What Titles?

What Titles?

A title sequence is a method that is used for mainly films/television programmes that represents the title of the film/television programme and the key production and cast members. In the opening credits of a film/television programme there is usually a list of the most important members of the production. These names are usually of a person who is the main actor in the production as well as the supporting actors. They will also usually show the name of the studio, production company, the name of the director and who is starring. For example DreamWorks and Sony Pictures Entertainment are famous studios that are known for the production of successful films.

The closing credits of a film/television programme are quite different because the give a more elaborate list of the extensive cast involved the production. These names can vary from:

• Casting Director
• Make-up Artist
• Set Decorator
• Production Assistant
• Sound Effects
• Visual Effects

In the TV series ‘Dexter’ the titles used in the opening credits are quite creative making more visual to look at. As opposed to having the titles quite ordinarily screen roll the titles are put in creative places such as: on the spine of a book or wrapped around a particular object. The titles seem to take the shape of whatever object they are placed on.

7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

6. What have you learnt about the technologies from the process of constructing this product?

From constructing my thriller opening sequence I was able to use and develop my knowledge and skills by using a range of different equipment and technologies.

All throughout the creation of my thriller opening sequence I used blogger to record evidence of completed work such as: photographs of myself and my group in action recording, the setting, the cast, photographs of our location and etc.

iMovie was the prominent program used for the editing of my thriller sequence. The use of iMovie allowed myself and my group to cut shots that were too long and fuse them together with other shots so the flowed well together.

The tripod was used when we wanted to create steady shots. The use of tripod was also helpful when wanting to create a smooth pan or high angle shot by tilting the camera on the tripod.

4. Who would be the audience of your film?

Myself and my group decided that the certificate for our film should be an 18 because it features the use of sharp objects and deadly weapons. We also felt it was necessary to have an 18 certificate because if the film was to be continued it would contain elements that would only be suitable for someone aged 18 and over.

3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

I think that the media institution that would be suitable to distribute my media product would be ‘New Line Cinema’. I think that they would be suitable because they have distributed many successful thriller films over the years such as: ‘Malice’ and ‘The Number 23’. They also distributed the thriller film ‘Se7en’ which was the film that heavily influenced me and my group for the opening sequence of our thriller film.

However, because ‘New Line Cinema’ is an extremely large and commercial film distribution company, it would be more realistic to have a more independent distribution company that produces successful films on a low budget. With this information I think that a more suitable and realistic media institution that would distribute my media product would be ‘Hammer Film Productions’ because they are a U.K based film production company that is best known for their production of Gothic and thriller films.

2. How Does Your Media Product Represent Particular Social Groups?

In our thriller opening sequence we chose the victim to be a young teenage white female (played by Donna). This type of character (the victim) is somewhat common amongst thriller/ horror films because this sort of character is portrayed as being weak and vulnerable which makes the killer easy to prey on. The photograph next to Donna is a picture of Jamie Lee Curtis playing the character Laurie in the famous horror film 'Halloween'. This is evidence of the common stereotype that is portrayed within horror/thriller films as the victim being a young teenage white female.

Although the killer in the opening sequence was played by Shehabur, he is not revealed on screen and the audience only see his hands which are sometimes in black gloves). I think that this was effective because the audience have no idea as to who the killer is and what gender they are. I think that this specifically challenged the representation of a particular social group as, it is common for the killer in a thriller film to be a strong and scary male. The photograph next to Shehabur is the character Michael Myers from the horror film 'Halloween'. This is evidence that the common stereotype of the killer in a horror/ thriller film is usually a strong male.

