Font Analysis

Opening sequences

I decided to analyse some existing thriller opening sequences as part of my research in order to observe the type of fonts they use and how they may/may not conform to the thriller genre. I also looked at thriller DVD cover to see whether they kept to a house-style and used the same or similar fonts.

'Se7en' Opening Sequence:

The font featured in this opening sequence is quite child like. It is almost as if it has been hand written and is relatively small. I believe this has been done to keep the emphasis on the fast paced cut between shots which are informing what the film will be like. The font is also in white and is small to stand out against the clips. This is a sequence I've seen with one of the smallest fonts. The font is also quite jumpy and looks quite old which creates an eerie effect for the audience, especially as it accompanied by gory images in the background. This is therefore typical of the thriller genre as it creates suspense for the audience and already contains clues/messages in the sequence of what is to come in the film. It also suggests that a child may be involved through the child-like font. The non-diagetic music playing is also quite scary in the sense that has an eerie sound to it, which accompanies the credits and thus creates an effective opening sequence.

'Panic Room' Opening Sequence:

The font featured in this opening sequence for the thriller 'Panic Room' is very bold. The fact that it is all in capitals reinforces this and shows how the credits are of importance. Although all of the credits are generally big in size, some of them are smaller to give emphasis on the names e.g. 'MUSIC BY' is smaller compared to the name 'HOWARD SHORE' at 1.17. The credits are also displayed against a natural backdrop of a city. The music is also very intense and heightens tension which coincides with the credits to create an effect on the audience such as suspense.

'Vacancy' Opening Sequence:

This is the opening sequence for the film 'Vacancy'. I chose this film to analyse as the opening sequence predominately consists of text, so therefore I thought it would be good to look at its font. The font mainly consists of the colours yellow, red and black. The font itself is very big and bold and takes up the whole of the screen through the fancy links between each name i.e. the names follow a path which display each name in a creative and unique way. The font firstly appears as flawless, but then the name 'Vacancy' has some lines drawn into it making it appear broken and therefore indicates danger and conforms to the thriller genre. The rest of the names are also in this format too. An interesting and unique feature I picked out in this sequence is also the fact that when each name appears, some letters continue drawing a straight line as if it is portraying blood dripping as demonstrated from 0.51-0.54. At this precise moment 'Kate Beckinsale's name has the letters K and B expanding as if it were blood. This foreshadows what is later to happen in the film and the audience get a feel that the characters are going to experience something horrific.

Research done by:

http://as-sonya.blogspot.com/2011/05/font-analysis.html