Font in Thrillers

Font in Thriller Films

Though it may not seem important, the use of font in films can set any different types of tone. Whether it be as titles or credits in which are shown at the start of a film. It takes a team of people a very long time to create fonts for big budget films and they can be very important in giving a film a good first impression.

In the first example in the film ‘Se7en’ we can see a white font appear on the screen. It isn’t static and jolts around different parts on the screen many times to create a sinister look. The text always comes back to one spot dead in the centre of the screen. By having this effect, it sets the tone of the film in the first few seconds of its opening. The jolting text creates connotations mental problems.

 As we know this film is a psychological thriller where we see the work of a mentally challenged serial killer in action so having this type of sinister text emphasises the character of the film. The text being plain white suggests how regular it is, like the victims that are shown in the film. It creates the sense that any of these acts could happen to anyone as the people are just normal human beings. This disturbing idea gives a chilling outlook on something just as simple as the font. The font is first portrayed over a black screen before then merging into the scene of the murderer in question plotting all of his twisted ideas. Having this play in the background is scary to watch as the pictures of violence and the self-harm is sickening. But this was purposeful and the creators picked this text to fit in with threatening aspect.

Also in this scene, we see the actor’s and the director’s names flash up. The name itself look like it is hand written whereas the writing around it is in the same text as the title ‘Se7en’. This idea that it’s been hand written suggest it’s been written in the murderer’s hand writing which we’re going to become a custom to throughout the film. It adds this ominous edge to the idea t nobody is safe. The directors are not in the film and don’t exist in the world of this film yet their names are being written in the murderer’s hand writing. The actor’s names are again hand written and placed on different parts of the screen to each other. When their names show, the background is completely black which creates a menacing picture in which we question each character individually. Again, the font doesn’t keep still and jolt and moves across the screen in very spontaneous places.