Title Sequence

When deciding on font for our title sequence, we wanted something that would reflect the Thriller theme of our film. We used Dafont to find one we felt suited this theme. 
We wanted a font that looked interesting and distorted, but was still readable, as we wanted the audience to feel the uncertain and dark effect of seeing the film title in our chosen font, but wanted to make sure it would be understandable. 

This font was a considered option. I liked how its distorted look made it look unnatural, as I felt that fit well with the tone of our film. I also felt the fact its not solid with block lines could suggest the numb and unsteady emotions of our protagonist throughout this film, and could reflect on the atmosphere of ambiguity and doubtfulness. However after listening to my group, who thought it may be too unreadable, we decided this font may not work with our Thriller film, as it looks quite amateur, and would likely work better with a theme of corruption and technology. 

Although we did like the idea of this font, as its separated letters reminded us of a ransom letter - suitable for our kidnapping theme - we decided it was not right as we felt it did not look professional, and would be better suited to a film with comedic value. 

I like this font as its distorted effect could suggest the scepticism and doubt of our protagonist, as nothing is certain within our film and unpredictability is an aspect we were hoping to touch on in our opening. The fractures and glitch element of this font could relate to the fragility and unease of the protagonist. It could also reflect on the drastic and severe change on the protagonists life. The sharp edges and boldness could perhaps suggest the danger of the world our protagonist has been thrown into. However this font does relate to the theme of technology, so may not be suitable for our kidnapping theme.

This font, although simple, seems effective in its slight distortion. The distortion in the middle of this font makes a sharp edge, which could reflect of the harshness and brutality of the world our protagonist is in. This distortion is also effective because its simplicity means it does not look amateur or juvenile, and is easy to understand. The effect of this font makes it look as if someone has dragged part of it away horizontally from the middle, which we found effective as this could reflect on how the protagonist has been taken away from his life, his previously average and simple life changed, warped and manipulated as he has been placed into an immoral world of crime. The effect of the look on a line being dragged through this font could also reflect the train within our opening, and how it moves fast in a straight line, representing the start of the series of events that ruin the average life of the protagonist. The train is an iconic part of our film as it represents escapism, so the fact this can be reflected within this font is something we found powerful and prominent.

We chose this last font, called 'Blacklisted', for our opening because of what it could represent about the film.

Intertextual References - UPDATED

In our Thriller opening we wanted to include references to other films through things such as costume, lighting and character. 
After doing research on the genre of film Noir, we collectively agreed that we all liked the character of the femme fetale, and wanted to include inspiration from this through our own Thriller. 
Our female character, played by Caitlin Mapes, is inspired by the classic femme fetale, shown through our use of costume and lighting. 
Costume was important because we knew it would give the audience a first impression of the character, so we chose a dark grey dress, completed with a leather jacket and high top boots. This dark combination of clothing felt fitting as we thought it could reflect of the darkness and cynical corruption of this character, traits often found within the classic femme fetale. 

We felt that the use of a leather jacket would give a contemporary twist on the classic character, making her character seem more of a thick-skinned, fierce woman like the femme fetale. This modern twist was particularly inspired by Natasha Romanoff - also known as Black Widow - a character found in Marvel comic books and the Avengers (2012). This fierce character is often seen wearing black leather, a reason why we felt a black leather jacket for our own contemporary femme fetale would have similar connotations. 
Furthermore, our actors red hair was also useful, as red often has connotations of danger and seduction, a colour often found in film noir when considering the femme fetale.

 An example of this is Sin City (2005), a black and white film in which a scene depicting a woman in a red dress and red lipstick contrasts with the grey tone of the surrounding mise-en-scene. This makes the red stand out, suggesting the connotations it has of danger and seduction is important with this character. We wanted to reference this within our own film, but also to keep our modern style. To do this we partly chose our actor because of her red hair, making sure this stood out in the scene by using a harsh light against it so it would contrast with the grey tones, a technique Sin City used.

Lighting was also important when considering our female character, particularly in the scene that they are first introduced to the audience. We wanted make this character a sillouhette, to ensure the theme of mystery and intrigue often found in a femme fetale was applied. To do this we used the harsh light of a cars headlights behind her character, so her slow reveal after she lifts up the garage door in the last scene, is still intertwined with the theme of mystery within her character, as her reveal still does not fully reveal who she is. 

We felt the positioning of her character was also important, as we wanted her to be central within that scene, particularly within the shots that she is revealed. To do this, we positioned her character in the centre, but also slightly to the left. This is because an audience tends to view the screen from left to right, as our eyes are drawn to the left side first. Putting this character slightly on the left means that she is the first thing that the audience will see, showing that she is central to the scene and to the overall plot of our film, much like any femme fetale that is found within film noir.