AS Media - AHS: Murder House

The Brief:

-To deconstruct the opening credits of a film regarding the use of :

• use of mise en scene
• typography and its link to the genre

 AHS: Murder House

Genre:
The genre of this episode of American Horror Story is paranormal/possession as in murder house the people moving in are haunted by the previous owners and their victims.

Mise En Scene
There are multiple flashing images of young children particularly small girls that are usual victims of possession as the innocence of young girls is taken advantage of by the possessors. Thus conforming to the conventions of the paranormal and possession sub genres of horror. Some of these photos are burning that could symbolise the killers motives and possibly foreshadow future events that unfold within the episode, this is common of horror films as the majority of the time there are subtle hints as to the outcome of the narrative/plot. These pictures below seem like they would be the plausible victims of the killer in this episode as throughout the opening credits there is a constant reference to someone in a house whereby the camera is going through a dilapidated house. Also the photos seem like they would have been taken for the pleasure of a family to either admire or reflect upon as a mantle piece or a decoration for a room. This connotes the idea of an invasive murder or a series of murders that occur in the same place but with multiple victims.

Typography:

The typography used is a very aristocratic cinema like font with the exceptions of the o's. This combined with the antiquated photos of young girls gives a very chilling effect as the typography and antiquity of both the font and photos match up and create an image of an old murder case and could heavily link to the motives or motifs that are apparent in the episode. The typography use has a basic and smooth nature to it with the aristocratic like font however this is manipulated through the changing of the o's in the words or sentences as it adds a form of mystery to it as to the knowledge of those watching their is only one stand out thing to the typography and this leaves the audience with an outstanding enigma to the episode. The significance of the letter o in the alphabet is astounding as its shape has been apparent from the oldest recorded alphabet the Phoenician alphabet, in this alphabet it was recorded as a symbol of the word eye which can relate to the idea of possession as you would not see correctly and the o is out of place showing some sort of correlation between the two.

Slasher opening credits: You're Next (2011) - Lionsgate

It begins with a close up shot a girl's lower legs, whilst she pulls clothing up over them. This is then followed by a match on action of the girl going out of her room and down the stairs. The editing is an average pace, and there is no soundtrack except noises like thumps from her walking.

There is then a shot of the girl walking from outside the house, which gives the impression someone is watching her from outside. There is a close up of the girl turning her head to look out the window, followed by another shot watching her from outside.

There is an extreme close up of a wind chime in the foreground with the girl in the background in focus. This then switches to the wind chime being in focus when she turns her head and looks at it. The wind chime is also the only source of noise in this section.

There is then an extreme close up of a CD player which she puts a CD in. This begins playing music, which is then playing dietetically.

Next there is an extreme close ups of a glass with ice in followed by an extreme close up of a liquid being poured in.

There is then a tracking shot of the girl walking towards the stairs with the drink in her hand.

Next there is a quick cut to a man in the shower. The sound here is of water running but you can still hear the music, although it is quieter to represent it playing through a door.

There is then another cut to a medium shot of the girl drinking her drink. Then there is match on action of her turning her head. The editing is fast which creates tension.

There is again another quick cut to the man getting out of the shower, followed by match on action of him coming out of the bathroom and picking up the drink from outside. The music becomes louder when he walks out the door.

There is a medium shot through the window of the man seeing something written in blood which is on the window, although it is in the foreground and not in focus so unclear what it is. All of the editing of the man so far has been relatively slow paced.

There is then a medium shot of him through the window so the audience can see what has been written on the window. There is then some low synthesised sounds to build tension.

A tracking shot then follows the man's hand down the window to reveal the girl dead outside. There are more high and low synthesised sounds added and fast paced editing to create more tension and suspense. There is match on action of the man backing away from the window, and when he turns around he is grabbed by someone.

There is then a close up shot of the man's head being held against the window and of the killer's arm being raised whilst holding a knife. The shaky camera work with the close ups create the idea of drama for the audience. After this there is an extreme close up of the man screaming, with the sound of the knife coming down and the sound of cutting/stabbing. This sounds is quickly followed by a splatter of blood on the window, and after this all of the other sounds die down. This shows how the victims have both been killed and shows a way of portraying kills without actually showing the knife going into the bodies.

