Title sequence analysis

Title sequence analysis

• 1.
  Title Sequence Analysis ByGrace Crawford, AS Media Studies
• 2.
  Below are themovies that I decided to look into for the analysis of the title sequence timeline, I used these four movies each with the genre thriller inside but submerged with other genres to, in order for me to easily understand the different frames that has been positioned onto each of the movies timeline to eventually help me to create my own timeline for my own production, after the completion of that task, I shall now go onto comparing each of the films timelines, discussing upon the use of colours, fonts and positions as well as timings and credits in order, with this information I can go on to successfully creating my own titles and credits for when I begin to create my production.
• 3.
  Cowboys and Aliens(2011, Directed by Jon Favreau) Cowboys and Aliens had titles and credits, along with footage of the film throughout the opening, this being the protagonist waking up disorientated in the western outback, and making his way to the nearest town via horse. I quite liked how they did this as it marked the opening of the movie, it also allowed audiences to gain a basic understanding of what the film is about, as the opening sequence introduces the characters, settings, Mise en scene..etc, whilst also screening credits across the screen, I found it effective however the only problem I experienced was the difficulty in reading out the titles and credits, so if I was to do this for my production, I would need to ensure that the titles and credit are readable for audiences and are positioned and presented in a coherent and professionalized manner.
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  House on theend of the street (2012, Directed by Mark Tonderai) I found that in this film, the opening credits and titles dominate over the footage of the film, which in one way I found quite engaging as it built the films tension up as the titles went in sync with the eerie music. I also liked the use of colours the white against black, connoting good and evil connecting to Levi Strauss Binary Opposites which I found to be an effective use of colour, linking to the thriller genre seriously well. Animation has also been inflicted onto the credits and titles, making the words blink as well as levitate above one another, linking into the genre of supernatural occurrences within the film, which I found to be quite effective and engaging for audiences. I felt that by dominating over footage throughout the opening may be effective, however I don’t think that it’s the right thing for me to do, especially as the titles and credits would have to be accurate and on point, building up tension and displaying meaning to audiences, as this is my first time accomplishing this aspect of work, I don’t think that by dominating over the production would be as successful as the film, so I may refine doing this.
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  Insidious (2011, Directedby James Wan) This film for me really linked into the thriller genre well in regards to titles and credits throughout the opening, the colours were a bold red against a film noir background, displaying strong conventions of suspension and anticipation amongst audiences, the use of the establishing shots conveys to audiences that the central plot will be taken in this location, the use of low key lighting really sets the mood of a depressing bleak atmosphere and the unknown within this film, setting in excitement for audiences. Similarly, like House on the end of the street, this film also places animation and effects on the text, I think this is more engaging for audiences and certainly links to the conventions within the film, I find that the use of colours are also engaging and easily readable as well.
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  Detention (2012, Directedby Joseph Kahn) Detention showed me other alternative methods of displaying film titles and credits, here I can see that they have aimed at their target audience through the use of titles by displaying them on the interests and lifestyles of young people, the props used for the titles are seen as social norms that young people in society are often seen with today, ie the pictures below communicates this clearly with the use of fashion wear and devices clearly showing that these are known items that young people are seen with. I found this very clever however I don’t think it linked to the thriller genre very well, however it did link with the target audience really well and connected with their pleasures and lifestyles, something of which that I have to think about due to my target audience also being young people, so this has provided me with good insights to this.
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  Overall… Each of thefilms I’ve analysed offer a very similar layout in which credits and titles are presented to audiences, I found that the higher budget films ( Insidious and Cowboys and Aliens) presents the name of the director first, indicating to me that the directors use of name at the start promotes the film, committing audiences into watching it due to the high success rate from previous films that the director has been involved with. However, the other films House on the end of the Street and Detention had approached it differently, where they’ve promoted the use of actors and actresses names at the start and than directors at the end, here these films show popular and recognisable names Detention, Josh Hutcherson and House on the end of the street, Jennifer Lawrence, initially trying to appeal to a younger audience due to the young actors name being shown at the start. I find that its more effective in displaying actors names first to show who's staring in the film, that way fans of the actors can instantly see who is starring in the film and be more committed to watching it as I find audiences are a lot more familiar with actors names than directors.
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  In terms offilm titles, the films have shared the idea of presenting the title of their film right at the end of the opening (except Detention), I find this an effective convention to do as it allows audiences to know more information about the films plot once the opening has ben revealed to them, giving them an urge to watch on to find out more about it. I find that this was important as openings of thrillers are needed to be essentially scary and frightening to give audiences an insight in to what the film will revolve around and by leaving the opening on a cliff-hanger to show the titles I find has been done effectively and leaves audiences wanting more, instantly committing them into watching the rest of the film. I think that applying the titles name at the start will leave the audiences uninterested and bored, especially if the titles dominates the screen, I think that in order for a thriller to be successful it needs to display the title of the film at the end of the opening, that way there would be a clean cut from opening sequence to movie, allowing audiences to easily follow the narrative.
• 9.
  The typical orderwithin the film usually starts as, 1. Company Institutions 2. Actors Names 3. Casting Credit 4. Music credit 5. Photography Credit 6. Executive Credit 7. Producers Credit 8. Co Producers Credit 9. Editor credit 10. Director Credit When watching through the four films, I roughly got the order that were seen as conventional for audiences to expect in that order the titles took place in, this will come to help to help me when I come to create my own productions as I will be able to refer back to it. This task has helped and expanded my understanding and knowledge of title sequence, allowing me to create successful titles that are effective and conventional for my target audience.