Credit sequences

Ed Wood

The film itself is presented in black and white as that was the era that Ed Wood created his filmography, accompanied by an eerie science fiction sound score which was also signature of his genre. After a lighting strike the film shows a house in a storm, the music still playing in the background, upon entering a coffin swings open and a man inside explains a brief synopsis of the film, before the title sequence resumes and the cast and crew names are shown as lighting crashes about the screen. The first 4 or so names are white text on a black background, before the credit sequence shifts into a mock graveyard, complete with the names carved in a serif font onto the obviously fake tomb stones. After going under water, one of the names begins to warp and bend as if it had gone under water with the camera. After rising back to the surface there appears to be a giant tentacle attacking stereotypical alien space ships which is a homage to the Z-Movie quality that Ed Wood became famous for. The final segment shows the Hollywood sign, before tracking outward and showing a small theatre in Hollywood where Ed is directing a production.

 

Girl with the dragon tattoo

The credit sequence was done by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails fame. This piece is very signature of his works as there is a lot of fast editing, a lot of hidden symbolism, it’s violent and it’s dark. The sequence begins with a strobe effect timed to the drum track of the piece, the vocals begin to kick in and the fast paced editing begins. Throughout the piece the names of people attached to the project are shown in more subtle area’s of the screen as if they are not the main focus of the attention but instead the action of this piece is. Various moments show people being bound and gagged, beaten, set alight or attacked by computer cables. While this may seem random there is relation to the film, such as the binding/gagging is alluding to the moment where Lizbeth Salander is sexually abused by her government assigned mentor. Or the person being set alight could be Martin after he crashes his car fleeing the island. Both of which are major events in the film, which is interesting as this credit sequence seems to be aimed at those who have seen the movie multiple times and are rewatching for analytical purposes, which is similar to other works that Trent Reznor has done in the past, such as Year Zero or Broken, where he created symbolism that people had to analyse to fully understand the works. Another symbol that was present in both the American and German versions of the film is the atrocities caused by men, such as what Martin does to women, including his sister, which is expressed through the hands caressing Lizbeth’s face various times through the piece before dragging her down into the darkness. The sequence is very rapid and it requires a few viewings to fully understand everything that is taking place in the three minutes of credit sequence.

 

Se7en

Much like The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Se7en has a lot of fore references to later moments in the film, as well as a frantic editing style that, while jarring, has a lot of meaning behind it. The first thing we see is that the visual quality of this part of the film is very washed out and yellow, as if from a poorly maintained photograph or film. The cast and crew names that appear are all in a white, jagged font that constantly jitters about the screen. Throughout the segment a slightly recognisable version of Closer by Nine Inch Nails plays (Trent Reznor would sign on for other David Fincher films such as the Social Network and The Girl with the Dragon tattoo), which is ironic because the song Closer is very disturbing in itself and fits well with the imagery of this title sequence. The editing of this scene shows a number of different rituals that John Doe does, such as removing his finger prints using a razor blade, keeping a daily diary of all the mundane instances that he encounters, writing in great detail his thoughts, or drawing over the photos of his victims.

 

Gold Finger

The title sequence to Goldfinger is iconic of Bond films, showing scenes from the film, along with the various women and having it accompanied by a catchy soundtrack. This is an interesting sequence as several scenes are projected onto a woman coated in gold. The scenes are various important moment but the most significant addition is the woman whom is being projected onto as a woman in the film turns up dead after being coated in gold.