Title Sequence
Mood, Target Audience, Engima's and Genre

Film 1 - Halloween (1978)
• Mood - From the title sequence alone, a mood is created to entice the audience
and make them feel a certain way before the film starts. The soundtrack (non-
diegetic sound) of the trailer is extremely fast paced, however uses instruments
like a piano to create tension within the title sequence. By doing this, it creates a
suspense vibe and indicates that they are leading up to something which may
make the audience jump. Therefore, a tense atmosphere is created in the title
sequence of the film 'Halloween' to immideley keep the audience interested and
on the edge of their seats. This is explored through the technical area of sound.

Film 1 - Halloween (1978)
• Genre - Due to the suspense atmosphere that was created due to sound - we are
successfully able to analyse the title sequence and conclude that the film will
have a horror genre. After reviewing the title sequence - it isn't only sound which
gives us the impression that the genre of the film is going to be horror. Mise en
scene is used in the clip to create and scary but spooky vibe and let the audience
know what genre the film is. A pumpkin with a carved out smile is in the title
sequence almost throughout, as pumpkins are typically associated with
Halloween - it is placed in the title sequence to show people the spookiness of
Halloween and attempts to make them feel intimidated or score. Therefore, by
looking at the props used in the title sequence we are able to assume that the
genre of the film is going to be a horror.

Film 1 - Halloween (1978)
• Target audience - In addition to the previous point made about genre - we can
therefore assume that as the film is a horror it is therefore ideally aimed for
younger adults and people around that age bracket. We can make this
assumption through the use of mise en scene again. Throughout the title
sequence, there is constantly low key lighting with nothing to light up the screen
except a pumpkin, this type of lighting wouldn’t be used in a children's film as it
would put across the wrong type of message. By aiming the film at adults it
juxtaposes the stereotypical idea of Halloween being a holiday celebrated by
children - it exploits it and attempts to make it scary when really it is a fantasy in
real life. Therefore, we can understand that the use of lighting is effective as it
helps we can then acknowledge what type of age bracket the film is made for.
This can act as a symbolic code to indicate what kind of film it is going to be.

Film 1 - Halloween (1978)
• Enigma's - Throughout the title sequence there is one major enigma code which
can be identified. As the audience, we are able to do this due to soundtrack used
in the film. As previously mentioned when discussing the mood of the title
sequence, the soundtrack is very fast paced and features some darker sounding
instruments. By including a soundtrack such as the one used - it allows the
audience to feel tense as it feel as if the soundtrack is leading up to something.
Towards the end of the title sequence, the enigma code is developed further
through the use of location. We are shown an isolated house which allows the
audience to immediately ask questions of why are we being shown this.
Therefore, sound and mise en scene are successfully used to create enigma codes
in the title sequence of the film Halloween.

Film 2 - A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984)
• Mood - For the title sequence of 'A Nightmare On Elm Street', the atmosphere
that is created is almost a combination of tension and sympathy. To start the
sequence, we are introduced to an anonymous hand who is with a variety of
different weapons. The use of props is effective as we get to understand how
dangerous the weapons are through their appearance - this creates the tension in
the season. In addition, we then see a helpless woman who is trying to escape
from this 'man'. As she is trying to escape from what seems a life or death
situation - without even knowing this woman's name we automatically feel
sympathy for her. Therefore, through a successful use of technical codes a tense
mood is created in the title sequence with the audience also feeling sympathy for
the helpless woman who acts as the victim.

Film 2 - A Nightmare On Elm Street
• Genre - The use of technical codes in the clip allows the audience to understand
what type of genre the film may belong to. This can be seen through the use of
camera. When the man is chasing the innocent woman, we see a long range shot
of her as she is trying to escape the situation. The use of camera in this situation
is effective, it shows the audience how isolated and alone the woman was feeling
as the camera shot showed how small she was in the situation with nowhere to
hide. As the idea of isolation is typically associated with the horror genre - it
therefore allows the audience to identify that the genre of the film ' A Nightmare
On Elm Street' is horror.

Film 2 - A Nightmare On Elm Street
• Target Audience- As soon as the clip starts we are able to identify what age
bracket the film is going to be aimed at. The technical code of a camera is used
effectively throughout the sequence the indicate to the audience what type of
genre the film is going to be. An extreme close up is used when the 'man' is with
the weapons at the beginning. This is done to show how brutal the weapons are
and highlight the damage that they can cause. By doing this, the audience then
understands that weapons such as those would not be appealing to the older
generation and definitely wouldn’t be suitable for children.Therefore the use of
camera is successfully used to highlight the weapons at the beginning of the
scene and indicate who the target audience of the film may potentially be - which
in my opinion would be young adults.

Film 2 - A Nightmare On Elm Street
• Enigma's - Throughout the title sequence for 'A Nightmare On Elm Street', an
enigma code is created through the use of a technical code. The soundtrack of
the title sequence is effective, it helps create the mood of tension (as previously
mentioned). Furthermore, as the victim is trying to escape the scene the
soundtrack changes to a rushing type of sound - this indicates to the audience
that the title sequence is leading up to something which is where the enigma
code is created. As we reach the end of the sequence, we see the woman wake
up from what appears to be her sleep. However we are still unaware if it really
happened or not. Therefore the use of technical codes and symbolic codes (Non
verbal communication when she wakes up) creates the enigma code in the title
sequence and allows the audience to identify it to make them want to continue
watching.

Film 3 - Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
• Mood - In the title sequence for the 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' the mood created
to start the sequence is definitely abnormal as after the dialogue there is sound
but no visuals to work parallel with. As this is happening, it creates tension as the
audience can hear strange noises but have no idea about what is happening as
they can see nothing. Therefore, the title sequence for the 'Texas Chainsaw
Massacre' successfully uses technical codes to start the film well as it creates a
strange atmosphere and almost starts with an enigma code. As it does this it
makes the audience want to know more but also creates an element of tension at
the same time.

Film 3 - Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
• Genre - The audience is able to identify the films genre due to the technical and
symbolic codes that have been used. In the film, after a while of pure darkness
we are able to see what appears to be a zombie who is covered in blood and
looks very disturbing. Due to how graphic the character looks, the audience is
able to identify the mise en scene used and identify that the film is a horror. The
audience can see this due to how the character has been presented. It is
stereotypical of the genre to present a character in that manner - there make up
and costume has been successfully used to help the audience identify what genre
the film belongs to.

Film 3 - Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
• Enigma's- We are able to identify enigma codes in the sequence due to the
technical code of sound which was present in the title sequence. The soundtrack
used in the sequence for the 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' features quite dark and
harsh sounds which correlate with the visuals that we can see. If we analyse the
soundtrack, we understand that it creates tension in the scene as the audience
want to know why the sounds sound the way they do as this is happening with a
completely dark screen. As previously touched on, this would then create an
enigma code for the audience as they would want to know what's happening and
also why it is happening. Therefore enigma codes are featured in the title
sequence through sound to keep them audience interested and to increase the
chance of them continuing watching the film

Film 3 - Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
• Target Audience- In the title sequence for the 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre', we can
identify who the film is aimed at. An example .of an a clue in the sequence comes
at the beginning through a verbal code. There is dialogue which explains the
tragic events but of course some members of audience may be too young or to
tolerate the graphic scenes that they are about to see. Furthermore, even some
of the older members of audience may have a different taste and may not receive
the same thrill factor that a younger adult would get when watching the film.
Therefore, the use of dialogue in the film is effective as it allows us to identify
that the film is aimed at younger adults - in my opinion people aged around 20-
35.