Titles

1: GREASE

2: THE WALKING DEAD Season 3

Art of the Title

A title sequence is the method by which cinematic films or television programs present their title, key production and cast members, or both, utilizing conceptual visuals and sound.

Three films featured in the A Brief History of the Art of the Title Sequence are Saturday Night Fever, Forrest Gump and A Series of Unfortunate Events.

Vertigo has a very effective title sequence. The typography of 'Vertigo' was in white and placed on top of an eye - the whole picture was tinted red. It was very bright and eye-catching, especially with the contrast of the white on top. The typography lifted to show an animation of a hypnotic spiral on the pupil of the eye, linking with the title 'vertigo' which means giddiness/dizziness.

The bright red of the picture suggests warning or danger - something bad will happen in the film. The hypnotic spiral also links with this danger. The character won't know that something bad has happened to them; they will be put under hypnosis and made to do things; or they will have a dizzy lack of knowledge of what is happening.

Fallen Angel's title sequence is black and white, showing that it is either an old film or has been put there for effect: this could suggest dark events happening. The fact that the titles have been placed on a long, empty road gives it a mysterious and alluring feel.

Fallen Angel shows a road with the titles coming up in the shape of a stop sign. Paired with the title 'Fallen Angel' it suggests that someone dies because of the road, e.g. a car crash. 

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Typography: a formal, old-style font. Suggests that it is set in the past. White, set against a dark background. Red, links with blood.

Visual imagery: dripping blood, shows that there will be a sinister mood behind the film. Linking with title: Sweeney Todd kills people? (Demon barber) The blood follows a system where someone gets thrown down a trapdoor and seemingly made into pies. Gives a big clue as to what the plot is about.

Sound elements: deep, moody music. Orchestra? Strings/woodwind are prominent. Typical of a horror. We hear the blood splattering: gross, even more sinister.

He said: Animating blood and its movement became the most crucial and challenging element of the sequence. We had to build special platforms within which we imitated blood movement and filmed it. And we had to give it this comical feel which worked really well. That was a dream project. We would love to work on something similar.

Brazil

Typography: only one word 'Brazil', like a neon sign. Fancy font.

Visual imagery: flying in the sky. Seemingly happy, gives a relaxed vibe, especially paired with music. Huge explosion cuts into the 'happy' feel.

Sound elements: first song 'Brazil'; very happy, calm. After explosion: typical horror music, strings.

The optical effects in Brazil have quite a timeless quality to them. I did not consciously set out to create something so lasting. It was more of a serendipitous happening.

Peer Evaluation of 'Celestial'

Another class evaluated mine and Jonathan's prelim, 'Celestial', telling us what went well and what we could do better.

 

What elements of this sequence did you feel were successful? Give at least 2 elements and explain why they were successful.

 

- The light flashing when the girl was walking down the hall

- The props that were used were good and effective

- The lighting was good and the angles were too

- Good costume

- Eerie opening, graveyard, black and white

- Corridor sequence - chilling non-diegetic sounds, edgy visual effects

 

Were there any aspects of the sequence which you felt were confusing/distracting/missing, etc?

 

- The tables - when they move it doesn't seem very realistic

- Lighting in the drama room could have been more controlled - Jonathan appears blurry, grainy

 

List 2 things which you feel would have improved this sequence?

 

None of

Peer Preliminary Task Evaluation

My three favourite preliminary tasks were:


1. Candyman
I thought this sequence was hilarious. They involved slapstick humour such as walking into a door (which had the effect of 'so bad it's good') and the whole idea of a drug deal was made comedic with the humorous puns such as 'a hefty bounty', before having a chocolate Bounty thrown across the table.


2. Fug Lyfe
The teacher's acting was very good, especially at the end when she put her headphones in and started dancing. Like candyman it involved a lot of slapstick comedy.


3. Time Out
A musical is a very hard thing to film so I thought this group did very well. There was an original use of songs and the storyline was very effective and much like a typical cheesy high school musical.

"Celestial" Prelim Evaluation

Preliminary Task - "Celestial"

This is the final cut of our preliminary task. Jonathan and I worked together to create 'Celestial', a short horror film about a small girl who was violently murdered and has come back to seek revenge on her killer.

Production shots

During the filming process we took some production shots, as seen below:

 

 

Pitch Presentation - Heidi

We were told to create a pitch to present to our class (film producers) in order to convince them to buy the rights to our film. We each got given a genre and an audience had had to come up with characters, actors, a storyline and marketing. I was given thriller/horror for 12A so I designed it with the genre conventions of The Woman In Black in mind, as that is a 12A thriller.

Preliminary task practice

Shooting schedule

 

 



This is the shooting schedule that Jonathan and I will try very hard to stick to in order to complete all of the shots as accurately as possible. We will attempt to stay on schedule and will hopefully have completed the task by Friday 18th October.

