Title Sequence Analysis: The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

Title Sequence to The Rocky Horror Picture Show: http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/the-rocky-horror-picture-show/

The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a musical comedy horror film that was released on screen and also was performed as a musical on stage. The film was directed by Jim Sharman and starred Tim Curry and Richard O'Brien along with other cast members. This film has a very iconic opening/title sequence and very much compliments the conventions of a horror film and this is the title sequence that I will be analysing.

The film begins with the 20th Century Fox logo as this film was distributed by this company. Then as this fades to black an ominous wind can be heard as the words "Twentieth Century Fox Presents" appear on screen in red text with a black background. this makes it obvious from the start that the film will have elements of horror in the film as the colour scheme of red and black is iconic to the horror genre.

However, the colour red also connotes passion, lust and promiscuity which are themes that runs through this film. Also, the font is a typical type of font that is associated with grand buildings like churchs and castles as the thin lettering connotes the idea of grandness. This is also given off through the font being a serif font which means that the font contains small flicks on the ends and this connotes sophistication which links in with the idea of old and potentially spooky buildings. This helps establish to the audience that the film is set mostly in this kind of building.

After this a pair of red lips fade onto the black background and the opening song (Science Fiction/Double Feature) begins to play. These lips then begin to sing and only the lips can be seen. This is effective as lips are commonly associated with passion and this is a running theme within the film. These lips begin to sing the opening song and this is also effective as this entices the audience to sing along as this is very common with musical films. However, this is also used to help make the audience feel a little bit uneasy as it is very unnatural to see a pair of lips without a face or any other facial features. This helps create a slightly uneasy atmosphere within the audience and this is a common convention within the horror genre in which this film is influenced by.

Then after the first verse of the song, the lips freeze and fade to black and white. Then, the title of the film fades over the top of them. The positioning of the title is very effective. The diagonal title connotes the idea of something strange going on, similar to a shot filmed at a canted angle. As well as the positioning of the title, the font is also effective as it seems to be dripping and the colour of the font immediately connotes blood, showing to the audience that there will be an element of horror within the film. However, this font really emphasises this idea of horror to the point that it looks very exaggerated and over-the-top. This helps draw in an element of comedy. This is effective as it shows that this film merges both horror and comedy together, as well as the style of a musical, to help create a mad and passionate film. This continues through the title sequence up to the first scene of the film.