Research Task, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Title Analysis 3/3 by Maria Beardall

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sY4f_83t_rw

Disgraced financial reporter Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) finds a chance to redeem his honor after being hired by wealthy Swedish industrialist Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer) to solve the 40-year-old murder of Vanger's niece, Harriet. Vanger believes that Harriet was killed by a member of his own family. Eventually joining Blomkvist on his dangerous quest for the truth is Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara), an unusual but ingenious investigator whose fragile trust is not easily won.

1.The name of the film (the film title):  How does it suggest the Thriller genre, connect with the audience, create interest or anticipation for the target audience? 

The name of the film is 'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo', and creates interest and anticipation as there is a certain mystery to who the girl is and why this tattoo is so important; which will be some questions the potential audience think about when hearing the title. This will draw viewers in as they will be intruieged to know more and find out the plot behind this thriller. It gives the presumable main character an air of value as the title sounds like people on the street would talk about rumours to do with her etc., which will further the need to know what is going on in the film. It also is called the 'girl' with the dragon tattoo, not an older woman, which gives hints the target audience is for teenagers as that is the most relatable for the demographic.

2. Consider how the film title design might further communicate meaning to the audience about genre, meaning or story. (Colour, font, animation, size, background etc). 

The film title design plays a very important role to portray how the rest of the film will also be, and keeps in line with the thriller genre too. The size of the title is about 25% of the screen, the rest is the black background - making the title stand out and look impressive and simplistic yet effective in a powerful stance sense, and the font looks like blades and personally reminds me of 'Shuriken' (throwing stars), which are symbolic in the sense that they are often used in action films and surround a lot of danger, therefore the font connotes action. The grey metallic sheen on the lettering also adds to this appeal.

The font is also to the left of the screen, yet still central at the left side and due to this looks alternative, yet stylish - foretelling the film promises the same. It also has a bigger font for 'The Girl' and 'Dragon Tattoo', to really draw the readers to the key words, not wasting time on 'with the' as it has much less importance and wastes time on such a short frame to look at any other words. Therefore the title visually expresses the quality of the film, an air of danger and the key topic.

3. What institutional info is included?

There is a lot of institutional information included in this title sequence, so much so it quite reminds me of the famous James Bond openings. It firstly includes the film company - which is in a white sans serif font to make it seem professional and very important which is appropriate as Colombia Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn Mayer Pictures are famous film companies with highly thought of reputations, with a black background (very minimal) and is on one line at the lower end of the frame. Then the production company - Scott Rudin and Yellow Bird Productions, followed by who the film is by (David Fincher), the actors and actresses; such as Daniel Craig, the title and then it leads on to general behind the scene organisers such as casting etc.

All the typography is in a sans serif font to keep it all consistent, yet there are slight changes to letters like the 'Y' in Yellow Bird Productions, where it had a slight flick on the end of it; which is to show that it's still not typical and the film is very beautifully made, however it also, personally, gives a slight oriental feel the the film as it connotes a non English fighting and has hints of that from the dragon and font. They are subtle hints yet subconciously thought by the audience.

4. Is additional story info included - eg date or location of story? If so, why?

There is no extra story information added as turns to black in a qued up sense from where a person's mouth, covered in black covers the whole screen. This is to end the titles off in a sophisticated manner and also literally plunge the audience into darkness - they will stay like this for a moment and that is to cause deliberate confusion and also make them unprepared for a surprise or shock of the next scene beginning.

5. Are actors included? How are they introduced in the title sequence?

The actors are included in the titles, having names switch from the left to right side to add a slight sense of interest and also unpredictableness - therefore the audience have to be diligent and watch to see where the names appear. The titles has a famous actor, Daniel Craig, in the film and so his name is first to impress the audience and make them more intrigued to see his role.

