Task 3 By Khain

Task 3:What we learned in class about title sequences and film openings 

What is instant arousal, why it’s important and it’s risks:

Instant arousal in filming is a technique where the opening sequence or the beginning five minutes hastily takes the attention of the audience. One reason instant arousal is important is because instant arousal when done successfully almost insures the audiences full attention for the rest of the film. However a risk of using instant arousal is that if you rush the attraction of the audience, the audience will begin to question whether the rest of the film will be as interesting as the initial 5 minutes. Furthermore if the opening sequence is full of intrigue unlike the rest of the film then this ends up setting the bar to high resulting in the disappointment of the audience.

What is a classic opening and why does it work:

A classic opening is a conventional opening where the establishing shot is firstly the camera pans up a building from the ground, up past a window or a few then into an office showing the protagonist(s) of the film. That is one way of opening a film, another would be like shining where the camera follows the car giving the audience a feeling of mystery; this links to the film technique of slowly seducing your audience instead of instant arousal.

What is a “favorite trick of film noir”:

The Film noir trick is when the ending of the film or a part of the ending is made to feature in or become the opening sequence of the film. This trick is used make the audience think that nothing is as it seems, also to give them a taste of what is to come and intrigue them further. A lot of the time there are small details the audience most likely won’t notice until they view it a second time. This trick is great because it makes the audience feel that they don’t know nearly enough yet but at the same time not to little. This is effective for reason that it allows the audience to make initial judgements about the film, then making them want to see more of the film. Directors say that this brings the audience onto their wavelength.

Task 7 By Khain

Task 7: Back to the future 
Title credits order:

A Robert Zemeckis film

Starring Michael J fox

Christopher Lloyd

Lea Thompson

Crispin Glover

Thomas F. Wilson

Casting by Mike Fenton, Jane Feinberg and Judy Taylor

Executive producers

Steven Spielberg Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy

Conclusion:

A basic Calibri type font with black shading was used for the title credits with the job title being in small font of around 20 and the name of the person in a larger 28. Each title was on screen for about 4 seconds with the overall title sequence being 4 minutes and 5 seconds. From this I can conclude that titles are not meant to really attract attention so they are usually styled in a very simple basic manner and only kept on screen for a minimal period, directing the audience’s attention to the background which is the actual opening sequence rather than the just the titles.

Post 6 & 7

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire - Opening Analysis

The first five seconds of the sequence starts with a setting of an establishing shot that follows and foreshadows the theme of the film which is quite dark and is often located in the woods. The camera shoots a moving establishing shot that takes 'us' the audience on a journey through the film. The director does this to make the audience feel under the impression that we are apart of the film. After this happens, the production company is displayed at the bottom of the shot showing- 'Lionsgate presents'. Whilst all of this is taking place there is a low volume chime music playing behind to add to the mysterious atmosphere.

The second scene shown displays a close up of a magnifying glass which breaks into several pieces. Whilst this happens also displayed is the main characters name on top of the magnifying glass when it smashes. This could suggest and foreshadow that the main character is or experiences violence during the film. Ambiguously, this could suggest that the character could be broken down emotionally or physically in the film.

The sequence continues to use symbolic images and cinematic captions to relate to the film itself. The main example of this displays itself later in the sequence. An arrow is shown travelling through a transition of two colours. The arrow itself is significant as it is a weapon that is used frequently by the main character. The first background colour the arrow was shown in was blue which consist of droplets and peaceful water, the second colour was orange which was flames. Whilst the arrow passes through the orange background it slowly starts to catch flames, this is until it reaches the ring which then catches fire due to the flames from the arrow. As soon as the revelation of the arrow catches the ring with fire, ironically the title of the film 'catching fire' is purposely displayed. Here the creators of the beginning sequence indirectly tells us that the film is going to get heated intensely and their will be an exciting end to the film. During this overall transition the music that was quite mellow at the start began slowly increasing in volume and became more violent to the extravagance of the title being displayed.

TWILIGHT :BREAKING DAWN #1 - OPENING ANALYSIS

Immediately when starting the sequence the title of the film 'Breaking dawn' appears. This happens alongside a soundtrack which has slow tempo. Following the appearance of the films name, all of the production companies are displayed with clarity - showing its boldness on the screen. In addition the logo is drawn onto the screen with the company name to establish itself and make the company recognisable to the audience.

The sequence alike 'catching fire' also uses symbolic images to foreshadow events or the use of that specific image in the movie. For example, an 'eye' is displayed beside one of the main characters name in the story line. This is symbolic as in the film according to which type of vampire you are your eyes have a specific colour accordingly. Another symbolic item used in the title sequence is the use of feathers. This is significant as it makes reference to the wolves that also play a big part in the movie.

Nearer the end of the sequence the white background fades out into and all white and black forest which is the main setting in the movie. The also audience knows this location as the place where all the 'drama' happens.

My Conclusion made from both film openings .

