Taxi Driver (1976), By Martin Scorsese, Title Sequence

The start is competely silent, as if letting the viewer get a sense of a 'calm before the storm' feeling to it, with thin red words to stand out against it, slowly, letting you wait for something to happen. Of course, you don't need to wait too long as the low music kicks up, with a rhythmic chugging to it, building up in a crescendo until it smooths out into a low, unpleasant note. The whole while it sounds ominous, unnerving, and as it plays, we see fumes through which a taxi drives up. The angle we see the car at is low, and the focus is completely on the headlights of the car. As it drives past, we cannot see who is inside the car. Once it has gone by, the music drops and we are introduced to the title, 'Taxi Driver', left in the exhaust fumes of the car as it dissapears from sight.

The music continues it's slow pitch-changing at unpleasant levels, making each of the credits which appear at the changes seem practically dangerous. Not one minute into the film and we already feel tense. On top of that, we are left wondering the signficance of the taxi. However, once the smoke fades away, the scene changes to a close-up on a man's eyes. The music switches immediately to jazz, which feels more relaxed. Coupled with the various red and white lights which shine on the man's face, it is like this is taking place in a more shifty part of town. The source of the lights are unknown but by the way they come and go infrequently looks like either the lights of cars or flashing neon signs.

Not left wondering for long, we discover that he is driving a car. What we do not know is if he is driving the taxi from earlier, though it's a possibility. The camera angle is from his point-of-view, so we see the wind shield which is soaked from heavy rain, and the lights outside are blurred as a result. We don't know where this is, but we do know it takes place at night (And have known for a while by the dark atmosphere). The wind shield wipers sweep across the window, ridding it of water, but before we see what is through it, the shot changes. It is still through the eyes of the driver, looking out through the window, but it is not shielded by water. Instead, we do see shapes of things outside, but they are lit up too bright to make out what they are, left ambiguous for us. The movement of everything outside is slow and wobbly, as though the person driving cannot see properly for whatever reason.

It is then that the fast, chugging music speeds up, getting louder, and the camera changes to a very clear shot of random people crossing the road, lit up by red and blue lights, clashing with the music and mixing with the fumes from earlier, creating an almost alarming feeling. We come back to the man's eyes, his face still lit up with red. The music switches back to soothing jazz, and his face fades away. All we can see now is fumes filling the screen. The fumes fade and it changes to the inside of what looks like a police department or detective's office, the fumes becoming those of many a cigarette. The fumes were used as a clever transition from one screen to another which links them. The two characters we see in these two scenes are both very important and also connected to each other. The title sequence ends there, though the music continues its dubious sounds.

Strangers on a Train (1951), by Alfred Hitchcock, Title Sequence

Opening Sequence of Strangers on a Train (1951) by Alfred Hitchcock

It starts with a very sudden blast of music, surprisingly upbeat for a Psychological Thriller. It is jazzy, to match the style of animation. It's a very abstract design with silhouettes of characters only, leaving them faceless and ambiguous. An animated man struts out, matching the pace of the music, slow and relaxed. The camera follows him, until he is met with another faceless person. This person, however, is white. It contrasts with the first man's dark grey colour and suggests that the white man is the protagonist, and the grey man is the antangonist, dangerous. It shows them meeting very early on in the movie, sitting, conversing even. Getting along, perhaps, to say that the characters are not that different from each other, personality wise, that they think alike.

The blinds on the windows of the 'Train' that they're on are used as an abstract transition to the large words "(In) Alfred Hitchcock('s)" written in a bold red against dull grey. Both 'H's then start to run down the screen, in red, looking extremely similar to blood rolling down the screen, but, like the rest of the sequence, in more of a nonfigurative way, leaving it up to the viewer's interpretation. These are used to link the name up to the film, as the lines form two letters in the title.

Lines appear to form train-tracks, which immediately informs us of the setting, though we already knew from the title of the film. These train-tracks lead into a dark tunnel, which could represent the scene where the film takes a turn to the dark side. Leading straight into the tunnel brings us back to the two ambiguous characters in a relaxed setting, still, perhaps, getting along.

Further in, the white faceless man stands and walks out, and the grey man opens the blinds to show what is clearly a city-scape, which gives us more information on where this is taking place; in a busy city. This time, we see the white man strolling through the city, a white woman walking towards him. Their matching colours shows that they are clearly connected in some way. They shake hands, get to know each other, and the grey man appears on the other side of the scene. The white man continues on his way and the white woman drops dead and becomes a grave. We suddenly know that the white man is the actual killer and, perhaps, the grey man witnessed it.

The sequence gives us no more information, however it did just summarise the beginning of the film. Hitchcock did this on purpose, so that we know what is coming, and we want to know more, and we can find out by watching the film. The music gives nothing away expect perhaps type of setting the film takes place in, a big, american city.

my title opening ORPHAN

http://veevr.com/videos/zKkmccJbYp

The snap shots of each section create suspense

the first shot indicates that it is a child playing with nail vanish ,this only indicates at a child because adults know how to use nail vanish .yet at the same time the hands appear wrinkly and aged , which could suggest some foreshadowment of a twist in the movie.

The opening production logos are against black, and are intermittently shown covered with fluorescent paint, as if under a flickering black light. There are no opening credits beyond the production logos and the title. At both the beginning and end of the movie, the title briefly changes to a scratchier, more sinister font, surrounded by fluorescent paint. This effect also occurs with many of tghe names shown in the end title sequence.

prezi on thrillers

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Thriller conventions

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