Thriller opening sequence

study
Bradley Waterhouse

Opening sequence timeline

Timeline explanation
This timeline is a rough idea of how the
opening sequence of Silent Hill works,
with the animation sequence, titles and
how long they last until.
Also, with the title list it shows more
clearly which titles are shown and what
order they follow, to see if it sticks to a
typical title sequence order with actors
and film title followed by other roles such
as director of photography for example.

The first title shown is the writer and director, to show who made the
film, since the production company is actually the game franchise in
which this movie is based on.
The black opening with a title just prolongs the tension of seeing the
actual opening sequence, which will later drop hints relevant to the
plot, or any obstacles the protagonist will face. To highlight who
directed and wrote this film, the text is superimposed onto a blank,
black background as opposed to the rest of the titles which are on top
of a freeze-frame picture, this is just to stand out to the viewer and
ensure they recognise who the film is made by. The editing and

Here, instead of a production company like Paramount for example,

this film uses a game franchise to hold the legal standings and the
funding of the movie. Konami played the role of being the production
company, but instead of following the typical title sequence of:
Production company > Producers/writers > Co-Producers, it follows a
title sequence of: Directors/writers > Co-Producers > Konami.
This shot is also a low-angle mid shot of the creature which will most
possibly make an appearance of the film and works as an
establishing shot since the rest of the shots in this sequence are
close-ups of individual body parts of this creature, so this shot

After the production company/inspiration was displayed, the general

crew who delegate to the producers and directors are superimposed
onto the picture, again onto the picture and not on the black
background that the director was on. After the main antagonist was
displayed, a mid-shot of the less relevant antagonists who appear to
have a lower status of power than the creature, so these less
powerful characters are shown to possibly represent the general
crew, mixed with the order of importance on the title sequence. Or,
the producer and director could represent the main body of this
creature, and all the individual limbs represent the crew all working

Again deviating from the regular title sequence structure, the actors
are shown after the additional crew. Usually, the main
actors/actresses are shown around the same time as the production
team and director, sometimes the film title. After that, the smaller
characters who have a lesser role but have relevance to the plot are
shown.
In this case the actors are all shown at once, though there is
organisation to the structure of this title sequence, it is difficult to
distinguish who the main actors/actresses are and even more so to
differentiate the scale of importance. I presume the bigger, more

Finally, after all the crew and cast have been shown, the film title is
finally introduced. All of the build up will have engaged the viewer in
the film, seeing as anticipation builds before any movie until the title is
shown because it gives a sense of closure as to what the movie is for
the viewer. Sometimes in films, the title is shown at the start or during
the middle of the title sequence so this organised structure to the title
sequence has created an air of tension and anticipation for the viewer
since they have no indication as to when the title sequence is coming
to a close. They are forced to think the titles are over when it is shown
after everything else, hence why it is unusual to have it placed at the
end of the title sequence. However this is not the case, because