the music we can see that it is loud and is kind of in your face throughout the sequence creating the feature of your eyes being glued to the screen thinking that something is going to happen throughout the title giving it the sense of false tension building. In the title we can see a small child in the background surrounded by the colour of red which could represent blood or evil, making it a dark title making it mysterious. When see the child it would makes us think of them being harmful and playful, however focusing on the title we can see that this child could be linked in with the idea of the devil because of the cross that has been shadowed from him and the devil links to horror, showing the child could be the main character within this film creating the tension questioning for the audience and wanting them to find out what is going to happen and who he is and what the horror genre is based around.

Q.) How does the title sequence attract an audience's interest?

This would create interest for the audience whilst watching this opening title because it is showing the idea of mystery with the colours that have been presented within the opening, the audience are wanting to want to find out what is going to happen within the film because as we can see the opening title is not giving a lot away of what the film could be about only giving hints of what it could be about with the idea of religion and the devil linking together because of the use of black and red which links in with the devil and for the audience to want to find out what this genre of horror has got to do with the child being located throughout the titles this is giving mystery, yet again with the idea of the questioning for the audience and the interest for them being wanting to find out what is going to happen and why these specific hints have been given within the opening titles.

Q.) What do you consider to be the target audience of this film and why?

The target audience that I would consider this film being for is the age from young adults looking around 15 to 18 and the older audience who enjoy the mystery of horror films. I think this because it uses violence and swearing with things in the film including death features for young children even though the film includes a child this would be more for young adults who enjoy the expected horror films and the older generation who like the mystery side of horrors and to find out what is going to happen throughout the film.

Q.) Who are the producers of this film and why is it evident to the title sequence?

The producer of "The Omen" is Harvey Bernhard. When looking at other work by Harvey he has done a couple of other horror films along with the other sequels of the Omen. Examples of his other films were "The beast within" and "The Lost Boys" When focusing on the other films we can see that he links in with the idea of including young children or teenager within a horror films of his I suppose this is they way he sees horror including these different ages and who possibly the age of audiences they would be aimed at. We can see that is work is evident within the title sequence because we can see the different colours of red and white which he has also used in the Omen title sequence that we have analysed, from looking at this we can see that he likes to use the idea of darkness and mystery within his opening title sequences which show he is the producer of this.

Analysis of a Horror   Opening Titles (3)

The third title opening that I have decided to analyse is "Child's Play 3"

Q.)How Does the title sequence establish genre, character and narrative?

When looking at the opening to "Child's play 3" we can see that this is clearly shown as the genre of horror. I can see that this is straight away horror because of the features that have been included within the titles, for example we can see the sight of blood making us see death and seeing this blood being restored. This is made more dramatic and with the slow paste of the restoration it is creating that sign of tension building us up to the restoration of this doll which because of the past films as this is a continued sequel we can see that the villain the doll is being restored and it building us up to the new life of the doll (Chucky). With the sight of the squashed gunge that is on the floor later on we discover this is the doll we can see that it is horror, and by doing this it is creating an idea for us as the audience that new horror is being brought back and we know they something bad will happen knowing that it has been brought back and is showing us a whole new impact as the audience. Therefore by looking at this opening title we can see the genre of this horror because the sight of the blood and the how it is showing the danger which we can interpret this when it is showing the leaking out of blood showing that danger is linking out and we can see that this is the genre of horror.

Q.) How does the title sequence attract an audience's interest?

The title sequence is attracting the audience's interest because we can see that because when looking at this sequence it would appeal out towards the audience because of the use and interpreted idea of the restoration of new evil, the idea of the red, the blood leaking out is showing the evil leaking out this will be causing a sense of horror and because of this being a sequel to other past films we know that he was destroyed and killed and the audience seeing this film knowing that he has been restored they would want to know the main question of "What will he do next" by thinking about this the audience would want to know this and want to know if this character will win his fight of evil and this is how for the audience the interest would be created.

Q.) What do you consider to be the target audience of this film and why?

When focusing on the title opening to "Child's play 3" I would believe that the aimed audience for this film would be at least over 15 or older adults the reason for this is because knowing past films and linking it in with this title opening I know that it would contain mild swearing and violence, death violence as well. This would then be inappropriate for younger then under 15 because of the violence and deaths that have been portrayed through this film. Therefore from seeing this title opening we know that straight away there isn't going to be good news and that bad graphic things are going to happen so thinking about the age we can see that this would be suitable for the generation of younger teenagers and older adults.

