RESEARCH: ART OF THE TITLE 'SHERLOCK HOLMES'

In the opening of Sherlock Holmes the action starts straight away by showing the well known cast in small clips of the film, this is because it provides the pedigree of the film and supports the audience’s choice and encourages viewers to watch the film as they want to see the famous actors that they like. The name of the director (Guy Ritchie) appears twice during the opening sequence, ones at the begging and again at the very end; this because it supports the audience decision in watching the film as it is made a well known director. 

Font choices are important elements of the visual appeal and contribute to graphical cohesion, the swirly calligraphy font in Sherlock Holmes is effective as it fits the time period in which the film is set. The font is dark which stands out from the background which is a tea stained/ vintage looking paper. The actors are shown by freeze-framing certain scenes that their character is in and then the tea stained colour background covers them, followed by the name of the actor appearing by their picture. 

The film opening of Sherlock Holmes signals the genre of the film which seems to be a mystery. It does this in a number of ways, such as throughout the opening line “Case reopened” which implies there is a mystery to solve. The genre is also signalled through the soundtrack, such as the music which is dramatic and fast paced. In the film opening of Sherlock Holmes the soundtrack establishes the mood of the story as well as creating suspense and establishing enigma, it also fits the time of 1890 in which is the year that the film is set in. The overall setting, lighting and colour of the film is dark and mysterious to engage the audience and to also imply the genre of the film and give them a sense of what kind of film it is going to be. 

A lot of film openings introduce the main narrative elements to launch the film but do not give away too much in order to retain enigma. In the opening of Sherlock Holmes hardly any of the narrative is set up apart from the fact that a case has been reopened. However, this works effectively as the dramatic effects of the soundtrack and scenes of the characters is enough to intrigue the audience as well as retaining the enigma.