The shining was directed by Stanley Kubrick, and produced and worked with Warner brothers studio. It was made and released in 1980, and the main cast included Jack Nicholson and Shelly Dubrick as the two main characters. SE7EN was directed by David Fincher, and produced and worked with New line cinema, which later merged with Warner brothers in 2008. The film was released in 1995 and the main cast included Brad Pitt, Morgan freeman, and Gwyneth Paltrow as the 3 main characters.
There are many similarities between the opening title sequences of “the shining”, and “SE7EN”, for example they both use unsettling imagery to make the audience feel uncomfortable right from the get go. The movie “SE7EN” includes many needles and blades, which we as an audience associate with pain, establishing this will be a gory movie from the beginning. In “the shining” there is an unnecessarily high birds eye view shot in the beginning, using the fear of heights that some people have to make the audience already feel unsettled.
Both title sequences obviously include the title credits, but both are done in different ways. “SE7EN” uses the idea of old film playing and the titles are in black and white playing on the old film, aswell glitching on the screen. We are shown the credits pretty much straight away, unlike in the shining where we are waiting a lot longer for the credits to start, forcing us to look at the scenery and the juxtaposing, unsettling music being used aswell. In “SE7EN” the credits are split up by unsettling clips, so we are forced to watch them in order to see the credits go by, increasing that uncomfortable feeling and establishing that this is not a light hearted film.
In both opening sequences, we don’t properly meet any main characters, but we are given the idea that there is a person we are focusing on. In “the shining”, we are following a car for the whole of the opening title sequence, already making us assume there is someone in the car that is of importance, presumably a family of some sorts. As well as this, in “SE7EN”, we see someone’s hands doing many things in their office, for example cutting off their finger prints, sewing with a needle and thread, sorting out a notebook, etc. This then gives us a slight idea of the type of main character that we are being introduced to.
“The shining” includes music that doesn’t match the scene playing out in front of us, meaning it is contrapuntal sound, creating an even more unsettling feeling for the audience, as the shots we were being shown were ariel shots of a car driving through the mountains in the summer, which creates a clear juxtaposition between the visuals and the sound. Within the music there is slight wails and echos, making it sound quite ghostly. This mixed with the shot of the camera swooping down following right behind the car, and then moving away from the car as it goes round the bend, establishes this ghostly idea even further, making us assume the fact this movie has some paranormal activity. “SE7EN” however, includes punk/sightly rock music, which can be seen as parallel sound as it matches the atmosphere of the scenes being shown to us. This genre music being used also encourages the idea that the movie is possibly a psychological thriller. Both of these music uses create a tone of creepy, weird and unusual atmospheres for the title sequences.
In “SE7EN” there is mainly the colour use of black and white, however with the slight bit of red in places, possibly symbolising blood and danger, once again establishing the idea of possibly a psychological thriller and a psychopathic character that we’re being introduced to. In “the shining” however, we are shown quite dull versions of usually bright colours, almost like autumn colours. This is showing that it’s usually a ski resort as they are up in the mountains, but it is currently off season, therefore reinforcing the idea of isolation and being far away from help. The only other cars we see in the opening shots of “the shining” are driving away from where the main car we’re following is going, encouraging that idea of isolation even further.
Both opening title sequences are very effective in trying to portray an unsettling feeling in the audience, even though they both did it in different ways. I think the opening title sequence for “the shining” was more effective for me because of the use of the contrapuntal sound and the longer shots being used to unsettle the audience, however I still thought “SE7EN” was effective because of the unnerving shots of the needles and blades being used.
No comments:
Post a Comment