This is the opening title sequence from the film 'Evil Dead'. The majority of the images seen are in black or red. This follows the conventions of the thriller opening, because there will usually be two contrasting colours- especially with the text to make it stand out. This is shown here when we see the title of the film. As the text grows larger and comes closer to the screen, black branches grow in the letters. Trees are actually seen a lot throughout this film and a lot of thriller films- characters are often running through them probably away from something. There are other foreshadowings like this in the rest of the opening titles. In this image it is seen that the sequence also follows the convention of having the letters in capitals. The way the text gets bigger and seems to get closer to us could be comparable to the way the danger in the film increases as time goes on and becomes more perilous.
This is the beginning of the large amount of blood that is seen in the credits. The black and red theme is again noticed as the blood begins flowing. This shot is also one of the first to establish the setting for the film. It appears to be an abandoned house and is very dark- an ideal setting for a thriller/horror, as no one can help the victims in the house and they cannot escape. It also appears that in front of the blood is a chain. This suggests that the building has not been used properly for a long time, and if it has been used then strange activities have been going on.
The blood is pouring into every part of the building, including a light bulb in a room, shown in the above still. This illustrates the extent of the violence and gore in the film as the blood reaches everywhere in the house. The way that the light bulb flickers as if it has been broken for a long time supports the idea that the setting is a house that was abandoned long ago. The score is important in making these titles tense and sinister. Choir singing can be heard, which is appropriate for the theme of the film; there is a religious undercurrent because a book is found that is likely to have belonged to a cult. The music also has a moderately fast pace that is reminiscent of s heartbeat, or the sound of someone running, which are appropriate considering parts of the film. A close-up is used here, and I think that is so that we see the detail in the blood filling the bulb.
In this image we see what some of the blood is coming from. Someone is being killed with a chainsaw, which demonstrates the extreme violence that is seen in the entire film. It is notable that what is happening is obscured as it is slightly off-centre and out of the frame. This causes the audience to ask questions about who is being murdered and why. It is another example of foreshadowing because a chainsaw is used to murder someone later in the film. It is clear in this shot that the colour of the blood is quite unrealistic- slightly too bright. It makes the titles more melodramatic and vivid.
Towards the end of the sequence we see the house set on fire. This does happen in the film, so with this fire and the shots of the chainsaw, etc. this title sequence could be said to be almost a condensed version of the film, as it shows the most significant parts of the film. The editing for this ending has been done so that when we see the fire, there are also flickers of strange scratches and lines, adding some mystery to the opening. The credits are ended with a cut to black, which is very intense and also seems to cut the music off when it doesn't feel finished, which is unusual and feels quite uncomfortable. This works well for the end of the sequence because it is the kind of film that should make people for uneasy.
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