2. Camera – shots/movement
There’s a close-up shot of creepy crawlies,
the close-up makes the audience uncomfortable
as it’s a bit disturbing, this sets the scene for the
psychological thriller.
The shot pans across a statue, which looks like
a harrowing medieval crucifix, again following the
disturbing theme to set the mood for the thriller.
3. Camera – shots/movement
Here’s a low angle shot where we see a
character close-up, the low angle shots suggests
mystery and importance (and again, ties in with the
thriller theme) as this makes us think this is a dominant,
powerful and mischievous character as well as the way
he looks.
Here’s an extreme close-up, where we see a flower
with dripping blood on it, the contrast here between
something that’s supposed to be beautiful and pure
(the flower) covered in the dark red blood which
we associate with death and evil helps us grasp the
concept of the theme of the show.
4. Typography
The font style throughout the titling scene is consistent
besides the title itself so that it stands out from the rest.
The font used for the names is white so it stands out from
the dark background and dark clips that are behind it.
The font style is quite sharp and looks slightly gothic
which links back into the genre of Penny Dreadful, a
thriller.
The title itself “Penny Dreadful” is simplistic yet dramatic
and powerful, the monochrome white and light blue
makes it stand out from the background and the rest of
the names. The font is a simple bold style and slightly
spaced out. The title slowly moves in towards the
viewer, emphasising it.
The placement of the names other than the creator is
within the clips, whilst something else is on the screen.
This is also true for the title, this is because these two
aspects are seen as most important and the audience
are more likely to remember these if there’s nothing else
distracting them on the screen.
5. Order of the Titles
The first name shown is the TV Network company, “Showtime” so the broadcasting
company are a great importance to the show as it is the company who delivers
the show to their audience. After this, “Sky” is credited as it is shown on the
companies TC company.
After this the title is shown, this is near the very beginning so the audience will
remember it. And after the title is where everything that the show did themselves is
credited.
After the title the creator is credited “Seth Logan”, this shows that the creator is of
great importance as it’s near the beginning.
Then the main actors/actresses are credited in order of their popularity, as the
higher A-List actors/actresses who are more well known entice the audience and
brig in a bigger audience.
After this the behind the scenes are credited: the costume designers, music
producers, editors, writers, director of photography, producers and directors. This
shows that although they are important as they are on the opening sequence and
not just the end credits, they’re not as significant as the actors/actresses as the
audience generally have less interest in these people.
6. Why is this an effective opening?
I think overall this is an effective opening because, the theme is
constant throughout for example, the dark contrast is shown
throughout the opening sequence and this also links into the genre
of Penny Dreadful which is a thriller. The consistency is important as it
doesn’t confuse or deter the audience away by suddenly going
from quite and mysterious to a sudden loud and obnoxious clip.
The clips used and type of shots used, often a close up or extreme
close up give mystery because not all of the object is shown so
sometimes you’re unsure what it is and what’s happening which
entices the audience into watching. This again, links into the genre.
The opening sequence is not too over-the-top and is fairly simplistic,
but is still dramatic and mysterious at the same time so it keeps the
audience interested without misleading them on the type of show
that they’re going to be watching.