Se7en Opening Credits

Genre

'Se7en' is a psychological thriller. This can be identified from the opening credits alone, due to the many conformities of common conventions of the genre. The audience can gather from the trailer that the character has an obsession, in this case making their own adaptation of the Bible, as creating this is the main focus of the whole credits.

Mise-En-Scene

The main focus of the whole of the opening credits is the creating and altering of the book by the character. There are constant images of words from the Bible and people's eyes being crossed out. This gives the audience the impression that the character is making their own version of the Bible, and possibly that they have the intention to kill people.

The character is also shown removing their fingerprints with a small blade. This gives the impression that they have or will commit a crime, as well as indicating that the character is mentally disturbed/ill due to harming themselves voluntarily. This therefore conforms to common conventions of a psychological thriller.

Detailed drawings are also shown in the opening credits, suggesting that the character has thought out what they would like to add into their book and taken a lot of time to create these drawings. There are also continual flashes of pages of the book that the character is writing in, filled with hand written notes. This therefore shows an obsession, again conforming to common conventions of the genre.

Fast shots of the Bible are included throughout the credits, which relates to the title and plot of the film. The film was titled as 'Se7en' because it relates to the 7 Deadly Sins from the Bible, and the character goes round and murders people who have committed these sins.

Towards the end of the credits, there are short clips of the character using a needle and thread to sew together the pages of his book. This level of intricacy and care again shows the dedication and obsession he has for this book, but is also sinister as a needle could be used as a weapon.

Sound

The opening credits don't include diegetic sound, only a non-diegetic soundtrack. It begins at quite  a slow pace with lots of synthetic, low and loud sounds. This creates a sinister, foreboding effect. At the very start, there is a thunder clap type of sound. This introduces it as eerie and dark, creating an immediate response from the audience of the type of film being horror or thriller. As the soundtrack progresses, a synthetic drum sound is introduced as well as some uncomfortable creaking sounds. This makes it sound almost broken, which also adds to the dark, horrific impression the audience has. Fast sound changes are also used as some sound effects are unexpectedly played very fast, as well as occasionally hearing synthetic scratching/screeching noises, making the soundtrack sound ominous and disturbing, adding to the audience's impression of the thriller. Further through the soundtrack, more foreboding, sharp, uncomfortable sounds are added randomly, getting more intense and quick, creating tension. The amount and volume of the synthetic sounds fluxuates randomly throughout, which is unsettling for the audience as there are unexpected quiet and loud sections. The climaxes in the music are towards the middle and end of the credits, which goes with the shots used as here they are either the most horrific/intense or the most fast paced. It also makes it dramatic and creates tension and uncertainty for the film. Overall the sound for the opening credits is parallel to the Mise-En-Scene and conforms to common conventions of the genre of 'Se7en'.

Typography

Throughout the whole of the credits, two font styles are used. The first is used when displaying people's names. It looks handwritten and scratchy, so could be written by someone using something like an ink quill pen, but also almost like someone carved it using a sharp object such as a knife, which makes the audience find it sinister.

The second style of font is used when indicating titles, such as 'A film by' or 'Executive producers'. It is also used when displaying the title of the film. This font is slightly more organised but is still not quite perfect: it may be slightly smudged, or not quite straight. This is very contrasting with the other typography as it looks as if someone typed it on a typewriter, which shows it being thought out and planned carefully. The fact it is structured but not quite perfect could also relate to the mental health of the character, as he may look fine on the outside but he actually isn't.

The title of the film flashes to much larger than all the rest of the text in the credits. This emphasises its importance and makes it stand out.

Whenever any text appears on the screen, it glitches or moves, which is very unsettling and menacing, creating a sinister and unsettling effect. It could also again relate to the mental health of the character. The text appears and disappears quickly, again seeming like it's glitching which makes the audience unsettled yet excited. This is also parallel to the non-diegetic soundtrack, which is fast and adrenaline filled.