Throughout the opening title sequence in SAW, the titles appear in a number of different ways. Firstly the publishing house being presented on a black screen and using diegetic sound of swooping and an effect to appear on the screen. After that barbed wire is strewn round 'Twisted Pictures' and it used SFX to tighten around the font, instantly setting the scene for the movie.
The Titles shown are:
0.04- -0.12 - LGF Lionsgate Films
0.14-0.24 - Twisted Pictures
0.26-0.31 - Twisted Pictures Presents
0.32- 0.35 - A Burg/Koules/Hoffman Production
0.37-0.42 - A James Wan Film
0.51-0.56 - SAW
Typography
Each Title fades in and out fairly quickly and is put on a black screen behind so does not overlay any video footage and it is created as a build up to the final point where the setting appears. The text is a blue, glowing colour and is mostly capitals. The font has straight edges and a swirly, posh ends that would be similar to a handwritten message.
As the titles disappear, they dissolve into the background in a wave like motion. Each Title is present for around 4 seconds each.
Relationship between text, visuals, and content of titles
Saw has a unique way of showing titles as it does not give the actors names in the opening scene. The titles are not integrated with the opening footage and are only present right at the beginning where the follow the animation of the production house name. With the music behind this technique is used to create suspension and keep the audience on edge about what is going to be introduced.
The more important titles are shown towards the end, so the footage will follow them.
As James Wan is the last name shown before the title of the film it signifies that he is the most important person in the making of the film.
How can I use this research in my research?
This research is helpful even though the film opening I am making is in the slasher/stalker genre, not torture. It has made me realize that it is important to integrate the titles within the footage, or even place them on black screens between footage as having them all at the beginning with only footage following isn't very effective. I have also realized that it is vital to have a text font that reflects the opening and also to keep using the same font as SAW's title and sub-titles have different fonts, therefore it isn't instantly recognizable as that film. Therefore I need to make sure I use all the same fonts within our opening to create a recognizable branding for the film.
This is a good analysis Katie. You did really well in discussing the relationship between text, visuals and content of titles. To improve, you could talk about the type of font used and why they might have chose that.
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