Monday 29 November 2010

What a Opening Sequence will contain

  • Details of Cast and Crew
  • The film's Title
  • An Introduction to character or a character type
  • Indication of place
  • Indication of Historical period
  • Information regarding mood and tone
  • Introduction to signature theme tune
  • Information about Genre
  • Questions that the viewer find intriguing
  • Patterns and type of editing that will be echoed in the remainder of the film.
  • Mise-en-Scene and cinematoraphy that will be echoed or elaborated upon later in the film.

Conventions of Opening Title Sequence

Class Essay on Se7en title sequence

Mise-en-scene

A title sequence is the first thing the audience sees when the film starts, this being that it is very important that it gives of a first good impression. Within the film Se7en there are many things to consider in its title sequence, one of which being the mise-en-scene. Throughout this truly chilling title sequence there is no exterior or landscape shown which automatically leaves the audience with lots of questions in relation to the background information; the basic facts an average audience member would expect to know. We see a constant close up of the characters hands, never their face or body. Although we can see clearly sharp objects being used and there movement is very much the focus when they are involved in the frame. There are many different props used throughout the sequence which include: sharp objects, pen, paper, needle and thread and many old photos. Throughout the entire sequence the colour remains desaturated which we can only interpret as it having some relation to the forth coming events about to take place later on in the movie. The whole title sequence is film in a dark light setting, this suggests that the life is being drained out of the film this is also linked to how the character treats his victims. The final thing that sticks out in the sequence is that various things are highlighted in the props such as “homosexual” and “Transsexual” as well as cutting out the name “GOD” out of a clipping, to perhaps show the theme of religious belief and the connection to the person in the sequence; also the precision the person in the sequence has cold possibly be giving the audience an insight into the characters personality.

Purpose and character

From the close-ups we can’t tell what or where the location is, but we can guess that it is in a confined room. The reason why I think this is because the person who is making this book doesn't want anybody to know about it. I thought that the location was very secretive, and because the shots were so close to his hands and almost zoomed in on everything it makes you feel almost claustrophobic; which I think helped to make it feel eerie and scary. I also thought that the person was a man from the look of his hands. From this title sequence I think that he was trying to get rid of his identity by scraping off his finger prints, which made me feel really uncomfortable because it was an image I really didn't like. This suggests that he could be a serial killer and has planned things through to not get caught also this person seems to know what they are doing. There are images of dead people and it looks like he is creating a scrapbook which he has put the picture in but we aren't sure what the scrapbook is of. I also thought that he would have been a perfectionist because everything was done with his own hands and it clearly showed that he took time and care with his work and it was obviously thoroughly planned, I could tell this from the way everything seemed so precise, he seems to document his work very obssessively, but with patience. I thought that the person was religious, because they cut out a piece of a dollar bill that had the word ‘God’ written on it and also at the end of the title sequence the song ended with ‘gonna get me closer to God’, this made me think that they are killing people for their deadly sins and that they were killing for God. He crosses out words such as "transsexual" which also makes me think that he is religious. I got the idea that it was the seven deadly sins because there are two 'sevens' in the title and because the first shot after the title sequence says 'monday' which could explain one of the sevens.

Cinematography

'Seven' title sequence uses a lot of extreme close ups, this is used to create tension for the audience as it makes you feel very uncomfortable and it puts you in discomfort. Also all of these shots are still, we are only able to see the movement of the peoples body features and some of the objects. Due to the fact of these extreme close ups being still we are unable to see the surroundings and where everything is set, this is to create a big mystery which people may want to reveal by watching the whole film. Most of the lighting in this title sequence is dull; this is to create a scary and an unpleasant atmosphere. Not only the lighting is dull but also the colours included are rather dark such as brown, black, dark blue, grey. These colours give the whole title sequence a very unpleasant effect. Rays of light have been used for the main features and objects to stand out. Some of the photographs are very shaky as well as lightning has been added to them, this is to create a more unpleasant effect towards the audience, as this type of effect may reflect a scary storm at night. Fast pace has been also included to flick through a lot of things creating excitement towards the movie, leaving the audience wanting more. This title sequence also includes flashes of red which create an effect of danger. Layering is one of the things that has been used but not so much, it shows photographs fading out onto other photographs. The letters and numbers are hardly visible as a flash has been added to them which creates a mysterious side of the film. Looking at just cinematography you are able to get an idea of what the film may be about and the uses of cinematography are very strong as they create different emotions towards the audience leaving them wanting to see more, and that is the main aim of the title sequence.

