Thursday 21 January 2016

Title Sequence Analysis (Notes)


Mission Impossible (JJ Abrahms, 2011):

-Low key lighting - conventional for spy sub-genre
-Following spark - involves audience in scenario
-City and underground setting - conventional for spy sub-genre
-Fast paced
-Spy iconography - fast cars, weaponry, dynamite/explosions


Children of Men (Alfonso Cuaron, 2006):
-Dramatic music - establishes drama genre
-Police - suggests violence and anarchy
-Dystopia setting


Napoleon Dynamite(Jared Hess, 2004):
-70s feel
-Comedic
-School setting - lunch, books, geeky
-America
-Typewriter font


The Watchmen Title Sequence Analysis 

As another area of reference for my title sequence, I decided to study the movie The Watchmen (Zack Snyder, 2009) title sequence, co-produced by Yu-CO and the film director. The Watchmen title sequence could again be considered as revolutionary to the film industry, experimenting with a new style of titles never used before. 

The title sequence experimented with a variety of different editing techniques to create a stylish and retro sequence. Slow motion is used throughout the entire sequence to introduce the audience to the characters seen in the movie, as well as the time period it is set in. The slow motion also emphasises how time has passed, showing the progression of historical events leading up to when the movie is set. These historical events are also used to introduce the main plot of the movie, featuring the main characters in events such as the JFK shooting. 

The non-diegetic soundtrack of the title sequence is a song written by Bob Dylan. This is a prime example of contrapuntal sound as the music sounds quite happy, contrasting to the constant violence and death featured in the title sequence. The music is also acoustic and uses harmonica, which suggests that the film will either take place in or reference older times before extensive use of electricity and technology. The artist of the song is also incredibly popular amongst an older generation, so appeals to those who feel a sense of nostalgia towards the music. It is also again sets a possible time period for the film as it was popular in the 60s

In regards to the typography used, the font is very bold bright. This could be considered as conventional for most superhero movies. The colours used for the font (yellow and red) also stand out and immediately attract the attention of the viewer. 

Friday 15 January 2016

Analysis- Se7en title sequence
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=se7en+title+sequence

As a possible area of reference for my title sequence, I decided to study the work of modern title sequence designer Kyle Cooper. famous for his works such as Se7en and The Incredible Hulk, Cooper's work could be considered as revolutionary for the film industry.

Se7en was directed in 1995 by David Fincher, and starred Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman. Cooper made certain of linking the title sequence to the film's prime genre of horror/thriller by using a variety of editing and sound techniques to portray this.

The opening of this title sequence immediately establishes the genre of the movie, due to the films use of an eerie and twisted non-diegetic soundtrack that the audience can link with a horror/thriller-like atmosphere. The song causes a sense of tension and fright within the audience as the track is noticeably dark and negative. However, due to the mysterious visuals alongside the non-diegetic music, the audience feel engaged with the film and will feel the need to continue watching to discover more about the character in the title sequence, even if the thought of it frightens them. 

The primary shot of the title sequence is the flicking pages of a book. This shot initialises curiosity within the audience, as they cannot see what the book contains, so will therefore continue watching the film to discover this. This scene is followed up by a flicker transition into a close up of a picture of mangled hands. This again emphasises the horror aspect of the movie by presenting the viewers with disturbing images such as this which they feel uncomfortable watching. The flickering and flashing transitions keep the audience engaged with the fast paced movements of the title sequence, as do the frequent disorientating jump-cuts that encourage the viewers to pay close attention to each jittery scene as carefully as possible before it is snatched away by another transition. The first credit displayed in the title sequence is Brad Pitt. His name, as well as those to follow, are presented on a pitch black background in a white, handwritten font. The words on the screen flicker and jump about as well as doubling up and overlapping themselves. This also elaborates on the genre of the film as the scratchy  writing seems to relate to the character in the title sequence, whose hands are grungy and peeling. The double-up effect of the writing is made using many different layers of text and overlapping them in different ways. Editing something like this would take up an extremely large amount of time and would require full dedication to achieve an outcome such as this.

Cooper continues to use close-ups to portray the genre of the movie and encourage tension in the audience by shooting distorted and disturbing scenes that reveal barely anything about the plot or characters of the film, an example of this is a close up of the main character slicing off the hard skin on his fingertips, but only his fingertips are shown and his face is never seen throughout the entire sequence. In regards to the mise en scene of this scene, the props used suggest the mysterious character is intelligent and adept in whatever he is doing, as he slices the skin fingertips effortlessly and without flinching, and he also has layers of dead skin underneath the layer he sliced off suggesting he has done this many times before. The audience can associate this strange act to that of a sadist and criminal, as it is not considered a normal thing for any sane human being to do. However, due to the precision of the character's movements he is obviously intellectual and smart. The lighting of each scene also suggests that, although the title sequence is dominated by close up shots so is quite hard to grasp a location, the scene is set inside a room such as an office or home.





Thursday 14 January 2016

Assignment Brief


Preliminary exercise: Continuity task involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. This task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule.

Main task: the titles and opening of a new fiction film, to last a maximum of two minutes.

All video and audio material must be original, produced by the candidate(s), with the exception of music or audio effects from a copyright-free source. Both preliminary and main tasks may be done individually or as a group. Maximum four members to a group.