'American Psycho' opens with the credit sequence, the music begins in the ident, this is very slow, low pitched music, which makes the audience feel apprehensive, and weary and are likely to expect something bad to happen. We are then introduced to the credits which are displaced in sans-serif font on a white, blank background. what we might recognise (in this mood set by the music) as blood drops appear falling on the screen with higher-pitched noises, which we could perceive as stabs.
The credits being very simply, by the plain white background and the ordinary font style, this gives the impression of simplicity and smartness as everything looks very sleek and organised. There is a hint of themes that could be included in the movie as there are drops of 'blood' dripping down from the screen as the text appears. The text appears and disappears very steadily by fading in and out, this effect makes the credits look very laidback and calm. The font style is bold and all the letters are captialised giving a vivid sense of dominance to the movie and indicating that the characters and storyline are very masculine.
The sound at this point begins very quietly and softly and as the blood drops appear on the screen instant sounds are played adding a mysterious and suspicious approach to the credits. As the drops come onto the screen gradually quicker the sound becomes more intense. The drops then stop and orcestration/instrumental music is played. This sound is very fast-paced and high-pitched making it sound tense and build dramatic tension.
As the title of the movie is introduced on the screen, the theme of murder/death is still apparent because of the 'blood' drops. However, there is a twist to the feel of the credits, as the sound has a very sudden change from tense/high-impact sound to a soft, relaxed and cheerful music making the credits appear very misleading to the audience and more intrigued to continue watching.
When the main character's name appears in the credits, the importance of his name is signified by the slight change in the sound and the image of a knife on the screen. This alerts the audience because of the props used, making the audience acknowledge this part more. This part also confuses the audience as a knife usually connotes the idea of death/danger, whereas in this circumstance the knife is being used in cooking, which misleads the audience. As the knife aggressively cuts the meat on the screen the diegetic sound highlights it signifiance by making the sound exaggerated. 
Likewise to the 'blood' drops, raspberries begin to fall vertically across the screen, however this approach is different as the sound is a lot more light-hearted and happy, therefore this is something the audience wouldn't expect to see in the credits to a thriller. The raspberries then land onto a well-presented, expensive-looking meal.
A pan shot is then used of a birdseye view of lots of food plate that looks very glamorous and expensive. The music changes here to a very soft, instrumental music that is very cheerful. This is a transformation that has gradually changed from the beginning of the credits. The audience are fooled into thinking the theme is fairly negative, whereas the true theme are displayed to be very postive.
These credits in comparison to our credits have many similarities and differences. The simplicity of these credits is something we would look to convery in our credits, the technique is very straightforward, yet the outcome is very effective and has a big impact. However, we will not be trying to mislead the audience about the themes included in our thriller.
What was the name of the piece of music?
ReplyDeleteyea do u know who made the music, i've been looking everywhere now?
ReplyDeleteJohn Cale
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