The Lost Highway evaluation

The Lost Highway

The title scene starts with a fade in from a blank screen to a dark road, with the only lighting from the headlights of the car and the only image is the road markings. There is adventurous, fast and exciting non-diegetic music playing. The sound choice in a title sequence generally foreshadows what may happen in the film, as this music is adventurous and exciting it shows that the plot of the film may also be adventurous and exciting, the title sequence prepares the audience for the film. This also fits to the conventions of a thriller film as they make the audience feel excited. The fact the car is driving, with nothing else is sight other than the road marks automatically creates a sense of confusion, as there is no indication as to where the driver may be going, also the driver is driving rather fast, which may indicate that he is in a rush for some unexplained reason.The dark setting also creates anxious feelings, as anything could appear at any time. The title scene builds suspense.  After 10 seconds of just driving along the road, the titles begin, they fade in from a distance. The text colour is bright yellow which contrasts the darkness of the road. Once the titles have faded in, they pause,  rather large on the screen for around 4 second, and then fade away. The font is bold,big and simple. As the protagonist is pacing around his apartment a long take is used to demonstrate the slow paced nature of the opening scene that contains very little action. Also, the slow paced editing creates a tension build, therefore making the viewer feel on edge and anticipate upcoming events.  There is an eye line match when the bell buzzes, before there is a cut from the buzzer onto the main character creates tension and allows the audience to see the stress building within the man’s face. Another long take is used to follow the man around his apartment.

Titles: 

• Bill Pullman
• Patricia Arquette
• Balthazar Getty
• Robert Blake
• Natasha Gregson Wagner
• Richard Pryor 
• Lucy Butter
• Michael Massee
• Jack Nance

The title 'Lost Highway' creates mystery. The title does not give away much information about the plot of the thriller movie, however indicates several brief suggestions of what may occur. It also fits in the title sequence of the car driving in the dark.