EDITED: HOW ARE THE OPENING TITLES OF 'SEVEN' SIMILAR TO THAT OF 'AMERICAN HORROR STORY?'

HOW ARE THE OPENING TITLES OF 'SEVEN' SIMILAR TO THAT OF 'AMERICAN HORROR STORY?'

The obvious difference between the openings is the time they were made. Seven was released in 1995 which was 16 years before the first season of American Horror Story.

The opening for both was made by Kyle Cooper who has also worked on The Walking Dead.

FIGURE 2- CHARLES RENNIE MACKINTOSH TYPEFACE

Both title sequences have the idea of mystery embedded in them. When you first see the titles, you’re unaware of what much of it means, in the case of Seven, you’re not told in the prelude that this film is about the murder of 7 people for committing what are described as the 7 deadly sins. This is similar in American Horror Story in the way that by the time you get to the opening credits, you don’t know that every part of the credits has a meaning until you have got much further into the series.

Both of the openings are filled with ambient sounds. American horror story has like dripping water which gives hints to one of the episodes in the first season which foreshadows events to the unknowing viewer.

This is similar in the opening of Seven. It shows and almost obsessive and methodical sequence that includes sharp fragments and multiple quick cuts.

FIGURE 1- FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT TYPEFACE

Looking at the type faces of both sequences, they both use fairly unusual ones that have an alternative meaning behind them. America Horror Story uses a typeface created by Charles Rennie Mackintosh which is imaginatively named ‘Rennie Mackintosh.’  The director of American Horror Story, Ryan Murphy, wanted to use the ‘Frank Lloyd Wright’ (Fig. 1) who was a famous stained glass architect who was influenced by the work of Mackintosh (see Fig. 2).

In Seven, there is no real type face used. It is simply the words they wanted to be used, hand etched into the emulsion and many of the cuts are created by physical movements of the camera. The actual footage is created on old film that has literally been cut and pasted together to create the jump cuts and unsmooth look.

What ideas or techniques could you take from this to inform the planning of your own thriller opening?

There are many techniques i would like to take from this to use in my own thriller. I really like the idea of the 'scrattchy' titles and the idea that they look messy ad hand drawn. I think this would look effective in my own thriller. I would also like to use the jumpy shots that both of these openings use in an effect to create confusion in my thriller. I like the shortness of the shots in both clips as they create a sense of enigma in the sense that they don't stay the focal point for long enough so the person watching is left questioning what each spot/clip means and what relevance it has.