Tasha's Titling Task

Panic Room

The name of the film 'Panic Room' suggests the genre is a thriller as the definition of 'Panic' means to have sudden uncontrollable fear or anxiety, often causing wildly unthinking behaviour. These types of emotions and feelings that are often associated with a thriller. Especially as a thriller is normally very unexpected and unpredictable. I think the name of the film connects with the audience as they will have at least one time or another experienced the feeling of being panicked. Some may even relate to the fact of having an actual panic room to go to when they need to relax and calm down. Furthermore, I think that by naming the film 'Panic Room' it suggests to the target audience that the film is about an actual panic room or that it could be a metaphor for something else. This therefore sparks interest and enigma within the target audience.

The film title suggests that the genre is a thriller through the design and structure of the title itself. For example, the colouring resembles a grey/silver tone; this relates to the dark, gloomy atmosphere that is within a thriller film. Whereas, if the genre was romance, the colouring would probably be pink or red which are the colours that connote love. The font and animation of the title resembles a steel-like structure, that consists of bold metallic letters. This suggests that because the words 'Panic Room' are formed this way, that if there is an actual panic room in the film then it will also be structured in the same style. When analysing the composition of the film title, each letter is placed equally apart in the centre of the screen. The background consists of a series of tall skyscrapers compacted closely with one another; resembling the scenery of a city such as New York. So the fact that the film might be set in a busy crowded city like New York, suggests the reason why there may be a panic room involved in the story, is to get away from the frantic overwhelming atmosphere that New York brings with it.  

Institutional Information included:

At the beginning of the opening credits the spectators are presented with the famous logo 'Columbia' from Sony Pictures Entertainment company. Showing that this is the production company that is involved with this film.

As the logo fades to black the credit sequence shows a series of shots of the setting in New York. As the shots change various institutions appear on screen; 'A Hofflund/Polone Production', 'An Indelible Picture'. These institutions are all in the same design as the title itself; bold silver/grey fonts resembling a statue or ornament that is significantly large in comparison to the scenery in the background of the titling. This layout of the text may be just to go alongside the whole style of the credit opening. However, the largeness of the texts could be used to emphasise how important and powerful these production companies are.


Before the actual film title appears on screen, various actors names are presented in the sequence. I think the reason why some of the actors names are presented before the actual film title is because they are very famous actors. So by doing this the film makers know that this will grab the spectators attention, as they will be informed at the very beginning who is in the
film.



When considering the sequence as a whole I think the use of scenery for the background is very affective and informs the audience clearly the location where the film is set (in this case New York). The location set is affective for a thriller as New York contains an atmosphere of chaos and uncertainty; iconic for a thriller. I also think by the title and the other additional information being the same design layout, it creates the theme of continuity and consistency.



Sound included:


At the beginning of the opening sequence the Sony Pictures Entertainment company logo is the first visual element to appear on screen. As the short sequence for the logo develops, a sound bridge is used; where the music from the next sequence overlaps onto the sequence being shown. The shot then fades to black and the next sequence begins playing alongside the music. The background music playing is combined with both diegetic and non-diegetic sounds. For example, the part where a sound bridge is used contains mainly diegetic noises of traffic and sirens. However, as the sequence develops non-diegetic music is edited amongst the other noises.