1. In What Ways Does Your Media Product Use, Develop Or Challenge Forms And Conventions Of Real Media Products?

Myself and my group were heavily influenced by the opening sequence of the thriller film ‘Se7en’. This is because it is a successful thriller opening sequence that uses the correct conventions to draw the audience in such as: using slow pace and not fully revealing what is shown on the screen to the audience straight away. We recreated the opening sequence of 'Se7en' and made it our own by including close-ups of the edge of a knife and the killer's hands planning on how he/she is going to kill their next victim. My media product definitely has the conventions of a thriller opening sequence because it is slow paced and slowly draws the audience in, leading them to want to know more about the character on screen and what he/she's motive is. During the opening sequence the camera solely focuses on the killer's hands and how he/she is going about killing their next victim. The hand movements are quite slow and delicate which represents the knowledge that the killer has, and that they know exactly what they are doing and exactly what they want. The delicate and slow hand movements also convey the fascination and obsession that the killer has with the weapons. This is shown when the killer's hand slowly caresses the sharp blade of the knife to show their lack of fear with the weapon which itself is uneasy and creepy to watch for the audience.

Final Product Of Thriller Film 'Seized'

Analysis of 'Wallander'

What Does A Title Sequence Look Like?

The contact sheet of images I created was from the drama TV series 'Dexter'. I chose this title sequence because most of the shots are extremely creative and make ordinary things such as cutting an orange or frying an egg look very sinister. The use of quick pace in this title sequence makes everything seem very aggressive e.g. the cutting of the orange is vigorous and the camera shot focuses on the sharp edge of the knife. I think that this title sequence makes the audience feel uneasy and uncomfortable because it is sinister.

Analysis of 'Kiss Me Deadly'

The opening sequence for 'Kiss Me Deadly' is a good title sequence because it has all the conventions for a successful thriller opening sequence. The beginning of the film starts of with the shot of bare feet running along a road. As this is movement, the camera is tracking each step that is being taken. The character is then revealed and we see a woman in a coat running down the road barefoot and breathing/panting heavily. The fact that she is barefoot shows that it was not her intentions to be running or that she was in situation whereby she thought that this turn of events would not occur.

Analysis of 'Memento' 1

1) Comment on the title of the film

The title of the film 'Memento' appears in sky blue capital letters on black background after the names of the production company and some of the characters are introduced. The title of the film stays on the screen as the black background changes and fades into the beginning of the film, which shows a hand holding and shaking a Polaroid photograph. As this is happening the rest of the titles of the film continue to appear and change on the screen. I think that it was effective for the title of the film to stay on screen as the first part of the film was established because it made be believe that it was important and it stood out well.

2) Describe the setting or location

The first sense of setting/location for me was the Polaroid photograph that was being held at the opening credits of the film because it showed a bloodied body in a particular place/location. We (the audience) were then taken to this place as it shown for real on screen. I think that the location being shown in the photograph at the beginning and then being shown for real on screen was effective because it led the audience to believe that this location had high significance and importance because it shown more than once and lasted on the screen for a long period of time. The location shown looks very isolated and seems that if something bad were to happen nobody would be able to find you which is effective for this thriller film because it creates suspense. The location appears to be in the daytime as it is quite bright and this is effective because it shows that a thriller does not have to be dark to be effective and create atmosphere.

3) What are the key props in the film?

I think that one of the key props used in the film is the photograph because it is frequently shown on the screen which leads the audience to believe that the photograph is significant. The photograph is shown as the opening credits appear on the screen at the beginning of the film and it also shown at various other points of the film. Each photograph has the same person in it but each photo is different e.g. one photograph shows the person dead, another photograph shows the same person smiling etc. I think that the frequent use of the photograph is effective because it links with the title of the film as a photograph is an example of a 'Memento'.

4) The camera work and editing

The beginning of the film/opening credits are quite slow placed which effectively represents the successful conventions of an opening sequence as opposed to a film trailer that is fast paced. The camera work in the opening sequence is extremely effective because there are shots that the camera captures that are beautifully framed. For example the shots of the cracked, bloodied glasses and the close up who appears to be the 'killer's' eye are simple shots but tell so much. The shot of the glasses make the audience ask so many questions like who the owner of the glasses is and how did they end up on the floor with blood dripping down them. The shot of the side of the 'killer's' face in black and white captures his facial expression and his eyes appear emotionless. I think that it was effective to capture his face and black white because it is showing that he has no soul and is evil for killing the man hence why he is not in colour. The obvious use of editing is the fact that the beginning of the films is shown backwards. This is a commonly used but effective film convention because you are able to see the story from a different view point and you are also able to see how the event that has occurred happened beforehand.

