The following is the link to the opening sequence of the 2012 thriller, 'Red lights'.
http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/red-lights/
The following is the opening shot, letters move around the screen quickly and in all different direction, combined with flash lights/ spots to convey a sense of chaos. The letters then assemble to form the name of the star of the film, Cillian Murphy. This is a contrast with the other thriller opening that I studied, which had the names of the directors first. However, like 'Captain America' the name of the actor is all in capitals signifying their importance to the film.
This title shot, unlike the previous one has used an image behind the name of the actress - therefore the eye of the audience is drawn more to the image than the name. The image itself is unsettling and almost sinister, the silhouette of the hands moving slowly down, combined with the soft grey lighting gives the audience the sense that the film contains elements of the supernatural.
By this title sequence the audience knows that there is a consistency of lights and letters being mixed, moving, increasing and decreasing all creating a disorientating effect which builds tension for the viewer. Moreover, the audience is drawn to the image of the eye, it appears to be a human eye and yet the detail surrounding the eye does not look like skin but appears to be more like the skin of an animal of some kind, again connoting that supernatural creatures of some kind will be present in this film.
This title shot introduces the director, producer and writer of the film, 'Rodrigo Cortes', unlike in 'Captain America' the director's name, although in capitals is not so large and in such a bold font - it has been kept fairly simple - the focus more on the flashes of light than the title itself. These flashes of light and circles are yet more indicators that the film has some involvement with supernatural influences as circles, especially crop circles are often associated with the paranormal.
This shot, introducing the name of the film 'Red Lights' also introduces another colour into the other two which the director has previously used; black and white - connoting the conflict between good and evil. The colour red signifies danger and is indicative of what is to come from the film.
This title shot, an extreme close up of an eye is unsettling for the audience, it is not an uncomfortable image and adds to the other - worldly feel to the sequence.
This long shot is an incredibly powerful image, the significance of portraying Christ on the cross seems to connote that religion or at least theological theories/ iconography will be a consistent theme throughout the film.
These images again indicate that religion or religious conspiracies are a major plot line within the film, for example the central image appears to be a prophet/ prophetess with their hands in the air. Moreover, the faint writing over the top of the images creates a sinister feel to the images.
The director has deliberately used the image of the scan of a head, showing the skull to increase tension for the audience as skulls are often associated with death, and to connote that the plot may have something to do with the head, the brain and in particular the mind.
The symmetry of the shot is unusual and the image itself is a spooky one, having part of the woman's head concealed and the grey light hovering above the image connotes the supernatural / spiritual plot of the film.
This image appears to be from an ancient book, again the image has elements of circles within it, connoting some kind of alien influence.
This title shot is interesting as it highlights the fact that some sort of crime has been committed, given that the focus of the shot is a newspaper article, moreover the headline is centring around spontaneous combustion - on researching this I found that a spontaneous human combustion sometimes occurs and this is often unexplained leading tho theories that the unexplained deaths could be caused by some paranormal force - this connotes to the audience that the supernatural presented within the film will not be a force of good but may be evil.
This title shot acts as a bridge to a new sequence, the colours contrast - changing from a dark background/ image with white titles to the opposite. This use of white combined with bright lights gives the title a clinical feel and the image of the syringe connotes danger and experimentation.
This image of a UFO in the sky confirms what the audience has already deduced, the film plot line revolves around aliens and the supernatural, like other shots the titles themselves are not as prominent as the image itself.
This title shot is particularly shocking, appearing to be the hand of an alien or paranormal creature, creating tension for the audience - equally the image is distorted / blurred slightly adding to the mystery of the creature and grabbing the audiences' attention.
The title shot is particularly disturbing, it appears to show the experimentation on what the audience would assume is an alien of some kind - the director has chosen only to show images such as this for a few seconds before cutting to something else in order to give the audience just a brief image and increase the suspense of the shot.
This extreme long shot serves to further disorientate the audience, the image is almost like a point- of - view shot as the camera shakes and moves down the corridor connoting a sense of chaos and danger, increasing tension for the audience.
This is the final image / title shot within the sequence, it shows a globe with a red light on it, red lights being the name of the film - this connotes to the audience that the plot of the film affects the whole world and potentially that it is in danger. Moreover, the director has waited until the very end to introduce his name, this is unlike in 'Captain America' where the directors name is the first title to be seen, this shows that the order of titles can be shown in a different dependant on the director.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack to the opening sequence is made up of non - diegetic swelling orchestral music, which seems to build to crescendos and has a strong bass line which is in time with the editing, the beats matching with a cut to a different shot - the effect of this is incredibly dramatic, connoting that something bad will happen. At the beginning of the sequence a Xylophone has been used and this builds tension as it is an unusual sound - equally the violins sound almost screechy, and sound very similar to like the famous sequence in 'Psycho' , thus instantly conveying to the audience that there is some kind of threat or danger. Moreover, at 1:12 minutes the style of the music changes from the building orchestral music, to repetitions of the same sequence of music - the brass instruments becoming more prominent which has an eerie/ haunting effect and connotes danger, this is conveyed through the images which match the change in the sequence, equally the section of the opening sequence identifies the threat as supernatural and involved with aliens - therefore the change in music is very fitting and effective in building a feeling of suspense.
Comparison
The thriller opening to 'Red Lights' is very different to that of the other opening sequence that I researched, 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier' for many reasons, not only are they different in that they are of different sub - genres, 'Red lights' being a Sci-Fi/ Psychological thriller and 'Captain America' being an Action / Fantasy thriller, they are different stylistically especially in regard to the order of the titles themselves. For example, 'Red Lights' introduces the starring actors of the film before any other title, the name of the film itself coming 0:25 seconds in and the director of the film coming at the very end of the whole sequence, whereas in the film 'Captain America' the directors' name is the first title followed by the writers and producers - the actors names do not come until later, moreover unlike 'Red Lights' the name of the studios and the film itself are the very last tiles to be shown.
Application
After researching and comparing the opening sequences to two completely different thrillers I have learnt much in regards to what makes a good thriller opening. For example, the order of the titles are dependent on the director's preference, black and white are very important colours within both opening sequences I looked at as these colours - whether as the title colour, background colour or the actual images strongly convey a sense of light and dark / good and evil - I will therefore be using the symbolic colours black and white in my own thriller opening as they are very effective in creating a sense of foreboding for the audience. Equally, in both thriller openings the images are more eye catching/ important than the titles themselves. Lastly, both thriller openings use the colour red to convey a sense of danger, very important within the thriller genre and as a result I will therefore use the colour red carefully in my own thriller opening so as to keep the distinct meaning and not just to be used as a background colour but to create a sense of foreboding around the antagonist.
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