opening title sequence textual analysis by Mahli Macwana (1995) directed by David Fincher.

Setting/location The opening scene does not include any long shots of the room that the person is in but you would assume it is in an office of some sort because of the things taking place for example the reading, writing and sticking etc. these things are usually found in the office area. This helps to restrict narrative plus it creates an enigma which hooks the viewer. However the area is not shown and neither is the persons face which suggests a secrecy and creates tension and suspense. The room is darkly lit. which suggests its at night-time. This is typical of the thriller genre because night-time is a more thrilling time of the day.

Lighting/ colour stock The lighting is very dark which connotes danger which is typical of the thriller genre. But there’s a lamp on the focused area where the person is doing work. Which suggests that the movie is going to be a dark movie and very depressing. The lamp is dimly lighting the work that the villain (John Doe) is doing and puts us in the perspective of the villain. The colour is mostly black and white, however with the photos being developed, you see the red light and this connotes danger and reminds the audience of blood which suggests the villain may be a murderer. This gives clues to us of the genre.

Costume/appearance We didn’t see the character. But the I'm guessing Were in the perspective of the villain but we haven’t seen his face so were left guessing, this creates an enigma of wondering who the person is. The person In the opening scene is carving their fingertips off this shows that the person removing their fingertips wants to secret and doesn’t want to be caught. This could suggest this person is planning to do a crime possibly a murder which hints he’s mentally unstable or a psychopath. Which makes the audience believe that he is the antagonist as it is typical that the antagonist is a psychopath in thriller films.

Props The props used suggests that the character is obsessive. And are the props usually used by detectives these include books, photos, files, pens and paper and it appears that the person is putting all the information and pictures together to create a big folder/file. The photos that are used are disturbing images of dead people and other strange photos like hands etc. they are in a dirty state and are quite untidy suggesting he's a bit mad. Also the evidence of gore suggests he's a psychopath. These are all typical of the thriller genre.

Cinematography All of the shots are close ups of the objects and the work he is doing suggesting intense concentration. There are many focuses on certain objects this makes some objects seem important to the film. It also creates tension as you cant see the person who is doing these things. most of the shots are short, creating a montage of the things the antagonist does to his victims. however some shots are edited into slow motion especially near the start as it makes it start slower which creates tension and also matches the music. Which builds to a climax suggesting his mental state is becoming more frenzied and his urges are taking control of him.

Editing transitions – some of the transitions are cuts and some are fades. The fading effect links the clips together and creates an atmosphere of anxiety and fear. The fades to black connotes an end, which is negative or that the antagonist is spending a lot of time working. It also adds sincerity and darkness to the film. They both make add continuity to the piece. Special effects – the fonts are in a scruffy and untidy handwriting font and there are flickering which makes it seem like the antagonist is writing on the film and is writing with anger this hints that the antagonist has an obsessive nature and is very aggressive.

sound There is only diegetic sound used in the opening titles an this is a soundtrack called ‘closer to god ‘ here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tp8tj850L2A The music in the opening scene is called ‘closer to god’ by nine inch nails. This has a mysterious feeling to it giving the sense of being watched and the tempo of the beat increases. This could represent a heartbeat increasing in tempo as his victims get more and more scared and gets more frenzy. highlighting the psychological thriller genre. The lyrics of the song hints what the genre is going to be. The amplified scream implies danger and generating the idea of vulnerability. This tells the audience that the genre is a thriller.