Sound

The sound of the title sequence creates a disturbing feel. At the beginning it shows the character preparing to sleep, a clicking sound is used as the background which could be connoting a ticking clock counting down, showing that it is a countdown for something that is going to happen. In the sequence the character is crossing out words and pictures, every time he crosses something out you hear a scratchy screechy sound. This could be implying that the things he is crossing out are his next victims, as the screeching sound could be the person screaming and the scratchy sound could be the way they are killed. By putting this disturbing sound track in the background of the sequence with the close up images it creates a sense of confusion, as the audience has to take in the creepy sound and the glimpses of images together trying to make sense of them both at the same time.

Sunday 21 November 2010

The Art Of Film Title Design Throughout Cinema History

These are five points within the article that I found interesting.


Click the Here to Read full Article



"Film titles can be great fun. In them we see the bond between the art of film making and graphic design — and perhaps visual culture as a whole. They have always served a greater purpose than themselves: to move the overarching story forward."


This point explains exactly what a title sequence is, it expresses how important they are to the film itself. As it is the first thing you see it allows the audience to make their own interpretation of what the film is about by maybe giving hints on the genre, setting and some characters. I think that title sequences have a big role to keep the audience interested in this film and has to make a good first impression. This allows the title sequence designer to come up with fun and imaginative ideas.


"Words and lettering played an enormous role in films of the silent era"


Intolerance in The Art Of Film Title Design Throughout Cinema History


Main title from D.W. Griffith’s “Intolerance” (1916) which is considered by many to be the greatest film of the silent era. (Above)


This point defines how important text is in a title sequence and not just for silent films. Has there was no sound in these films then the film relied on the text to get the message of the film across. This is still relevant to films in this day.


"life for the titling crew at Disney was strained by the weight of its foreign-language versions and that film exports rarely encouraged innovation in titling."


Plane-crazy in The Art Of Film Title Design Throughout Cinema History



First Mickey Mouse cartoon 1929 (Above)


I find this point very interesting as I did not realise how restricted titling crew are just due to the language barriers. It also shows that even though at the beginning; of a now world wide cartoon that they only had so much they could do with titling.


"It could be argued that typography lost importance in this era of title design. The imagery behind the credits received a lot more attention."


I choose this point as I believe it is true. Although text is very important when a title sequence has a lot going on and you have to pay attention, then the audience does not notice the typography any more and is watching the background.


"Whatever function they perform, titles remain an essential part of film."


I feel that this statement is very true. The title sequence starts the film and allows the audience to have an insight on what type of film it is going to be. Without a title sequence the audience wouldn't know who was in the film, who directed it and it would just go straight into the film with out the audience knowing what they are letting them selves in for.

Wednesday 17 November 2010

Looking at some Title Sequences



Why does this appeal to you ?
This title sequence appeals to me as Friends is one of my favourite programmes. The title sequence also shows clips for each character in that series which reminds me of previous and upcoming episodes. It also has a really catchy theme tune that is associated with Friends and when ever it comes on I know what programme it is.


What colour is the text and why?
The colour of the text is white which is simple but yet effective. I think that they have used white for the colour of the text as it attracts the audience when watching the title sequence but doesn't draw attention away form what is happening in the clips. 


Does it fit in the overall look of the sequence? 
I think that the text does fit in the overall look as it is not too much and you can see the text over the clips that are being shown. It also does not over power the sequence its self so lets the audience take in both text and clips.


What is the style of the text used?
The text is all in capital letters and is quite spaced apart. It is a casual style which reflects on the characters itself, as the programme is about the life of six friends it allows you to become relaxed with the characters.


Where is the text positioned in the frame?
The text is positioned in the same place each time one of the cast's name is shown. It is positioned just below the the middle of the frame in the centre at each time.

Kyle Cooper






This is a presentation about Kyle Cooper who is a famous title sequence desinger and who has designed title sequences for films such as "Se7en" and the first "Spider-man".

Continuity Sequence



This is a continuity sequence that was created for the premliminary task and we dedcided that it was going to be based on a young girl who was going to recieve some bad news from the nurse. The news was that she was pregnant. It was set in the nurse's office and the corridor leading up to the office. The begining of the sequence it was showed in a point of view shot of the child.
 We created a simple story board that allowed us to follow step by step. Although we changed small details when filming the story board helped us as a guideline. Part of the premliminary task was to add the elements short exchange of dialouge, crossing a room, shot reverse shot, 180 degrees rule and match on action shot. The shot reverse shot was achieved through the dialogue of the nurse and the child, when the camera turns to each of their faces when talking. The 180 degrees rule was also achieved thorugh staying on one side of the two characters. The match on action was when the students sits down on to the chair and when the nurse opens up the door.
When filming the sequence we did not use a tripod, this made a problem when editing and there was a jump shot were the camera was not placed in the correct place. It tooks us quite a while to fim this sequence as the actors kept laughing while filming which ment having to do lots of takes. Overall i think the sequence went really well and we invoved each elemnt that was needed. Next time filming i would make sure that we used a tripod so we would achieve a good quality continuity sequence