In conclusion I believe as shown from both of these films that film openings can vary. There can be a different order of sequence. It is clear that they both differ in order of sequence. However, they are both created for the same reasons which are;

• To state the legal ownership of production of the film
• To make clear the different contributions made by people in the film eg. The playwright, the screen play and director
• To make known the title of the film
• To make know who stars in the film eg. Actors/Actresses
• To foreshadow certain events of the film symbolically follow the films theme

Post 5

Kyle Cooper is a director and designer of film title sequences. He is famous for the creation of the title sequence of Spider man and Superman Returns.

"A great title sequence sets an expectation, you're in the theatre and you see the sequence, you forget about everything else and you don't want to be anywhere else but here in this moment and it gets you excited".

Later he further explains the comment as he suggests that creating a title sequence has to set the tone and impression for the rest of the film. In my own words he is suggesting that the pieces of the puzzle has to match. One piece being the title sequence and the other is the films 'body'. In summary of my explanation he says, 'the thought of the title sequence shouldn't be an after thought, it should be integrated".

"I like the handmade things there's something really imperfect about it". From this I believe that he implying simple is better". For example, when making a title sequence he often focuses on one thing that is the characters obsession. In to kill a mockingbird he focused on scouts obsession which was the treasure box.

To conclude, Kyle cooper creates great title sequences from simple everyday things but shoots and animated around these items to create a deeper meaning. How deep the meaning ? Can only be answered by the content of the film or genre. As a result of this he always sets the standard for the rest of the film by sharing clues with the audience to keep the locked and interested not just for the sequence itself but for the rest of the film.

Post 3 & 4

VLOG & PROFFESIONAL MEANING FROM RESEARCH.


What is a title sequence? A method by which films or television programs present their title, key production and cast members, or both, utilizing conceptual visuals and sound. 

It typically includes the text of the opening credits, and helps establish the setting and tone of the program. It may consist of live action, animation, music, still images, and/or graphics.

 

Just to break it down for you, this is my Vlog with my understanding of the purpose of a film opening/ title opening. (BELOW)

Post 2

Prelim film Evaluation

As part of this Media course I took part in creating a prelim film exploring I and my previous groups knowledge of techniques about film shots. This process of creation went extremely well overall.

When planning the film, one of the successful decisions that I and my group made is the decision that we would make the content about something we can all identify with, so the film making and editing can be more enjoyable for everyone. The play in the end was called 'the chicken shop, the police man and the student'. It was comedic and real for us to make. The planning brought each and everyone of our members group together, it took commitment, understanding and dedication for us to agree and incorporate all the different idea's 'we had laid out on the table'. Our proof of this is the product of the script and well thought out story line before filming.

When filming, we found that our group had weaknesses. One of which was getting the angles correct for our match cut when the police officer was walking through the door. This really took patience as we were not used to the constant, frequent takes on the scenes that were scripted. Just to get our clips closer to perfection, we persisted on in repeating shots for different scenes. This was just one of the trials that we benefited from after a while. Another difficulty we faced as group was filming a conversation between three students in the chicken shop. We found this a bit difficult because we had to use the 180 degree rule in order for the sequence of the speech by the characters to make sense, in the end we found this technique to be useful.

When editing, the process was partly challenging as adapting to the software that we had to use was a bit difficult at first. Placing different takes to form a match cut was a personal difficulty that I had to face. The process was difficult because you had to match about three takes that would flow simultaneously but in the end I made progress. Another challenge was the selecting which order to place the clips, all though it was obvious according to our script where scenes were to take place. I and the group soon found that changing around certain takes creates new and sometimes better and deeper meaning. As a result we had to adapt our script according to the new order that our film followed.

Personally, as mentioned before I learnt to develop a range of skills such as; communication, patience, commitment, perseverance, sympathy and consideration ect. I do believe that the quality of the final product of the film reflects on how hard we worked as a group. As an individual I feel as if my ideas were incorporated and displayed successfully throughout the film.

In terms of aspects of the film that went well I believe that the introduction of the characters was exceptional as it was clear as to who they were and their intention. Also, I believe that the editing was successful as the film flows coherently. However, if I was to improve anything it would be the setting. This would be a change I would make as we could have made it more clearer. In addition another aspect would be the addition of costumes to the characters just to emphasise the clarity of the characters.

Conclusively, I have learnt that the process of this project takes hard work and determination and the achievement of completion results to pride in your work, which I am confident that I and my fellow members have already experienced. When planning my big production in the near future of this course I will consider;

When planning

• All the members agree on the concept of the film
• That the script incorporates at least one of the ideas of each members
• That meaning is coherent throughout the script
• Adapt plans on script if greater meaning is created during filming or editing

When filming

• Every scene is filmed to the best of our abilities
• Takes are filmed as accurate as possible so its easier for techniques when editing
• Stick as near to the script as possible

When editing

• Use the software to create a successful coherent film
• Create a simultaneous flow when using techniques
• Try to stick to the script in terms of scene however, if greater meaning can be made when editing the do so

Thanks for reading,

Khairna Boulyn.

Post 2

10. PRELIM. Khain, Khairna, Adriana, Rhianna, Danielle from 283goswell on Vimeo.

1 Welcome Post.