5) Titles

The titles are shown in plain sky blue capital letters which does not reveal anything to the audience because the font is quite simplistic.

6) Does the opening sequence relate to the rest of the film?

I think that the opening sequence relates to the rest of the film because the beginning of the film was shown in reverse the rest of the film is trying to tell the story of what happened. It also reveals the title of the film's relevance with the plot of the film.

Questionnaire

This questionnaire is devised in order to gain information about audience preferences on thriller films…

Please circle the answer that most applies to you.

1. What type of thriller films appeal to you?
psychological, crime, disaster, supernatural or other (please specify)

2. Would you prefer the characters to be introduced straight away
or later on in the film ?

3. Do you feel that the use of non-digetic sound within a thriller film creates atmosphere and suspense?

4. Do you prefer a simple or more complex storyline that makes you think?

5. Would you prefer the setting of a thriller film to be in a dark, secluded alleyway or something out of the ordinary?

Feedback from Research & Planning

Alisha,

I have just spent a lot of time going right back through your blog to check to see if you have made an effort to complete the two sections.

I can see that recently you have spent time working on the Planning posts for your blog. This is an improvement.

I am still really concerned about the Research Section. There are still way too many missing posts for this to gain a PASS. You have made an attempt to complete some posts - I can see you have posted analysis for Brick and Double Indemnity - but these still don't have any images? There are too many posts missing from the Research section overall.

I will be marking the Research & Planning sections of your blog for a FINAL time from Monday 7th. You have to sit down at home and spend a few hours getting your blog sorted out between now and then. I am not going to come back to your blog Alisha and bother to remark it again if you are not going to make the effort to get it completed properly.

This is what you need to do:

Research section:

Posts 5-6 - Memento analysis

Posts 7-9 - All need images / contact sheets

Posts 10-15 - missing???

Post 16 - Need to explain the relevance of your images - or take new ones that are relevant to your film

Post 17 - Where is your questionnaire???

Post 18 - Only one graph - not good enough. You need to say how you are going to use it.

Planning:

Too many of these posts are from other people in your group. it's fine to share the workload Alisha - but there's very little evidence of YOU completing posts. I doubt you have even read over some of them - you seem to have just copied them into your blog. Please start making more of a contribution.

You need to sort out:

Post 1- needs more info

3 - Use the media template on Frog

4 - this is word for word the same as Sophie's post??? Fix this

5 - Storyboards - what's there is good - but I am sure your group filmed more than 8 shots?There are only 8 shots here.

6 - This needs photos

8 - Use template on Frog

9 - Photos

10 - needs explanation

Final mark on Monday Alisha.

SJA Feb 4th

Evidence Of Group Work

These photographs that were taken by Sophie show evidence of the group in action, filming and making decisions. The pictures are taken on the location of the setting of our film.

Location For Our Thriller Film

These various images that were taken by Donna show the different locations that were filmed in and included in our thriller opening sequence.

Analysis of 'Double Indemnity'

The beginning of the opening sequence starts with the titles appearing in big bold white capital letters against a grey background (black and white film). As the titles are rolling through the screen there is a black silhouette of a man hobbling towards the screen on crutches. This shows that the character is not yet revealed to the audience.

From knowing that 'Double Indemnity' is used to describe the term that states that if one of the partners of a married couple is to die accidentally the other is able to claim double of their life insurance money. In a lot of real life cases one of the couple has attempted to kill the other in order to claim the money so in knowing this information the audience may immediatley think that this man has been the victim of an attempted murder that did not succeed. As the man gradually gets closer towards the screen the sound of the loud trumpets used for the music gets louder and more brassier.

