This document provides guidance and lesson objectives for analyzing film titles and openings. It discusses key terminology for film titles and outlines steps for creating analyses of horror film openings, including reviewing camera shots, angles, movements, typography, and providing a detailed cut-by-cut breakdown of the first two minutes. Students are instructed to design their own film company ident rather than using existing ones and to use accurate terminology in their analyses.

1. Film Title Analysis
Lesson objective
• To review key terminology necessary for analysing film
titles.
• To create step-outlines for the opening titles of Horror
films.
Starter
Do you know your film production companies just by looking
at a tiny part of their logo?
You have just 4 minutes to guess the names of these
companies!

2. 1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

4. Idents
What is an ident?
Idents
An ident is the 5-20 second clip that shows at the
start of a film, identifying the company that
produced it.
To ensure top marks, designing your own ident
would be essential. ‘Borrowing’ an existing ident
eats in to your 2 minute showcase of work and will
not contribute to your overall grade.

5. Typography
What are the differences between the fonts? What effect do these visual
differences have on the reader?
Script
Decorative
Decorative
Serif
Serif
Serif
Sans Serif
Sans Serif
Sans Serif
Script
Script
Decorative
Serif
Sans Serif
Script
Decorative

6. Typography
What are the differences between the fonts? What effect do these visual
differences have on the reader?
Script
Decorative
Decorative
Serif
Serif
Serif
Sans Serif
Sans Serif
Sans Serif
Script
Script
Decorative
Serif
Sans Serif
Script
Decorative
Serif fonts have
‘tails’ on the ends
of the letters. They
tend to be used in
more formal texts,
to project a mature
or more adult
image.
‘Sans‘ is French for
‘without’ which
means they do not
have the tails on the
letters.
Script fonts are
often designed to
mimic handwriting
and can look quite
sophisticated.
These fonts are very
common and can
help a text to
appear modern.
However be careful
over using this font
– it can difficult to
read.
Decorative fonts can
add interest to a
text, but be aware
that they can be
over the top and not
fitting for every text
type.

7. Horror Film Typography : What are the similarities and differences between these font types? What can be said
about Horror genre fonts?

8. Step Outline (often called a ‘Beat
Sheet’)
This is a cut by cut, action by action break down
of what is happening.
It should be a record of camera
shots/angles/movements, sound, mise-en-scene,
special effects etc…
Everything should be recorded and noted in
detail.
You are only analysing the opening two minutes

9. Step Outline
• I have created an example for you to
follow with ‘The Possession’.
• On sdswmedia.blogspot.co.uk there is a
large blog post with;
–
–
–
–
Review of camera shots
Review of camera angles
Review of camera movements
Review of typography
Accurate terminology use is
essential.
Be descriptive and
detailed; recognise which
people are included in the
opening title credits.
Only watch the opening 2 minutes. Any one who sits and attempts to watch most of a
film will do their work at the front desks with me using the large screen.

10. The Possession (2012)
In this supernatural horror flick, a young girl
unwittingly unleashes an evil spirit dwelling in a
curious antique box full of mysterious relics.