Q.) Who are the producers of this film and why is it evident to the title sequence?

The horror film of "Child's play 3" was produced by David Kirschner and Robert Latham Brown. When looking at this we can see that David is not much of a well known producer however the other producer Robert is a well know producer making many different film genres from all sorts however the film Child's play 3 that he has produced is one of the films genres that he has done which we know this film is a horror. So from looking at his work we can see that it is showing that this is evident within the title sequence because he has shown the different scenes of horror that have been included in this sequence this is because we can see that the use of the normal horror sight of blood, the idea of the new beginnings and how this has been shown with the idea of new evil and danger with the main idea of what is going to happen next as we have been left on a cliff hanger so to know that he has proved that he has done this opening title is because of the different ways he has kind of shown the beginning of the film without using just normal titles he has used the beginning of the film to introduce his film however just with the use of credits, and looking at his other works for example like the film "Dracula dead and loving it" he used the same idea there.

Analysis of a Horror   Opening Titles (4)

The fourth horror opening that I have decided to analyse is the film "The Haunting" (1963)

A clip to the opening of the Haunting is shown below:


Q.)How Does the title sequence establish genre, character and narrative?

When looking at this opening title we can see that this is a genre of horror as soon as it begins we can see that this is possible because when looking at this I can see straight the dark background with the grey clouds, with the slight image of a castle. As soon as we look at the presentation of the opening the colours that have been used within this are already seen as a dark, dull colours which maybe representing the idea of a Gothic Horror movie because of how the colours have been used to represent the genre.

Also when looking at this I kind of get the idea of the use of ghost style of writing that has been used.I can see this when the title "The Haunting" appears on the screen because it fades onto the screen and appears like a ghost is appearing onto the screen. Therefore from looking how the title appears in it looks like the style of a ghost appearance to it, with the colour of the bold white title being used this is also demonstrating the normal expected colour scheme of a ghost so already by watching this opening title we can see that it is giving a paranormal and Gothic genre to the film whilst only watching this.

Q.) How does the title sequence attract an audience's interest?
When looking at this opening sequence we can see that this would have an interest to the audience because looking at this we can see the idea of the colour showing mystery and Gothic genres within in the opening giving us the idea of what is this film about. However, to add onto this we can see that during the sequence there is narration this maybe introducing the film, however not giving really nothing away. This would appeal to the audience because they would want to know what is going to happen and why this narration has been involved with the opening title. On the other hand, when I look at this opening sequence we can see that this could cause many complications or corrections for the audience because they would know that this is for a horror however they would be deciding between the genres that they are using within the title, but to me it gives away a paranormal aspect to it because of how the title and been shown and maybe the the castle in the background may link to a haunted house showing that this is a paranormal theme that could have a dark essence to it which would by this would be an interest towards the audience.

Q.) What do you consider to be the target audience of this film and why?
I believe that the target audience for this horror film would be young teenagers who may be wanting to find out what will be happening, because we can see that haunting films or paranormal activity mostly would interact with young minds because of the danger or the fear that they want to conquer, however on the other hand many older people may want to watch this because of the generation of the film and most people enjoy a ghost horror with the many mysteries that they en hold.

Q.) Who are the producers of this film and why is it evident to the title sequence?

The film of the haunting was produced by Robert Wise. When looking at other peices of Robert's work we can see that most of the films he has produced or directed are more musical films, so this could be a horror that could of changed his aspect of the way he uses his ideas, we can see that this film is not a musical this film as been named a physiological horror. In this film by looking at his other work we can see that these are the normal opening that he makes when looking at a musical film of his called "The Sound of Music" we can see that the film starts of with the same aspect of this film however with music playing and the title boldly mixing in the starting of the film. This film has narration to it and as a slow paste to it which is showing the horror do it creating the sense of tension building., Therefore when looking at this opening sequence we can see that is has been produced by Robert Wise because of looking at other openings of his work.

