Title choices and connotations
We have observed many horror movie titles and connotations within the opening sequences and have been able to see what works best for what kind of horror. Many of these opening sequences involve the screen appearing to shake and/or involving the colour red. I think that the colour red is popularly incorporated because red has connotations of blood, gore, death and pain. All of which should be incorporated into the film too. However, we believe that instead of the much used red, we should use a colour which shows more purity as our film involves innocent and vulnerable women being massacred by our killer. To show this we used the colour white and also made the words vibrate showing how the purity of the women and of the whole story was being forced to change.
Alien is another film with a title that we admired, as it has become incredibly iconic. It is also a title that is very blunt and summaries a main part of the plot. It also uses the predator of the film, which implies dominance. We took a similar approach with the title Butchered.
Scream also emphasises the relationship between the victim and the killer as Scream is what the victim is forced to do. We thought this was again a clever choice of title, and wanted to make ours similar. The title butchered hints at the act the killer intends to commit and pleads the audience wondering about the outcome.You're next is another good title, as the personal pronoun 'you're next' implies a direct relationship between viewer and the killer.
Nightmare on Elm street is an incredibly iconic title, that is memorable and also relevant to the plot of the trailer. We liked this title but did not believe that a longer title, that is almost a sentence in itself, would be as effective as we wanted a title that was short and sinister. Other examples of films with longer titles include: The texas chainsaw massacre, the blair witch project, The cabin in the woods, and NIght of the living dead.
We believed that Insidious was a really good title. The use of one word is incredibly effective as it is memorable and will grasp the audiences attention, remaining in the forefront of their mind. The word Insidious also has many connotations that are associated with horror, such as harm and cunningness. We decided that this was the type of title we wanted to mimic, as we thought it to be the one that would appeal most to the audience.