Preliminary Task

For our preliminary task we have been set a series of actions that we must film, along with several things we should demonstrate. We have to film this for a certain genre.

It must include:

• Character 1 opening a door
• Character 1 crossing a room
• Character 1 sitting in a chair opposite Character 2
• Exchanging several lines of dialogue

... and should demonstrate:

• Match on action
• Shot/reverse shot
• 180 degree rule
• Establishing shot
• 2 close ups of characters
• Tracking shot
• High angle shot

Jonathan and I got the 'horror' genre. This means we must put in several horror genre conventions. These will include:

• Flickering lights
• Long, dark corridor
• Talking to an unknown spirit
• Creepy dead girl
• Murder

The props we will use are:

• Fake blood
• Rope
• Gag/cloth/duct tape (for mouth)
• Two chairs
• Table
• Teddy bear

These are the actions/script we will follow:

1. Character 1 (Ellie) as a creepy little girl (ghost?) walking down Link corridor. The camera will be at the other end of Link on a tripod - a long, static, level shot. It will be dark, as that is one of the conventions of the horror genre, yet the lights will flicker on and off. The camera will be cut to show Character 1 advancing towards the camera in time with the flickers.
2. Character 1 will then open the door to the drama studio (right) which will be dark with dim spotlights, including one on Character 2 (Jonathan) sitting bound and gagged in a chair behind a table. There will be another chair on the opposite side of the table, which Character 1 will sit down in.
3. Instead of both characters exchanging dialogue, we thought we'd do it a little bit differently. As Character 2 is gagged, the only sounds he could make would be muffled and indistinguishable. Instead Character 1 will talk - the audience won't know who she is talking to; herself? Someone that she can see but the audience (and Character 2) can not. Asking why she should be the one to do it. It will build into a scream before simply saying 'Fine'.
4. Blood (fake) will then begin to drip down Character 2's face. Several camera shot cuts will show different parts of Character 2's body (torso, legs etc), also covered in blood.

Opening Scene analysis

Saving Private Ryan

Genre: drama, action, war

Misé en scene:

Setting: D-Day - June 6, 1944. Daytime. Omaha Beach, Normandy, France

Costume: army uniforms. Automatically tells us that the film is a war film, and we realise that these men will either come out alive or die fighting.

Facial expressions and body language: some of the characters are being sick on the boat. This could be from sea sickness, nerves or fear. It is quite sickening to watch yet the men around remain relatively placid; they are used to such vile surroundings, or are so scared that they don't even realise that these men are vomiting right next to them. This gives the audience an insight to how these men have changed due to war.

Lighting: dull blue and grey tones. It is quite bright, indicating daytime, but as this is set during war it is quite miserable.

Camera:

• As the camera follows the boats it shakes violently; this shows us what it was like to be on the boat next to the boat in the shot, with turbulence due to the waves. From this shot we also see a man puke/spit into the sea, and this paired with the turbulence almost makes the audience feel a little seasick.
• An extreme close-up shot of Capt. Miller's shaking hand. This is effective because it shows just how scared these men would be, even though his face remains calm; he is the captain, he needs to be brave, yet he too is frightened of the outcome.
• As a bomb blows up in the near distance, the camera focuses on several men in turn. One of these shots shows a man clenching his facial muscles and trying to remain calm despite the impending doom. This is a striking shot because it becomes clear that most of these men are going to die and are aware of it, yet are doing all they can to stay calm and brave.
• Just after the aforementioned shot there is another which centres around a soldier kissing his crucifix necklace and visibly praying. He is turning to God and his religion to save him - or perhaps he isn't particularly religious but has lost hope and the only thing that could possibly save him now is God. This, again, shows how war changes people and makes them search for hope in anything.
• The camera sits in the back of the boat as all the men in front get shot. Blood splatters onto the camera and you are put directly into the scene, behind all of these dying men, and these men are dropping so quickly and ceaselessly. It is a horrible, true-to-life representation of what goes on during war and how men can be there one second and gone the next

Sound:

• The scene opens with loud, crashing waves. Like the camera shots, this puts us directly into the action, yet we realise that we aren't hearing it even half as loud as these men in the boats are.
• There is a brief moment of calm when the camera is in the boat before one of the soldiers pukes on the floor, and another soldier follows suit. It is horrible realistic and could perhaps make the audience feel a little nauseous.
• There is no dialogue until around 1 minute into the scene, when the driver has to shout at the men in order to be heard over the waves. His final words are 'God be with you', which is the only thing he could possibly say to give hope to these soldiers, regardless of whether they are religious.
• There are around five off-screen but diegetic sounds of bombs going off not far away from the boat. This brings the shocking realisation that these men are heading off to their impending deaths, and could be gone in a second.
• As soon as the land gates are open, there are loud sounds of advancing bullets, and then sounds of the bullets interacting with these men and killing them. These sounds are disturbing and continous. We hear the sounds of bullets hitting (and cutting through) metal helmets, designed to protect them, but to no avail. This gives a sense of helplessness.

