Suspense film credit analysis

 Se7en (1995):

What the opening credits are like:

• The credits show quick and messy images of notebooks, writing and photos.

• The text doesn’t look neat and it’s kind of hard to read it. 

• The music is loud and chaotic and it can make you uncomfortable with all those sound effects. 

Why this fits the suspense genre:

• They use fast cuts so it makes the audience feel nervous.

• The messy effects that they used suggest that something is very wrong.

• Even with the credit scenes, we don’t get many answers, but more questions, which creates a lot of suspense.

Why it’s effective:

• It’s effective because they set and keep a dark and tense mood right after. 

• They make the audience feel confused on purpose and it brings their attention expecting that something will happen.

• It makes you feel the danger and fear before the story even starts. 

  
  

The Silence of the Lambs (1991):

What the opening credits are like:

• The scene shows a character running through a forest.

• The colors are darker. 

• The credits show up slowly over the scene.

Why this fits the suspense genre:

• The forest is very quiet, which makes the moment way more tense and scary. 

• We don’t know why the character is running and this creates curiosity and mystery.

• The credits are very slow paced, so it makes us feel more anxious for what is about to happpen. 

Why it’s effective:

• It feels very realistic. 

• Since the credits are very calm, it makes you expect that something bad will happen.

• It introduces suspense without using violence for example. 

Zodiac (2007):

What the opening credits are like:

• The scene starts during a normal public event.

• The credits are very simple and natural. 

• The music starts to become more serious and we become more and more tense. 

Why this fits the suspense genre:

• The normal setting makes the tension stronger.

• The audience knows something bad might happen, but not when.

• Since it’s also a more slow paced credit scenes, it also creates fear and anxiety because we know that it’s not normal to be that calm in a suspense movie. 

Why it’s effective:

• It shows how danger can appear in everyday life.

• The calm opening makes the suspense feel way more real.

• I would say that it creates a bit of discomfort without needing to use fast action scenes for example.