Title Sequences

Discrete title sequences

These are separately edited sequences that are apart from the film. It's like a mini film, and helps set the atmosphere at the beginning of a movie. This technique is also used in order to give the audience a feel for the film they are about to watch. A very professionally and well done example is the movie se7en starring Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman. 

This title sequence shows the audience the obsessive behaviour of the character. It gives a horrible, uneasy feeling to the audience, but it also very intriguing. It establishes the mood of the film and gives an insight to the personality of one of the characters.

Narrative openings

The title sequence comes together with the narrative of the storyline. This means that the opening part of the film begins setting the scene (and possibly genre) of the film before it's even properly begun. A good example is The Shining.

This title sequence doesn't seem particularly exciting due to the fact that back in those days they didn't have the same advanced technology that we have today. The use of wide tracking shots and birds eye view/high angles gives the feel that they are being stalked like bird prey.

Credits over a blank screen

This is a more subtle and cheaper kind of title sequence, as it simply consists of a blank screen and the credits (usually a contrasting colour). The mood created by these sequences depends entirely on the colour palette, font and sound, but can be very effective specifically in thrillers, as it gives a sense of mystery and already leaves the audience asking question, which can be unnerving for the beginning of a film. A good example is Donnie Darko (watch the first 50 seconds of this clip).

In this case simple works best, as it creates an eerie silence and stillness, therefore creating a suspenseful atmosphere for the audience.

Stylised editing

This is a more complex type of opening that mainly relies on editing to set the mood. These can be very effective when made well and professionally, with the advantage that they're more interesting than some of the other types. One well made example is the opening for Mesrine.

Mesrine uses two types of sequence- begins with the credits over a blank screen before using stylised editing. The beginning sets the mood for the camera shots used in the stylised editing. Mesrine uses a split screen, giving the sense that the characters are being carefully observed and possibly spied on. This further emphasises the suspense (which wouldn't work without the non diegetic music), and requires a lot of planning and hard work.

For my final project I think I'll use the narrative opening as it's not too complex but works very effectively. It's easier to set the mood using that type of title sequence, as the others require a lot more film footage and time editing, or only set the mood through text, colour and sound which is more difficult to accomplish. I'm hoping to achieve a nice simplistic feel as title sequences don't need to be over the top, but I do want to avoid making it boring, as I need to keep the audience interested. I'm considering a teenage audience, and hope to attract them to my film by not over dramatizing the beginning, but keeping them interested by giving them an insight of the film and starting the narrative before the film has even properly begun.

Evaluation

The research and planning helped me to produce a good product because it made me evaluate and deeply look into the aspects of a scene (shot type, music, editing etc) that make the scene appear professional. Those aspects are also vital in creating the correct atmosphere for the scene- vital in the process of film making. The research provided insight of what my scene had to include, and the planning made sure I was fully prepared before filming. Film unprepared will be a longer and messy process, with a very unprofessional final product.
I used all the conventions I noticed from real media products- although I could have easily challenged them with, for example, a gay relationship involved in the scene.
My primary target audience for this scene would be males aged 14-19, due to the humorous content at the end, where the male character is mercilessly shot down by his crush. Females would be stereotypically less likely to enjoy this scene due to the fact romance movies are targeted towards them- but they usually have a happy ending. I attracted my target audience by building up to, and creating tension towards the final shot of the female 'friend zoning' the male.
I learnt that digital technologies take a lot of practice and patience, especially as the camera we used to shoot the short scene didn't come equipped with a zoom lens. I learnt that editing with the Macs is a long process that shouldn't be rushed, as it will affect the quality of the final product.
The strengths of my final product are the different shots used. I learnt from analysing a previous scene what kind of shots are used in interrogation scenes- and I personally feel that it worked well.
I think I have a few things to improve on before moving ahead to my main task. The most important one being extra planning before going ahead to filming. It's easy to rush to get to the more 'exciting stuff' but if I want a perfect scene, I have to be more patient next time. I will also ensure that we keep to the 180 degree rule, as our over the shoulder shots misplaced our characters. Another improvement I intend on acting upon is triple checking my editing film, to make sure the audio all works well together, and the non diegetic music doesn't block out the dialogue.

Final Scene Footage

Storyboard