Breakfast at Tiffany's

Genre: romance, drama, romantic comedy, comedy of manners

Misé en scene:

Setting: Fifth Avenue, New York City. Early morning. 1960.

Costume, hair, make-up: Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn) seems to be dressed from wherever she was the night before, in her elegant, jewel-embellished black evening gown, black gloves and sunglasses even though it is the early morning. Her hair is in a chic and immaculate updo, as if she hasn't spent the entire night out. Her entire appearance gives her an aura of elegance and grace, and sets the tone of her character.

Facial expressions and body language: Due to her sunglasses, we don't see many facial expressions from Holly. We watch as she looks into the window of Tiffany and Co. and eats a pastry and drinks coffee - this links to the title Breakfast at Tiffany's. She stares at the jewellery in the window for some time, at one point tilting her head and staring in what can only be described as longing, and continues looking at it even as she walks away. It is clearly an interest of the character, who may turn out to be materialistic and shallow. As the scene continues, she loses a little of her grace as she walks along hitching up her dress and swinging her arms, before running into the house to avoid a man in a car.

Lighting: the lighting begins dull and greyish, to show that it is very early in the morning with little or no sunlight, and also could be an indication that it is set some time in the past. In the second part of the scene, though, the sun has begun to shine which indicates a time difference from when Holly gets out of the taxi to when she arrives home.

Camera:

• First there is a static long shot as the taxi emerges in the distance, before the camera tracks it down the street when it comes close. As it is in the distance we assume that the taxi has no relevance, until it comes close and is a point of focus.
• There is a low-angled, over-the-shoulder shot of Holly looking up at the store building: over her shoulder we see the word 'TIFFANY' from the shop, immediately linking to the title.

Sound:

• There is no dialogue in the scene until the very end. There is just a calm, elegant, non-diegetic song which is parallel to the actions of Holly, walking slowly home, and also links to the elegance of the character.

Evaluation - Juno

What did I learn about filming and editing?
I learned that it is better to overshoot than to just shoot as much as I think I need; it's better to have too much footage which you can cut than to have misjudged timing and not have enough. Also if you have multiple shots you can choose which is the best. I learned that it is best to use something like a trolley to create smooth tracking shots rather than to just walk along.

Did I find/use any premiere effects? If so, which one and what was the effect?
We wanted to find an effect that was similar to the one used in the real Juno opening. We couldn't find one that was the same but the closest we found was called Posterize. This effect went on after the actor playing Juno passed the tree, just like the opening, and gave an almost animated effect.

What went well in the filming and editing?
We overshot a lot and did several tries on different shots so we could choose the best one. We also kept referring to the real video so we could see how different shots should be executed. During editing we all had a chance to edit and we found almost exact replicas of the video transitions used in the real Juno opening, for example Push.

What could have gone better in the filming and editing?
We could have used a smooth tracking device e.g. a trolley - we did attempt this but when on grass the shot was bumpy and uneven and often went off track, so we decided on just walking with a camera and hoping it would be smooth. In the first shot, 'Juno' (me) walks a lot faster than the original, so that could have been slowed down. We weren't skilled enough at editing to make a smooth transition from the normal camera to the animated effect so it looks a little bit jumpy.

"Juno" opening scene

Semiotics:

• Red hoodie - represents blossoming love
• Orange drink (Sunny D) - bright, sunny, good mood
• Washed out colours - calm atmosphere, peaceful neighbourhood

Representation:

• Love - atypical love because looks sad in places and she is walking alone
• Teenage girls' attitude - she is walking in the opposite direction to everyone, suggesting she is a loner. They are all running but she is walking; she isn't in a hurry to get anywhere, laid-back attitude
• Surburban area - looks a little bit rough but mostly calm and peaceful

Misé en scene:

• Costume - hoodie, sneakers and jeans suggest a laid-back attitude, tomboyish, atypical of an American teenage girl
• Make-up - no make-up, hair pulled back: simple, carefree
• Sound - non-diagetic sound. Edgy folk song, suggests that the genre is indie, the film will be happy

Camera shots and angles

Films in the media use many camera shots, angles and movement to interest the audience and create diversity throughout the movie. In Perks of Being a Wallflower, there are two scenes which particularly show a range of camera shots and angles, all used very effectively.

High angle

Close-up shot

Tilted angle

Over-the-shoulder shot

Extreme close-up

Long shot

Aerial angle

Wide shot

I think the most effective shots out of the above are the tilted angle and the over-the-shoulder shot. The titled angle because it gives a sense of the hysteria that the character (Charlie) is feeling; his mind is distorted, as is the camera. The over-the-shoulder shot is also effective because we can see exactly what is in Charlie's eyeline, and we get an idea of what he must be feeling. The fact that the shot focuses on a knife is disturbing and shocking.