Panic Room opening Title Analysis

Sourced from www.matrony.ru

The 'Panic Room' opening title uses landscape establishing shots to create spacial awareness whilst setting the scene. It shows us the movie is set in an American city, New York. The colour of the opening is quite yellow and garish representing the sunshine and bright lights of New York. However there is a dull blue-ish tone over top which signifies a hidden darkness in the city showing that this movie is not a happy movie, and in this case a psychological/action thriller.

Before the clips start there is city noises which tells the audience automatically that we are in a city. The music is low string music which is synonymous with suspense music. It creates a atmosphere of fear. 0:20 is when the music starts. When the title is announced the music gets lower and darker showing us that the movie has an element of horror to it. Afterwards the violins get higher and staccato. This type of suspense music was made famous by 'Psycho' in the clip on the right. It resembles high pitch screaming which plays well with the genre.

 The titles are 3D and resemble the New York architecture. It makes them stand out brings attention to the people being announced. It also adds a sense of normality to the scene as they fit in instead of using bring colours to make them stand out.

The first thing in the opening title is the company's titles, in this example it is Columbia Pictures. After this at 0:34 we are announced to the cast.

At 0:50 is the title. It is earlier on like it is in most films as it is one of the most important aspects of the film.

Unlike some films the minor cast are announced separate to the major cast. It creates an unnecessary division between actors but is useful at the main cast are used to promote the film so having them first creates attention.

Like most films the crew are announced after the cast. In this case they are announced from 1:09. Casting is usually one of the first crew members announced and then shortly followed by the costume designers. The costume designers in this film are credited at 1:14. Music directors are normally quite early on and in this case they are announced at 1:18. 

The music directors are shortly followed by editors and producers and then at 1:43 the director is credited like what happens in most films. 

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All photos are from artofthetitle.com