The first establishment of location is a big city at night time with street lights. We then see this man driving his car very irratically. This then questions the audience and makes them think why is he driving so fast? is he in a hurry? is he trying to escape from the person that potentially tried to kill or hurt him?. The man then pulls up to what appears to be a big office building and is greeted by a man who appears to be a servant or assistant. From this we then see that the man has high authority as the man that greets him refers to him as 'Sir'.

Analysis of 'Brick'

In the opening sequence of 'Brick' the title appears about 15 seconds into the film in bold white capital letters on a plain black background. This style of font is effective because it does not reveal anything to the audience and leaves them in a sense of suspense. I think that it was effective to have the title shown after the location and some of the characters were established because it was quite abrupt and unexpected. The music that is played throughout the sequence is simple because it is the sound of a single ringing bell on its own but, this creates an uneasy and uncomfortable atmosphere.

Shot 1

This shot is an extreme close up of the male characters face. This shot is effective because it is showing his emotions and feelings. The expression in his face looks like a blank stare which could suggest that he is in disbelief that she is dead or that he just does not know what to think.

Shot 2

This shot is of the girl lying on the floor with her hair draped over her face. This could represent that she is dead because they are hiding her face or that

Shot 3

This shoot looks like a slightly zoomed out version of shot 1 and more of the male character is now visible so that the audience can indentify with him and see what sort of character he is based on his costume and body language.

Shot 4

This shot is of the dead girl's hand laying limp and lifeless across the ground showing her bright blue bracelets and pale blue cardigan which has now become muddy and dirty. The bracelets on her hand represent her age as they look like the style that a teenager would wear. The fact that her pale blue cardigan has become dirty shows the turn of events that have taken place and also shows that something unexpected happened.

Shot 5

This shot is of the plain bold title of the film. This title is simple so it does not reveal anything to the audience or gives them any clues to the story line. The title 'Brick' almost resembles the shape of a brick and is quite a solid and bold title.

Shot 6

This shot is of the dead girls legs lying lifeless on the ground. In this shot she is wearing a pair of high heeled brown shoes that now appear muddy and battered. This shows that something not quite right happened wherever she went or was and that she did not plan for her shoes to end up like that.

Shot 7

This shot is of the male characters feet. This is one of the first shots shown in the beginning of the title sequence which makes the audience wonder who's feet it is. The shot then moves and reveals more of the character showing his costume and face.

Shot 8

This shot that the had the title 'two days previous written over it' shows the arm of the girl with the same pale blue cardigan which is now clean and unripped and her bright blue bracelets. This shows that she was in a normal state two days before whatever happened to her happened.

Shot 9

This shot has a lot of question marks around it because there are so many possibilities as to how this shot came around. The first things that are rushed around the audiences head are? who is he? who is she? did he kill her? is she dead and how did she die? what is the relationship between the tow characters?. The proximity between the male and female character could suggest that he is either frightened or that he has killed her and is regretting it.

Sound

I will be creating my own music for the opening sequence of my group's thriller using Cubase. I think that this is a good idea because the music will be original. I will listen to the music from a variety of different thriller films so that I can analyze what sort of mood and atmosphere is generated and incorporate that when I am creating my own music.

As there is no dialogue within our opening sequence we will be using a variety of different sound effects to try and convey an eerie and scary mood. Some of these sound effects will vary from heavy breathing, quick paced footsteps and a car boot door slamming etc.

By Alisha Salas

Titles

Titles

In this lesson we came up with the relevant titles that will appear on screen at the beginning of our opening sequence.

Name of Studio

Shemol Studio’s

Name of Production Company

Million Productions

Director Name

A Film by Donna Ellis

Starring

Donna Ellis

Featuring

Sophie Hardy

Alisha Salas

Shehabur Rahman

Casting by

Sophie Hardy

Music composed by

Alisha Salas

By Alisha Salas