Analysis of Thriller title sequences and fonts

American Horror Story Murder House title sequence


American Horror Story Murder House title sequence



The 2 openings I have chosen to analyse are American Horror Story Murder house (season one) and  the film Se7en. They are similar in many aspects of which I will explore below.

In both of the opening titles the fonts are distinct and unique in their own ways, both texts are overlaid over the clips which makes it the main focus of the clips.

The font in Se7en is very jagged and this connotes that it has been scratched into the screen with a knife or a sharp object. which links to the genre of psychological thriller and when it cuts and flickers it creates an air of suspense amongst the audience and this establishes a dark tone and mood.
 
The font of American Horror Story is bold and in capitals and overlaid which suggests they want you to be concentrating on the actors, directors and crew members names rather than the sequence going on behind, which I must say is rather creepy and strange. As with the opening to Se7en the names flicker and cut around which establishes the genre of a psychological thriller and sets a dark sombre mood.
 


The jagged font used in se7en suggest the genre. It suggests that it's going to be a thriller and the jagged font with the way it cuts and jumps around suggest it's going to be psychological.

Both opening sequences have rather disturbing scenes going on behind their texts, but because the text is overlaid you can tell they want you to read the texts.

I think that the way when the names of the cast and crew come up in the American Horror story opening and the screen behind is just black is effective because of the contrast of the white text against the black background because it could connote the difference between good and evil with the white text symbolising the good, but the way it flickers and cuts around makes it more sinister than that.

Both fonts are entirely unique and not used in any other show or film and have been specially crafted for their specific genre and both set a dark tone for their films with the bold white of the American Horror Story, white is often a symbol of purity and safety. For anyone who has seen American Horror Story they will know that their is nothing safe and pure about the Murder house they're living in, this colour could be used to shock the audience or it could be so that the text can be read against the dark background clips. 

Studying these fonts and their different connotations have made me consider the sort of font I will use in my thriller opening, different fonts create a different feel to different films and must be considered carefully because they could give off the wrong idea and ruin the aesthetic of your film.