HORROR FILM TITLES ANALYSISMEGAN BIRD

In this post I will be analysing titles of three films and suggest what are the most conventional:

- Titles/Job Roles- Language- Ordering

- Colour/Font

THE EXORCIST - Ordering of titles;

- Studio Logos – Standard Warner Bros Logo

- Name of Director – The colour of the font connotes the genre of the film making it easier for the audience to recognise the genre. The same font is used in the name of the film and the other titles for continuity

- Name of Writer -The colour of the font connotes the genre of the film making it easier for the audience to recognise the genre. The same font is used in the name of the film and the other titles for continuity

- Title of the Film - The colour of the font connotes the genre of the film making it easier for the audience to recognise the genre. The font used is thin and creepy, this could be used to foreshadow events to come, the titles can help create the mood for the film.

THE EXORCIST CONTINUED -Language –

The language used in this opening is minimal to the extent the names introduced are shown on screen, when the director is mentioned it said ‘A William Friedkin Film’ however when the writer is shown it just says ‘ William Peter Blatty’s’ By keeping the titles minimal it means that the audience can get into the film quicker.

Ordering –

The ordering of titles in this film opening are as follows; studio logo, name of director, name of writer and title of film. The mentioning of titles in the opening are minimal, this is conventional for horror films as it is common to have very few titles if any to get straight into the action.

ANNABELLE -Ordering of titles;

- Name of the producer - References to the film before - Film title- Mentions of the production company - Mentions of the writer and director

- The font is fairly thin, this is common in horror films as it connotes creepiness. The colour is plain making the titles blend into the background. This makes it more mysterious and intriguing.

ANNABELLE CONTINUED -Language – When the titles are shown it gives the job title of the person and then their name. There is extra information shown in the opening titles, for example the fact that Annabelle is the sequel to The Conjuring. This is displayed in the same font as the rest of the titles and the way it is explained is with minimal wording so that it gets straight to the point. Towards the end of the titles sequence there are 2 pages full of the production company, writers and directors. This is unconventional for horror films to do this as it is usual that they want to get the titles over as quick as possible so the events can unfold.

Ordering –

The ordering of titles in this film opening are as follows; Producer, reference to previous film, title of the film and the followed by 2 pages of production company and directors. This is unconventional for horror films as it is typical that the director has a title to himself, it is also unconventional for the production company, music, editors and directors to be crammed onto a 2 page spread.

INSIDIOUS - Ordering of titles;

- In association with stage 6 films- Name of production company- Name of director- Title of the film- Name of actors

All the titles are in the same font and colour. The connotations of the colour red are death and blood. This helps establish the genre of the film quickly. The font is fairly thin like the othertitles I have decided to analyse. However when the directors name is shown his name is in black And is backlit by a white moon like object.

INSIDIOUS CONTINUED -Language – When the titles are shown it gives the job title of the person and then their name. The jargon used is specific to the persons job role. When the directors name is shown on screen it does now show their title, just his name. When the actors names are shown on screen they appear in pairs, this could be to save time so that the action can be revealed quicker.

Ordering –

The ordering of titles in this film opening are as follows; In association with stage 6 films, name of production company, Name of director, Title of the film & name of actors. This generally sticks to conventions for this genre as the titles are done fairly quickly, they are in colours that connote the genre of this film and there are no pages full of names.

CONCLUSION - In conclusion it is common for a film in the horror genre to have minimal titles in order for the film to start efficiently, meaning that the audience experience the films entirety without being distracted from the long titles. The Exorcist and Insidious both show the name of the films at the end of the title sequence but Annabelle is shown after the name of the first film in the series. This may be so that people can make associations and relate the situations in Annabelle, to the previous film. I have found out that they include the name of the studio and the director, but the actors names do not feature in the opening titles. This might be because they do not want the audience to relate seeing the actors in other films. It also may be because people might not like a certain actor which might stop them from watching the film. Obviously the production company of the film will want the film to be a success, meaning they will do anything they can to ensure that it is successful. In Annabelle they did not put the directors name on a separate page to everyone else's name, instead they crammed on a lot of names to get them in the titles. This is not a convention for this genre therefore they challenged it.

In the titles of our film we have included the Studio Logo, Directors Name, Names of producers, Names of actors, sound engineers, make up, costume, props and then at the end of the film we had the name of the film. This develops the normal conventions however we felt that if we only included a few titles for example, the studio logo, director, producer and actors that the titles ended abruptly and they were shown to a short length of time so it didn’t really fit with the opening.