Music

The well known original score, composed by Steven Sondheim, is heard through out the opening. However, the music is an instrumental version of the choral song that opens the musical. This helps to not distract from what is happening on the screen as that is what is mainly setting up for the film. Nevertheless the use techniques such as shrieking, high pitched violins and the contrasts between the brass section and flute solo, are used by Sondheim either set the genre or to reflect on parts of the film.

The use of the shrieking, high pitched violins is stereotypical of the horror genre, as it has been used in the famous shower scene in "Psycho". This helps the viewer to instantly identify which genre they are watching and enables them to know what to expect. For example the feelings of fear, alarm and suspense are often included into this sound, once the viewer hears this, they get the same emotional response and therefore get more involved with film.

Another technique heard in the use of the high pitched flute solo. The flute can be heard from a picture of Johanna’s mother, this shows the innocence of both the mother and the daughter as they are going through dark and unhappy times of Todd's revenge. This reflects parts of the film as it shows Johanna's innocence which helps to balance out the darker side of the film and helps the viewer to understand Johanna and the problems of her life. That then contrasts to the louder and stronger brass section which comes in afterwards. This represents the way that Sweeney Todd comes in and unintentionally invades their lives, with him killing Johanna's mother and almost killing Johanna. The aforementioned acts as foreshadowing to make the ending seem less of a shock.