RESEARCH: ART OF THE TITLE 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'

To start off my research, I used the website Art of the Title to explore film openings and title sequences to better understand the ways in which film companies successfully engage their viewers. 

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a 2011 psychological thriller based on the 2005 novel written by Swedish writer Stieg Larsson and directed by David Fincher. I chose to analyse the title sequence of ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ because as a viewer myself I was immediately intrigued and I would like to learn from the success of this film opening and the thriller conventions that it uses, as I hope to further explore the thriller genre when we progress to filming our own film opening.

The title sequence opens with a black screen and a 5 second build-up of non-diegetic music. This successfully helps to build up anticipation for the reader as tension is built through the increasing volume of the sound. This anticipation is broken with clear audio codes of drumming which make the rhythm more fast paced as the beat and tempo increase, this rock music is asynchronous as we do not see the source of the music within the scene. The music (‘Immigrant Song by Led Zeppelin) remains continuous throughout, the howling vocals contributing to the overwhelming impact on the audience created by the intensity and chaotic nature of the music. This helps to create a sense of thrill, that allow the audience to infer the genre of the film; thriller.

Sudden flashes of light in the beginning shed a white light on aspects of the mise-en-scene. The flashes of light are in sync with the rhythm of the music, forming a beat. The flashes start off by returning to the darkness but as they become quicker they cut to the next shot, this increase of the tempo builds up the intensity, helping to further intrigue the viewer. The use of close-up shots adds to the sense of the unknown, and causes the audience to become disorientated as they cannot understand the context of the shots, this may influence them to become more engaged in the sequence, as they search for details. Just under 15 seconds into the title sequence the viewer is introduced to a smooth, oozing black oil-like substance, a ‘viscid, black ooze’ that seeps over the mise-en-scene. Its flowing form contrasts with the chaotic rock music adding to the uneasy feel, however the way in which it overwhelms, penetrates and seeps into everything it touches fits with the overpowering audio codes; it is ‘suffocating and sensual and silent’. Both the music and the mise-en-scene contribute to the immersive feel of the film opening, making the viewer feel involved and engaged in what they are watching. 

The distinctive visual style of the title sequence also contributes to the intense thriller feel. The colour palate is tones of black and white, alongside flashes of glowing ember, these colours have sinister connotations which may cause the viewer to feel unsettled. Furthermore, this creates a murky feel as most of what we see is shrouded in darkness so we are unable to understand what we are being shown. An ominous atmosphere is created as a result of this and the audience is caused to feel somewhat disorientated and overwhelmed through a mix of the intense audio and visual codes. The constant movement of the camera shots also adds to the hectic, fast paced feel. This feeling is a good indicator of what the film is likely to entail and therefore will intrigue the viewer to watch more.

An unusual atmosphere is created by the mise-en-scene, as we see a range of objects and forms, ranging from a keyboard and cables to bodies overwhelmed in the black substance, conflict, drowning, dragons and flames. Rapid cross-cutting of shots creates a disorientating effect as the viewer is unable to properly focus on, and attempt to understand, any one thing, this creates a sense of confusion. Although the cross-cutting is rapid, the movements within the scenes are slow and flowing, much like the oil. As the title sequence progresses, there is an increase in the quantity of shots including flames. Flames have sinister connotations, as well as linking to ‘dragon’ in the title. This may cause the audience to search for a link between the two references, and form an intrigue as to what significance the dragon has.