Art of the Title Grid Activity Analysis

Our film, "The List", is a psychological horror in which the protagonist has a list of people who he would like to kill. In the opening of "The List", a dead body is dragged into a workshop and lifted up on the workbench. The killer then chooses a saw and cuts off the limbs of his victim before crossing off her name on the list he has on his board.

This was a significant film opening as it sets the atmosphere with the dark tone of the images and the close up shots of the objects around the room. The audience is introduced to the violence that will continue in the film immediately and information about the location of the opening is given subtly as more of the room is revealed as the opening goes on. It is not until the fourth still in the grid does the audience see the whole room, yet the background is blurry and the camera is focused on the murder weapon. The close ups on the objects such as the vice and the saw give indication of the genre and the location of the opening and information about the name of the title is given at the end of the sequence.

The name "The List" has been kept true to the horror genre as it is simple yet mysterious, which gives the audience a sense of unease. It will stay in their mind and links directly to the themes in the film. If we had given the film a longer name, it would have ruined the illusion of a horror film and created a more light-hearted tone for the film.The font itself, while simple, is also eerie and the dark against the light also help to indicate the genre.

By the end of my opening, the audience should be feeling uneasy and tense and be aware that many people will die. They should be horrified by the events which occurred during the opening sequence and, hopefully, on edge, ready to be frightened later on in the film.

It was important that our film opening was in chronological order to enable the audience to gain an understanding as to why the protagonist commits the murder, as well as to reveal information gradually. As we were limited in our choice of location, the green tone of the lighting was also important to create the tension needed for a horror film whilst also being in a room with many windows during daylight. If we did not use this particular effect, we would have had to darken the room. However, we soon found that we could use the lighting to our advantage, as shown in the second still on the grid. A third vital part of the opening was our use of close ups. The audience never fully sees the protagonist's face, which creates tension, yet using close ups enabled the audience to gain information about the character using the objects around him.

I feel that our film opening was extremely successful, as the use of close ups, lighting and eerie title font helped to create the tense atmosphere needed for a film in the psychological horror genre and also reveal information in a quick, efficient way.