Analysis of a title sequence - The Fleeting Little Life of Peter Wright

The title sequence of The Fleeting Little Life of Peter Wright follows the themes of the film in a subtle way, hinting what the film is going to be about. They are the first thing the viewer sees and therefore doesn’t want to give too much away but wants to set the scene for the film. All of the shots in the title sequence are from later scenes in the film but closer/out of focus/out of context, and all feature common methods of suicide (Jumping off a building, overdosing on pills, stepping in front of a train, and hanging) which is the main theme of the film but the title sequence is subtle so doesn’t explicitly tell the audience this. The music used in the title sequence is melancholy and builds slowly with a slow piano accompaniment reflecting the mood of the film. 

The titles start with a black screen and the white title slowly appearing on the screen the letters of “The Fleeting Little Life Of” appeared in a random order which could represent the scattered mind of the main character, and the words “Peter Wright” appears to be hand written adding the personal touch of the character to the title. The sound of a train starts to be heard over this is then followed with the shot of the train fading into view. 

The shot appears to be from a rooftop in London adjacent to the tracks, this train is in slow motion. On top of this shot the title text is still visible and starts to fades out fully by the middle of the shot. 

This then cuts to an out of focus shot of tablets falling in slow motion to the floor, there is no diegetic sound for this shot and only the music can be heard. Over the centre of this shot the names of actors start to appear in the same way that the main title text did. 

The next shot is of a train coming towards the camera, again there is no diegetic sound suggesting a disconnect between the main character and his surroundings. The text also appears over this shot in the bottom corner. 

The titles then cut back to the first shot of the train but a booted foot steps into view also in slow motion accompanied by the exaggerated diegetic sound of movement. 

This is followed by the shot of the tablets with the same booted foot stepping into view and the exaggerated diegetic sound of the step and the tablets hitting the ground. 

The next shot is again of the train coming towards the camera however this time the platform is in view, the camera pans down to reveal the booted foot stepping into shot towards the train again with the exaggerated diegetic sound. 

The next shot is an extreme close-up of the booted feet wobbling on a chair in the foreground with an out of focus door in the background. The exaggerated diegetic sound of the chair creaking. The shot pans up the person’s body reviling a woman opening the door. During this the text and non-diegetic music fades out and the film continues on from this shot. The fact that everything in the title sequence is in slow motion highlights the characters disconnect from the world whilst the fact we only see his boots could suggest that he feels like he doesn’t belong or feels like he just blends in and no-one notices him, highlighting this sense of depression.