Title Research: Muse

This opening sequence is from the movie Muse. I found this movie on the Art of the Title website. I will be answering the following questions about this opening sequence:

What titles are displayed during the opening sequence?

In the opening sequence, there are a total of 15 different types of titles. These titles are the film company, associated production company, who the film is by, film title, the names of the cast members, who composed the music, editor, art director, photography director, executive producers, producers, who is was produced by, writer, and director.

What images are prioritized in the opening sequence?

The opening sequence begins with the titles. In the middle of these titles, there is a sudden image of someone's hands dragging against a part of a staircase. The screen where the titles are shown have cracks in the corners. The title words are next to a mirror, which of course mirrors them as well. Another scene shows someone going down the stairs and then a dark, shadowy figure walking through a dark hallway. Then there is a zoomed in clip of someone's feet walking across the wooden floorboards. Someone then goes up the stairs, and you can see the camera focused on a group of paintbrushes while a blurry figure walks in the background. The last scene shows an unmakeable figure slowly turn their head to look at the camera.

What connotations do these images carry?

These images give me the impression that their is an intruder in the house. The fact that viewers cannot make out the people they are saying is very uneasy. The words are red with a broken glass background. The red font can symbolize blood which is very popular within Horror films.

How does the film establish a feeling of the genre from the outset?

Intruders who break into someone's house to kill are a popular theme within the Horror genre. Mirrors, especially cracked ones, are bad luck and can symbolize a scary interaction such as ghost haunting and possessing. The lack of focus on the people walking around the house gives off an anxious feeling as to what can be lurking in the shadows.

What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience?

The ambient sounds and music really brings the opening sequence to life. There is the sound of an old clock tolling or maybe a broken pipe, which is causing water to drip into a bucket. You can hear eerie, unsettling music and then a crescendo. The music's volume goes from faint to dangerously loud ad back down to a medium level. One of the people that is in what appears to be a house looks like they are wearing a mask, which hides their true identity. Masks are a popular element in the Horror genre.

How has technology been used effectively?

The clips of the unsettling scenes of the people in the house seem to be the title transitions. The titles appear very zoomed in, and then they quickly switch to being completely zoomed out, making them legible. The blurred figures, camera focus settings, and camera angles are ensure that viewers can never see the full picture.