RESEARCH: Art of the Title, Split

https://www.artofthetitle.com/title/split/

I chose to analyse and research the opening for the film Split, because the simplistic and minimalist opening attracted me as it was so effective, yet so simple and I wanted to see the different aspects to such an effective opening. 


Split is an American physiological horror film from 2016. Which is the second of a trilogy written, directed and produced by M. Night Shyamalan. The film is about a man who lives with 24 different personalities who then goes on to kidnap and imprison three teenage girls in a secluded underground basement. The opening of this film is a sinister and simplistic subtle introduction to the twisted mind of the character, it gives the audience a glimpse into a fractured mind, which clearly shows a dark and twisted mind. The creators took inspiration from iconic openings and main titles such as Alien and Physco. The titles for Split appear to be extremely simplistic behind black backgrounds with large bold white typography. The 3 main factors of the titles are a black screen, white typography and the font Helvetia. The creators thought that no other font would look so good, this big. They believed that a too threatening of a font would be inappropriate and could come across as overly forceful. The opening shows each screen sliced up and broken into a 24 frame grid and some layered, this could be to represent the 24 different personalities the main character has. 


The use of mise-en-scene is very minimal throughout this opening but very effective as it creates a story and creates suspense for the audience to find out what each thing means and leads to. The opening begins with the man wearing a particle mask , this straight away gives the audience an idea that he is trying to protect himself from something dangerous, he then comes towards the camera holding a spray bottle, this is a point of view shot, this creates fear for the audience as it makes them relate with the character as this is trying to create an emotional affect for the audience as they are meant to feel as though they are sitting where the camera is. The editing for this is also extremely fast pace this makes us feel as though what ever is happening is quick and sudden and we are left confused and questioning what has happened and who this character behind the camera actually is. This introduction to the character instantly creates the idea that he is dangerous and will be seen that way throughout the film. 


There is a variety of different camera angles used throughout to create a story and an interesting opening. We are shown a long angle , close up shot of the girl that has been kidnapped opening her eyes this is a reaction shot to how she is feeling at the time in these surroundings however she seems to still be drugged and hallucinated from what was in the spray bottle, it shows her looking confused and puzzled this then goes to a focus pull , creating the effect of her being confused and making the viewers confused as well to what has really happened to her. When the man is lifting the girl onto a bed it is a low angle shot which is unfocused so we are unaware of what is truly happening, this shows she has no control as she looks unconscious the camera is slightly covered throughout this creates suspense and makes the viewers question what is happening. Throughout the opening the editing is very fast pace and sudden, it shows a black screen for a couple of seconds then there is a sudden shot to the girl waking up slowly. 

The sound throughout is very mysterious and chilling sound, the sound is echoing throughout where we hear the hovering of the lights and sound of water leakage this represents the fact that the what looks like a basement that they are in is unsafe and unhygienic surroundings. The sound is mostly dark noises and then changes to be completely silent when the girls wakes up, this creates suspense as if everything has stopped and become okay for a second for her but something bad will happen next. Right at the start of the opening the first sound we hear is a heavy large breath in this creates danger and fear.