Reasearch Into Titles of Thriller Films - Zodiac

Reasearch Into Titles of Thriller Films - Zodiac

I am going to analysis the titles of 3 different thriller films. I am doing this to find out how to create an effective title that will get the audience intrigued so that they watch the film that we are creating. This research will help me create the title and opening credits of the sequence. In this post I will be taking a look at the title of Zodiac.

 Name of The Film Title

 The title of the film is Zodiac. This suggest that the film could be about the zodiac star sign. Also, it coulf suggest that this film is about the Zodiac killer becuase of the title. Which means that the film would either be about the killer who did the killings or it would be about the detectives trying to catch the killer. In addition, it links to the thriller genre becuase if it about the Zodiac killer then it would create suspence due to the audience not knowing if the killer will kill again and if the police will catch the killer. The title is short, punchy and it doesn't give away too much of the plot which allows the title to intrigue the target audience.

Design of The Film Title

The design of the film title in the film is very simple (Figure 10). The font is in the the style a case file which shows the audience that this film is about a true police file. In the background of the title there is a man saying goodbye to his son and the title of the film is in the left corner on the top of the man which suggest to the audience that the man is a police detective working on the Zodiac killer case. The size of the text is very small on the screen which could suggest that the police are not very far with this case because there is lots of space around the text. This suggests that the police have a big task on the hands with this case.

Additional Information

There is some institutional information included in the opening credits. It includes:

• Warner Bros Pictures (Figure 1, 6)
• Paramount Pictures (Figure 2, 6)
• Phoenix Pictures (Figure 7)

The directors name is included in the opening credits:

• David Fincher (Figure 8, 27)

Some of the actors names are included in the opening credits:

• Robert Downey Jr (Figure 9)
• Mark Ruffalo (Figure 9)
• Jake Gyllenhaal (Figure 9)

Also, some extra information about the film is included:

• Date (For the first part of the opening sequence) - 4th July 1969, location - Vallejo, CA - this is a set up for the story of the film (Figure 4)
• Then it says 4 weeks later, location - San Francisco, CA - this is where the main part of the story will take place and it is where the real Zodiac killer was. (Figure 5)

Other things included:

• People to do with sound (Figure 17, 18)
• casting person (Figure 15)
• costume designer (Figure 16)
• editor (Figure 19)
• production designer (Figure 20)
• producers (Figure 23, 24, 25)
• screenplay (Figure 26)
• more actors  (Figure 11, 12, 13, 14)

Whole sequence

The opening credits and title are put over the film as we are introduced to one of the main characters. As the opening credits are shown the audience can see establishing shots of the San Francisco city which shows the audience where this film is going to take place. Also, the audience see one of the main character and they see that he has a son and that he works at the San Francisco Chronicle.

Sound

 During the sequence there is lots of different sounds:

• Diegetic ambient sound
• Non-diegetic background music - Badass music, rock and roll, gives the rush feeling that the character gets when he shoots the gun
• Diegetic off-screen police call audio
• Non-diegetic background music - fast paced drums like bongos, shows the busy city and that everyone is rushing around it in, shows that character has lots to do
• Diegetic car sounds - shows there are lots of cars, lots of traffic

Film Poster

Figures

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

Figure 8

Figure 9

Figure 10

Figure 11

Figure 12

Figure 13

Figure 14

Figure 15

Figure 16

Figure 17

Figure 18

Figure 19

Figure 20

Figure 21

Figure 22

Figure 23

Figure 24

Figure 25

Figure 26

Figure 27