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Where-as in 'Dawn of the Dead' the location skips frantically and therefore the look of the shots change dramatically, so something is needed to split them up, this also could be used for dramatic effect as it keeps the audience waiting; creating suspense.
Music
The music used in both title sequences begins with a fairy slow pace, and ominously low notes; this is used to connote that something dangerous or evil is apparent. But in 'Dawn of the Dead' the sound is very layered, it consists of dialogue, a piece of music, a heart-beat sound effect and individual stings of music which relate the the on screen image. these features catch audience attention effectively as they have may things they can focus on.
Characters
Characters introduced in title sequences for horror films mainly verify the sides of the story e.g the good people and evil monsters or other people. This is apparent in 'Dawn of the Dead', the first of the 'Dead' characters shown is costume which consists of blood smeared around it's mouth and ripped clothing, a close-up shot is used to make the audience jump and this causes them to relate these characters with the shock that is caused. often close-up shots are used for this so that the viewer can see who's side they are on or who is opposing them.
Music
The music used in both title sequences begins with a fairy slow pace, and ominously low notes; this is used to connote that something dangerous or evil is apparent. But in 'Dawn of the Dead' the sound is very layered, it consists of dialogue, a piece of music, a heart-beat sound effect and individual stings of music which relate the the on screen image. these features catch audience attention effectively as they have may things they can focus on.
Characters
Characters introduced in title sequences for horror films mainly verify the sides of the story e.g the good people and evil monsters or other people. This is apparent in 'Dawn of the Dead', the first of the 'Dead' characters shown is costume which consists of blood smeared around it's mouth and ripped clothing, a close-up shot is used to make the audience jump and this causes them to relate these characters with the shock that is caused. often close-up shots are used for this so that the viewer can see who's side they are on or who is opposing them.
Mise En Scene
The common props of a horror film title sequence would be things like weapons, obviously connoting death or violence, which is use of the Proairetic code as the audience know that something might happen with these weapons so while they're waiting the tension builds. Lighting is fairly low key this ensures the audience's attention is being kept as they are having to watch carefully to see what is going on.
Close-ups are used throughout the title sequences, but they are more frequent towards the start. This relates to Barthes Proairetic code as the audience do not quite know what they are seeing, but due to the mise en scene they can tell it is bad so tensions are built.
The common use of props such as guns or knives relate to the Hermeneutic code as these objects are signs of danger or death, and put the ideas related to this into the viewers mind.
The fact that the sequences go straight into action full of short takes with a lot of movement in them paired with dramatic music, creates an Action code. This is used to get the audiences attention and create excitement, this is important as it can easily be turned into tension or fear.
The title sequence introduces the audience straight into Todorov's 'disruption' stage and fully skips the 'equilibrium', this is fairly common of the horror.
Genre
The genre is established through mise en scene, most significantly the use of costume make-up e.g fake blood. But also the low key lighting contrasting with the use of flash images keeps the audience attracted to the screen, this is use of the action code and is fairly typical of horror and action films. Also the common use of red (in the background or as the writing both added in post production editing which, makes it even more obvious that it is seen as important) this is use of the Proairetic code as the use of red connotes thoughts of blood and therefore death.
The use of shot of things like nature are hardly ever used as it completely opposite of what is normally trying to be portrayed in a horror film. However, when it is used next to things that are typical of horror films e.g dead people, weapons etc. it has the effect of a Semantic code, as the contrasting images are put together it shows that the peaceful image isn't there to mean what it would normally.
The common use of props such as guns or knives relate to the Hermeneutic code as these objects are signs of danger or death, and put the ideas related to this into the viewers mind.
The fact that the sequences go straight into action full of short takes with a lot of movement in them paired with dramatic music, creates an Action code. This is used to get the audiences attention and create excitement, this is important as it can easily be turned into tension or fear.
The title sequence introduces the audience straight into Todorov's 'disruption' stage and fully skips the 'equilibrium', this is fairly common of the horror.
Genre
The genre is established through mise en scene, most significantly the use of costume make-up e.g fake blood. But also the low key lighting contrasting with the use of flash images keeps the audience attracted to the screen, this is use of the action code and is fairly typical of horror and action films. Also the common use of red (in the background or as the writing both added in post production editing which, makes it even more obvious that it is seen as important) this is use of the Proairetic code as the use of red connotes thoughts of blood and therefore death.
The use of shot of things like nature are hardly ever used as it completely opposite of what is normally trying to be portrayed in a horror film. However, when it is used next to things that are typical of horror films e.g dead people, weapons etc. it has the effect of a Semantic code, as the contrasting images are put together it shows that the peaceful image isn't there to mean what it would normally.
Dawn of the Dead; Title sequence
In this sequence, we looked particularly at the fragments of narrative (a kind of back story) and at the way the titles appear in red on black with a little 'bleed' each time, but of particular interest is the use of sound, which is quite 'layered' with the Johnny Cash song, the heartbeat noise, the bits of dialogue and other little stings which link with the images.
The title sequence to Dawn of the Dead (Zack Snyder, 2004) uses cinematography to a good effect. In the first segment of the sequence the angle of the camera is used to connote the roles of the characters in the film; the very first shot shows a vast room filled by the ‘dead’ simultaneously bowing, then a long shot of a supposedly dead person stretched out is used as a way of explaining what is happening. After this an extreme close-up is used to show the audience an example of the ‘enemy’ covered in blood, high angle shots are used in all of these takes to connote straight away that these characters are the enemy.
