SlasherEG7: Urban Legend

DVD cover

Urban Legend (titles+idents)
(Jamie Blanks, 1998)

Budget: $14m (estimated)
Box Office: $38m (USA) £1.1m (UK)

ident

 The first ident you see for Urban Legend is Pheonix.






Urban legend shows the titles of and credits in white serif font on a black background. I think they chose to do this as the contrast makes it very clear and the serious traditional lettering and style make it suit the slasher theme. This style is used in a lot of slasher films, especially the old ones. Because of this it is becoming a recognisable convention of the slasher genre.

 The writing then becomes layered over the first few shots which is a good way to fade into the film. The film starts with quite a dark scene so the white writing is still clear enough to be contrasting against the background and to be seen.


The titles then finish and the title of the film isn't shown until after the opening sequence and the first killing. This is a good way of breaking up the opening sequence and the main narrative. The shot being shown behind the titles is heavy rain fall. Showing weather like rain and storms is a commonly used technique to show that bad things are going to happen. This also keeps to the slasher genre.