Monday, 17 October 2016

What are the 4 different types of film openings?

A title sequence can be separated into 4 main categories :
1. Titles on a blank screen
2. Titles on still images
3.Titles on moving images
4. Titles using motion or animation
                    
Titles on a blank screen: Most commonly used type of title sequence, it involves different kinds of type face usually on a black background. Normally is a white type face on a black background to create a high contrast. Usually is used because they are low budget, simple and is an uncomplicated way to include institutional information at the start of a film.

The title sequence I have looked at for this category is Pulp Fiction, Pulp Fiction uses white or yellow type face on a still black blank background, only the words have movement and the black background creates more attention for the colored type face.

Titles on still images: More elaborate and developed to include hand drawn borders and other images. Indicated a move past just text but a way to incorporate text with visuals to hint at the genre or tone of the film. Requires combining different types of media to create. Also coincides with credits getting longer to incorporate more than just the name of the studio or film maker.

For this category the title sequence I looked at was Wimbledon, because there are cut ins into new images this movements makes the title sequence more interesting, the text is blended with the images, better to watch instead of a black background however, it takes attention away from the text.

Titles over moving images: Incorporates the credit titles with moving images behind and sound but no dialogue. The moving image serves to offer either a metaphor or narrative thread to help introduce tone or the storylines of the film to the audience.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window is a good title sequence to use for this category as the corporation of moving images, sounds help more seamlessly into the first scene, brings the title sequence to life.


Titles using animation or motion: The titles itself becomes part of the moving images and are integrated together with the images we see. It requires a lot of digital technology and stylized editing.

A title sequence which uses animation and motion is James Bond 007 Casino Royale as it shows the audience the story and plots of the movie, it also makes it easy to determine the genre of the movie, the motion, music and credits are all in a similar matching style and are synchronized which makes this title sequence the most interesting but also the longest.


Within these 4 main categories we can find 3 sub-categories these are;

1.      Narrative title sequences: The titles are integrated into the moving images and begin as the film itself begins – it may be as a long establishing shot or as part of a series of establishing shots.


2.      Discrete title sequences: The titles are integrated into the moving images but isn’t clear what the films plot or storyline is, helps set tone and gives clues to what could happen


3.      Stylised title sequences: Mixture of the other 2 sub-categories for what we see but, the moving image and the title credits have been stylized to create a combined effect

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