Third Art of the Title

The television show Narcos is a Period Crime Drama that is set in the 1980s, at the height of famous criminal Pablo Escobar’s drug empire. This setting is particularly connoted through the opening titles of the show, as lots of vintage photography is used to convey to the audience the true crimes of the deceased drug lord, as well as contrasting this with the text that appears on screen, which appears to be FBI confidential files which suggests to the viewer that we are looking from the FBI’s point of view, and that we are looking at ‘confidential files’ on Escobar (the antagonist of the series)

                                                                                                                                                                      Contrast is also created through the inclusion of both vintage photographs and found footage that depicts the destruction of Escobar’s drug empire through various frames that include pictures of chaotic events such as shootings, arson and kidnapping, as well as found footage of all out warfare on the streets of Columbia, thus the overall aim of the opening is to showcase to the audience the true sense of destruction caused by this one man.

The titles used in the opening are very clearly chosen in white font in order to stand out from the different footage used and all the conventions needed are present, as all the main members of the crew and cast are clearly shown in large font to catch the eye. As well as the content in the opening, the soundtrack is used to great effect in the opening, as Rodrigo Amarante’s “Tuyo” creates pitch perfect immersion into the Coloumbian/South American setting of the film due to its use of Spanish traditional guitar, along with its dramatic use of orchestral music towards the end of the song which represents the tense state of the country at this time, thus immersing the audience.

Second Art of the Title (slideshare URL)

Spectre Art of the title from Tom_Richards63

Art of the Title

 

This film (Se7en) is a detective/psychological thriller film, so the film opening (which is one of my favourite film openings of all time) utilises several techniques to connote the thriller genre, and really create a sense of tension to the audience.

Essentially, the title sequence of se7en is a short story told in fragments following the hands of an unknown man , presumably the antagonist, as he makes entries in his diary alongside clippings from books, self-developed photographs, and found images and objects, giving the audience an intimate look into the mind of a serial killer obsessed with religion, and helps to connote the thriller genre as it conveys an extremely morbid and fearful tone to the film, which immediately creates tension, making the audience feel both excited and fearful to see what will happen, and also makes the audience feel extremely gripped to the story after not even three minutes, creating excitement and making the audience eager to see more.

This opening also features the main, summarised opening credits to the film, even the style of the credits are relevant to the thriller genre as the font is extremely skewed and not joined up, which further represents the scribbling in the diary of a serial killer similar to the visual showings of photo clippings and crossed out words. The music prominent in the opening also represents the Thriller genre, as the music is slow paced but extremely loud and almost monosyllabic, giving it a disjointed feel which represents mystery and tension in the extract. The music also features sound effects such as the creaking of doors and a drum beat that is likened to a heartbeat, connoting feelings of tension and fear, which prominently feature in Thriller/Horror films.