1. Textual Analysis – SPLICE
Splice is a 2009 sci-fi thriller directed by Vincenzo Natali. The titles aims are to set
the tone for the film whilst familiarizing the audience with its own brand of genetic
cloning.
Before any titles are shown on screen there are a few pictures of a bird and fish
skeletons which cut from one another whilst in the background plays a static,
electricity like sound which compliments the pictures because it looks as the animals
have been electrified. The slides then merge into a word which shows the name of the
production company in small white letters and these contrast with the dark
background. After the words fade of the screen, more appear telling you who’s
associated with the film and this is accompanied by discordant music as the images
begin to change.
As the new background changes, it
starts tomove (a video background) and
the titles are grafted to the inner walls
as a cancerous growth. The walls
themselves appear to be made of
different types of organic matter —
mammalian, reptilian, some even plant-
like. The sound at this point is like the
sound of something moving through
liquid and is then layered over with classical piano music; the sounds are unpleasant
and makes the audience feel on edge.
2. After the titles it continues with dark, shadowy
backgrounds, with particles appearing on
screen and fast movements with rattling sounds
playing in synced with the video which keeps
the audience thinking and creates a mysterious
atmosphere. The words which then appear are
bigger and look as if they are in some sort of
veins and the idea of this is to remind us that
we are in the equivalent of amniotic molasses,
escorted by a single light through caverns of
ambiguous organic matter.
