Title Sequence Research

A title sequence is used by films to introduce the title, main cast and/or production crew involved. In a way it is the movie equivalent to the cover of a book. The theme or genre of the film is usually depicted in title sequences to create a first impression for the viewers.

Insidious

Insidious is a supernatural horror film. The story centres around a family whose son falls into a coma upon moving into their new home. It becomes apparent that the boy acts as a vessel to another dimension for demons and spirits.

I found the title sequence on the YouTube via this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1e1feo4DUk. The opening title sequence of the film presents an eerie atmosphere parallel to the theme, genre and storyline. 

 

 

From the very beginning of the clip, the colour scheme is very cold and dark. At the very beginning, the film details are on a black background written in red lettering. Red stands out to the audience and has connotations of blood and danger also the animation of the writing moves in a way similar to a liquid, representing blood. The writing holds details about the film such as production details which consist of the production companies Alliance Films and District 6 Films and also the director, James Wan. The first 30 seconds of the sequence draws in the audience by showing an image of the family's son in bed. The camera then pans across a couple of rooms to eventually  show a haggard woman's face wearily lit by the light of a candle. The camera then quickly zooms in on her face then the screen cuts to black.

The film title ("Insidious") then appears in red capital letters to fill the screen. Subsequently, the remaining sequence is compiled of different black and white images of certain areas in a house. Some of the camera angles of the images are canted, disorientating the audience further. Also, each image has red writing over the top which fades out in a way it did earlier in the extract. . This writing states names of the film stars within the movie such as Rose Byrne and also people involved in processes such as casting and music.

Throughout the sequence, the music remains eerie and slow. At certain points the sound peaks in pitch which intends to unease the viewer, particularly when the title flashes on screen from complete blackness. This technique particularly made me jump and made me feel tense.