Analysing Existing Horror Title Sequences

I have decided to look more closely at five title sequences for existing horror films, all taken from the 'Art of the Title' website - 'Misery', 'Seven', 'American Psycho', 'The Birds' and 'The Silence of the Lambs'.

To get ideas for the titles for my opening sequence, I have looked at what the titles are, how they are presented and the types of fonts used.

'Misery'

The first credit is a production company credit appearing in red font (typical of horror films) over a black screen. The rest of the titles appear over images from the film, using a blocky serif font. The title card is the next one to appear, with the title of the film fading in slightly rather than appearing. The rest of the title cards also appear over shots from the scene. One thing that was unusual about this title sequence is that the there are no company logos/idents, only the names of the production companies. Another thing to note is the fact that there is a long gap between the first production company credit and the next title card. The order of crew in the credits is as follows - production company, actors, producers, the author of the source material (famous horror writer, Stephen King), then the director. 

'Se7en'

Similarly, these credits also appear over the scene, however, the images are not from the opening scene as it plays and there is no narrative information being presented, unlike in ‘Misery’ (instead these appear to be images/shots of the serial killer). The font instantly indicates the horror genre, with its scrawled and scratched aesthetic. There are also no company logos that play, only the names of the production companies. The order that the crew titles are shown in is as follows - production company, director, title of the film and crew members. Later in the opening scene, over a black screen, the name of the actors are displayed. 

'American Psycho'

The film opens with the production companies over a black screen, then the name of the director (over a white title card with what looks like a drop of blood in the corner, though it appears to actually be a coulis). The title cards transition into images of the opening  scene in a restaurant, where the titles of the actors' names appear, followed by the credits for producers, costume designer and other crew members. Like ‘Misery’, this scene also has some credits over a blank screen but then cuts to the opening scene for the other titles. The font is sans serif, capitalised and blocky.

'The Birds'

This opening scene starts with a production company logo over birds flapping, and titles (in a sans serif, capitalised font) reveal the name of the director, then the title of the film, the names of the actors, followed by the crew. Because this is an older film all of the credits that would normally appear at the end of the film, appear at the beginning.

'The Silence of the Lambs'

The scene starts with production company logos, before a title revealing the location appears over the scene. This is not a stand alone opening credits sequence, rather the scene contains important narrative information as it is the opening to the film, unlike the title sequences of 'Seven' and 'The Birds'. The name of production companies appear as titles first, then the names of actors, followed by the title of the film and the names of the crew.