There are also actors and actresses introduced through the moving image in the background that is black, almost all of the objects have been deliberately painted or coated black, including the actors, and the moving image seems to follow black oil or fuel covering the people and objects. There is a moment when Daniel Craig is seen in a CU shot of his profile; this therefore introduces him in a physical way too and makes the audience want to keep watching due to his high status celebrity role, which will attract the audience to stay attentive. There is also a girl who is seen, who are seen doing what appears to be violent, sexual and quite demonic actions - which clearly connotes that the film is professional and sleek in black and has a fluidity to it, yet is also edgy and dangerous and can feel quite horrifying as the woman screaming at the end seems inhuman and slightly possessed - creating a spark of excitement for the action hungry viewers to see what could be conveyed as similar to this in the actual film and also a sense of acute danger as to why this has happened.

6. For the sequence as a whole - consider the relationship between title and credit information and the background for that frame (onto black, a still image or moving image of the actual film). Suggest reasons for it being effective as part of the Thriller opening.

The titles and information enclosed in the sequence is entwined with the moving image background (super imposed) as the title fonts and placement on the frames are very slick and stylish and also match the image for the background, and the moving images show objects and people being filled or surrounded with a very dark oil like substance and also encompasses skulls, fire and raven like birds etc. This all connotes danger and death, as skulls and ravens symbolise death, and fire connotes a dangerous field of mise en scene/special effects, which could possibly give away the film.

These are all hints for the film deliberately used to excite and create dramatic irony in a sense for what is to come, and link tremendously, giving a sense of action. Huge amounts of enigma are perceived to the audience as the events in the title sequence become more intense and more thrilling to watch.

The whole of the sequence mostly focused with having a full black background or mostly black, which connotes power, evil and danger - all factors that the audience should feel in a thriller genre. It also again creates consistency for the audience. The sequence is however unrelated in a sense as its not an actual scene, it's to flaunt the film and promises it to be captivating and full of excitement.

7. Is the sound diegetic or non diegetic - how is the title and credit sequence edited to the music? Are sound bridges used?

The titles are more engaging as they include an upbeat song, to entice the audience with the non diegetic soundtrack to keep listening, and is generally more James Bond styled.

It begins in black and a fade in of non diegetic screeches and guitar can be heard, cueing up the beginning of the sequence which causes tension and excitement. The drums then begin and the titles enter appropriately according to the beat, and the titles and image seem to flash over the screen, to create a parallel with the soundtrack. There are many different textures seen when momentarily in the frame, all to confuse yet create wonder, and still all in black.

The voice screeches over the title and a black fluid covers the screen to make it seem exciting and show a crescendo of the title being the main focus of the whole sequence. The cuts mirror the image and change between being fast and slowly paced, to match the music. The non diegetic soundtrack also adds to confusion of the audience as the image seems to be quite random yet has meaning beyond sense at this point in the film, therefore the confusion raises deliberate questions yet keeps the sense of danger and excitement predominately.

8. Study carefully the relationship between moving image segments of the film (the start of the plot) and the introduction of titles. What is the order in which they are introduced? Why do you think this is?

I believe that the title sequence is first to really create an excitement in the audience and to make them feel enigma in a very strong sense as the purposeful images in the sequence are triggering to dangerous situations and also thrilling and unsettling possible ideas, which is supposed to create tension and dramatise the whole film so that the viewers will be active whilst watching and have an individual mind fed with hints of as to what might happen.

The scenes in the moving image also seem quite random at first but near the end build up and hold the audiences attention to create massive amounts of excitement and thrill for whats to come, therefore it's the symbolisim as such which holds importance - the black background is just a canvas for what is shown to intrigue and stimulate ideas and questions for the audience.

The sequence is also introduced first to show that it is dramatised but at the same time, from the soundtrack, will be fun and exhilarating to watch. It is almost a small film in itself, with an equilibrium at the beginning when very little happens, to there being a disequilibrium from when the title begins and the music heightens, to when it then goes back to the whole frame being black; almost as if the audience are left on a cliffhanger of where and what is the new and different equilibrium.

I thourghly enjoyed watching this title sequence, it was engaging and kept me entranced as it was so unpredictable. I like the differentiation of the font (even though it was a small change it still hinted it wasn't just a typical thriller film), and how it was made unique in its own sense. I feel we can take away the fluidity of the sequence and that adding detail and even hints can be suggestive and very intriguing for a potential audience.