Monday 18 January 2016

Watchmen Title Sequence Analysis.
The first thing that strikes you when you see the Watchmen title sequence is the choice of soundtrack. The last thing you expect to hear when watching a thriller is the non-diegetic tune of Bob Dylan’s “Times they are a changing”. The use of folk music in a title sequence of a thriller challenges the normal conventions of using dark and gritty sounds and music to set the tone. The use of this song is almost as if its contrapuntal sound as it doesn’t match the scenes that are happening but being mixed with the 1960’s nostalgia going on in the rest of the sequence really sets the tone of the film and explains it’s setting well.

We see that a large majority of the characters are in rather extravagant costumes. This gives a key insight into what role they may play in the movie. The costumes are similar to ones you may find in a comic book or graphic novel suggesting they may be “Super heroes” or “Super villains”. However, we also see them grappling and fighting with men that appear to be armed, suggesting that they might actually be the good guys, making the idea of “Super Villains” less likely. The use of lighting in these sequences are also quite interesting and appears to challenge thriller convention. The fact that each character starts of in shadow is normal for a thriller however each character is then light up brightly giving the impression of a camera flash. This places the character in what appears to be a position of respect and authority because they are lit up more than the surrounding people and environment. The camera flash also ties in well with the song, with the photos recording the characters into history, recording how the times “are a changing”.


The font in the title sequence does not break thriller convention really, however it is unconventional. The font used is large, bold and yellow. Not something you would expect to find in a serious thriller film. This font would be better suited to a comic book, showing us that this may not be an altogether realistic film. This does not necessarily show that this film is not serious however it shows that the concepts may not be realistic, e.g. Superheroes.

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