RESEARCH: Art of the Title

Mindhunter:

Brief summary:

Mind Hunter is a Netflix show which has a total of 2 seasons which made its debut in 2017. It is a programme based on catching a criminal and the process the FBI has to go through to do this. Two agents, Bill Tench and Holden Ford, attempt to understand the minds of serial killers by studying how their minds are psychologically damaged. It is directed by David Fincher who has been Oscar-nominated. 

I have chosen this title sequence as I enjoy the suspense it creates and the tension it is able to build. I hope to incorporate this into my own work as we progress onto filming. 

 

Title Sequence:

The title sequence begins with the sound of a simple rhythm of a piano playing. The sound is asynchronous because we aren't able to see a piano playing on screen as we are being shown a tape recorder. During the clips of the tape recorder, quick flashes of another image keep occurring so fast that it is hard to make out the contrasting image. It is of a dead body decomposing and is so sudden and quick that it shocks us as it is unexpected. This creates a fragmented feeling to the film, leaving the viewer asking questions about the dead body as there is no information given about it. The sound of a man assembling the tape recorder is magnified that we are able to hear the sound of him screwing in pieces and wrapping tape around the device. These contrapuntal sounds contrast with the images of dead bodies which confuses the audience as the two scenes are extremely different and lead us down two different plot lines. The audience may question what is the correlation between the two. 

The tempo and rhythm of the piano music begins to slow down gradually to decrease the speed of the flashing images so that we are able to depict more clearly the body; the hand is shown to have blood on it. This allows the viewer to develop curiosity as they are no longer startled by the sight of the dead body. We are unsure if the images of the dead body are flashbacks or memories of the man who is setting up the recorder.  

Once the man is shown to turn up the volume of the recorder, the music and rhythm increase in speed and so do the flashes of the images. This suggests that the recorder and the images are linked in their speed as the man's memories speed up at the sound of the recording which is possibly linked to the dead body. Whilst the images progressively speed up, they begin to reveal more important parts of the body such as the face. The slow revealing of the body creates a mysterious tone to the sequence as we are searching for details to reveal the identity; of which we are given very few. 

In the last 10 seconds, we are shown water with titles over it. The change of scenery suggests the significance of water as we were previously only shown the body and reocrer. The focusing of the central prop (recorder) creates a sense of mystery and suggests that there is a lot that is unknown to the man as we aren't given details. We are then shown a car speedometer and the speed increasing and decreasing. This also implies that it is a crucial detail in the mystery of the dead body as it is one of the final images which will resinate with the viewer as it is a contrast in image. This creates intrigue into the significance of the water and the speed of the car and leaves the viewer wanting to know how each element of the sequence relates to the dead body.      

Sound Design

Asynchronous

A sound which is not syncronised with the events and action that we can see on screen. For example, a picture of a dead body could be on the screen but we hear a scream but cannot see where the scream is coming from. That is asynchronous sound.

Contrapuntal 

When the sound we are able to hear accompanies what we are able to see on screen. The sound and image corrolate and is what we expected to hear. It is relevant sound to fit with the characters' lifestyles and pace of the film.

Digetic

A sound that has originated from a source within the world of the film such as dialogue or a sound from a person.

Non-digetic 

A sound which has not come from a source within the film that we can see. For example, abstract sounds in a trailer or a narrator.

Fidelity

How true the sound is to what we see on screen and what we expect to hear and how accurate the sound is reproduced from its source.

Lack of Fidelity

There is a lack of fidelity between the image we see and the sound we hear. For example, if we saw a gun being shot on screen but then heard a dog barking, then it would have a lack of fidelity.

Rhythm

A repeated and regular pattern of movement or sound. Rhythm is used in films to create or lower suspense and tension. For example, the rhythm of the music can quicken if the character is in danger.

Synchronous

Sound which is synchronised with what we can see. They contribute to making the film seem realistic by putting expected sounds to the film we see.