The title sequence to Dawn of the Dead (Zack Snyder, 2004) uses cinematography to a good effect. In the first segment of the sequence the angle of the camera is used to connote the roles of the characters in the film; the very first shot shows a vast room filled by the ‘dead’ simultaneously bowing, then a long shot of a supposedly dead person stretched out is used as a way of explaining what is happening. After this an extreme close-up is used to show the audience an example of the ‘enemy’ covered in blood, high angle shots are used in all of these takes to connote straight away that these characters are the enemy.
Seeing as this is established all before a shot of the films’ title, it definitely does not follow Todorovs’ narrative theory as it fully misses out the equilibrium stage possibly to make the beginning more dramatic as the audience is thrown straight into action or the 'disequilibrium'. However this could also make the viewers narrative expectation fall as there is not enough time for a build-up in tension. Also, fairly close to the start, the use of a voice-over brings in characters talking about the situation which could show the arrival of the recognition stage; this would infer that the whole film consists of reparation and the discovery of a new equilibrium.
The fact that the title sequence skips Todorov’s stage of equilibrium means that the audience has no idea how or why this disruption was caused, this relates to Bathes codes. In particular the Hermeneutic code which refers to stories that have elements that aren’t fully explained, this alone should keep the audience’s attention until the point where this becomes clear.
These shots of the zombie type creatures are surrounded by a blood-red font on a black background, which each have a 'bleeding' effect used on them, this immediately infers death and danger which obviously cause tension. It is also used as way to bridge the shots which enables them to skip location and change the set design franticly and shows how serious the situation is by showing how widely spread it is, which creates narrative expectation.
The first few shots are also followed by non-diegetic screaming sound effects; this shows the audience that they are creatures that cause terror, inflicting fear on the audience. But the sound throughout is noticeably layered as well as the dialogue it includes a Jonny Cash song, a heartbeat noise and stings which relate to what is being shown on screen. This effects the audience as there are a lot of things which they can concentrate on, this may inflict an action code.
A low angled shot of soldiers is what follows the title shot. The use of a low angle causes the audience to see that this is this opposing team as it is directly opposite to how viewers were shown the ‘dead’, also the low angel connotes that we are on their side or that they should be looked up to. On the shot of the soldiers a lot of the frame is used to show the blue sky above their heads, this makes the shot look completely different to the all of the previous ones that were either in black and white or shots where the only noticeable colour was blood-red, this makes it even more clear that they are meant to be the hero’s of the film, as the blue sky has a positive connotation. And the fact that the two sides are split-up by the title makes the sides even more defined.
The use of a steady semantic code throughout the title sequence, mostly of death and danger inferred by using shots of dead bodies, ambulances and soldiers shooting people, raises the generic expectations as viewers are left wondering who will survive and how.
contrastingly, this film clearly relates to Levi-Strauss’ binary opposition theory as in the title sequence alone the hero v villain or life v death set up is already clear, creating tensions and setting up narrative expectations for the rest of the film.
Hostage; Title sequence
The title sequence to the 2005 film ‘Hostage’ directed by Florent Emilio Siri, uses its title sequence to set up narrative expectation by using a series of still shots. These stills are highly edited in post production; the red sky contrasting with the black and white used on the rest of the frame connotes danger creating tension.
The Fact that stills are used could become boring, however they are mostly zoomed in on and from the start to the end the location size is getting smaller, from a city to a person in a house. This helps to connect the shots and gives the effect of a fluent storyline, and as the location gets smaller, to a point where only one house is highlighted in red, it gives the felling that the situation is getting more intense to a viewer.
This house surrounded by police and soldiers with guns all pointed at it firstly raises narrative expectation and relates to Roland Barthes narrative codes, more specifically the Proairetic code as it is clear that something will develop in the story to do with this house, but at this point for the audience it is not clear what or why.
However the shots are also sometimes zoomed out of, this also relates to Roland Barthes narrative code. As, at the start of the shot the ‘camera’ is so close to the objects within it that it is impossible for the audience to make out what things are, therefore this uses the Hermeneutic code as while the shot is not clear the audience is kept wondering what is happening, this causes the generic expectation to rise.
The title sequence also uses a semantic code very well. Close ups of guns, shots of police and the token use of red on every scene, all raise narrative expectation as they infer that something dangerous is going to happen but the added use of stills gives the audience little understanding of what is actually happening, so these two features together make the viewer very tense and eager for the story to unfold.
The track being played over the sequence includes drum roles which automatically narrative expectation as the audience suspect that it signifies something is about to happen (even though it may not be). Other sound effects are used, such as a police siren, this ties in with the semantic field being used and makes the scene seam more real as they are supposed to be diegetic.
As the sequence does not use a fluent story line it is hard to tell what is going on and to see if any of Levis-Strauss’ Binary Oppositions are being formed within the plotline. However the close up of a man inside the highlighted house followed by a diegetic sound of him loading his gun is followed by a extreme close up shot of a gun which then zooms out to reveal a soldier holding it, this would infer that there are sides of an outlaw and the army which simplifies down to good and evil as audiences are already supposed to think of the forces in a protective role.
This title sequence is in some ways similar to the one for ‘Dawn of the Dead’, they both miss out Todorov’s equilibrium stage and the viewer is thrown straight into the disequilibrium stage. This shows that Steve Neale’s opinion of: ''genres are instances of repetition and difference... difference is absolutely essential to the economy of genre'' can be fairly accurate, as these films are both from the action/horror genre they do have similarities which mean that audiences can recognise what genre they are from. However, ‘Hostage’s use of stills and ‘Dawn of the Dead’s use of a voice over, show that they also need to have difference to keep them entertaining. So that expectations can be made to raise tensions without the films being so similar that they are predictable.
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