Title Sequence Research: Splice

Splice is a spine-crawling horror movie about the manipulations of the human body. A horror's main purposes other than entertainment are to make the audience panic and feel unsettled on their seats whilst rattling with people's fears. The conventions of a horror movie include:

• Characters: teenagers, killers / villans, parents, iconic fictional characters, paranormal monsters.
• Crime
• Non-diegetic sounds effects.
• Locations: abandoned areas and woods.
• Props: brutal weaponry, cars.

Splice's mise-en-scene starts of at the start of the sequence with X-Rays of animals, instantly setting the mood with ambiguity. You immediately see the start of the recurring green theme throughout the title sequence; the semiotics of this colour are mysterious/ambiguous/unusual especially in the context of strange animals, the colour black is also involved which also creates that void / mysterious atmosphere.

As one convention of a horror is to make people feel frightened, the close up of the CGI X-Rays do this also creating an enigma as the audience will want to know what's happening. The X-Rays gives an insight into the story, since this is linked with medical situations, knowing the killer could potentially be smart with his killings - creating suspense. 

What animal is this?

These images are manipulated into the company's logos, which represents the story line since the plot involves a man manipulating human's bodies.

The editing is very slow, creating that suspenseful tone throughout the title sequence. You are constantly waiting for a climax as one convention of a horror genre includes a climax.

There are a various use of typography in this title sequence, firstly the company credits are very simplistic and minimal. Whereas the actors names are integrated into the body parts, again showing the theme of manipulation. As on convention of a horror is to make the audience feel on edge it's successfully done through the innovative typography usage:

The sound within a horror movie is a major part in conveying a frightful mood, splice uses an eerie sound bridge throughout the sequence - similar to the note about a climax, you're also expecting it along with the soundtrack. It's very classical which could be interpreted as in the manipulation of bodies are very historical and the connotations of dark and weird horror. Also, the use of foley sound is integrated in the title sequence, bubble sounds and moving through liquid are prominent, this adds to the suspense of a horror genre.