Analysis of a Horror   Opening Titles (5)

The fifth film that I have decided to analyse is called "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

Below is a video clip of the Opening sequence to this film:

Q.)How Does the title sequence establish genre, character and narrative?

When looking at this opening title of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" we can see that this is a horror genre of a Slasher film, a horror of death and gore. In this opening sequence we can see that it uses the colours of red which is representing the idea of blood, and the sign of danger and death. The Idea of flashing images with the black background could be representing the idea of mystery and slow death. When focusing on this opening we can see that it uses the idea of narration which is giving away the plot of what this film is going to be about right at the start of the film, when we also continue into the opening we are also seeing narration of a voice later on in the sequence maybe showing more ideas and clues for the audience of what the film is going to be about. When looking within the film we also straight away go into the idea of death because looking at this we can see a rotted away killed man with another person attached to him this could be showing us that this is what is going to happen to the people during the film and is introducing us to the gore already keeping us glued on to find out what happens later in the film and is there anymore deaths like this. Therefore already this is creating the genre if horror and slasher with the feature that have been included within this.

Q.) How does the title sequence attract an audience's interest?

When looking at this opening sequence we can see that this would create an interest for the audience because of how it is using narration at the beginning of the opening so people can see what the plot of this film is going to be about allowing the audience to decide if it is for them and if they would like to continue watching it. The idea of the death at the beginning of the film would create and effect because people would want to see how this person was killed or how other people are going to be killed during the film this is kind of giving us an idea of  what the film as in store for the people and the audience would want to find out what happens and how people are killed and because of including this type of horror it would make it more questionable for the audience creating their interest of watching the rest of the film and the plot in more of a watchable detail.

Q.) What do you consider to be the target audience of this film and why?

I believe that the target audience for this film would be at least aimed at 18 and over because of the violence and death scenes that are being shown because already within the opening we are seeing the graphic images that are being shown, creating the death scenes that are possibly not for eye views of the younger generation and this would be made for the older because of the death and violent scenes and they are like aged video games that need a certain age range for the viewing of the it. Therefore I would believe that this film would be more aimed at the age range of older adults because of weapons that could possibly be used in this because if they use violent weapons that parents would have around the house this could be teaching younger people what these weapons would be used for putting them in danger, so I would strongly believe this would be more suitable for the older generation from at least 18 and over.

Q.) Who are the producers of this film and why is it evident to the title sequence?

The producers of this film are Kim Henkel, Tobe Hooper, Jay Parsley and Richard Saenz. When looking at these producers we can see that these are mostly horror producers and we can see this because they have created this film. We can see that that this is evident within the title sequence because of how they have used the idea of narration to tell the plot in a simple way for people to know about it, the idea of showing danger already within the opening shows that this horror isn't going to be a happy film it is going to be a film of danger, tension building and the aspects of how these deaths could link together and making the audience wonder what these deaths have been caused by and why are they happening. 

The typical synopsis of my sub-genre

The typical synopsis of my sub - genre is "Paranormal" as a group, for our opening scene of our horror movie we have decided on paranormal aspects.

When looking at this we can see the sub - genre of our opening is quite typical of a paranormal horror movie, however with some twists and turns.

When looking at our twists and turns we have decided to look at ghosts and spirits however with the flash back of past memories that are never letting go, which this then creates that questioning for the audience of what this is meaning, to link in with our opening to give our audience and understanding however with only little being explained. When looking at this we did decide for a typical paranormal activity story however, with some of the aspects being told and giving it a different understanding to normal paranormal films with the sense of an understanding of how the audience are going to respond to this and how will they react with the effect of the film.

On the other hand, a typical paranormal horror film, includes mystery, ghosts, spirits, possession and the jumps and scares that give us those aspects of paranormal effect. But, when looking at this we can see that our idea for our horror opening involves a hence of mystery however that would depend on the audience's view of how we show our horror, we want to include the mystery the questioning for the audience of what all this means and what does all this lead up to? With doing this it is creating an effect for the horror opening creating that paranormal effect and sense of direction in the way that horror is being represented in paranormal and we hope to gain a typical sub - genre of paranormal activity however we want to include twists and plots that only show little understanding of the film and to give the sub - genre of our horror opening its distinctive features.

Below is an extra example of the different Paranormal Horror films and using this material to think about how we can base our horror opening around these: