In this lesson we looked at different openings that would be similar to our own. one clip we looked at was the opening sequence to Hannibal.
We found this sequence useful as it related to our own. this is because it mixed the difference between mental and sane. From this i like the idea of having the titles apear on a black background(from 0:50 seconds) slowly as it shows it creates tenison. Also even though it has an opening scene before the title sequence (which we are not doing) there is still classical music which is carried throughout even in the title sequence. Also i do like the idea of having classical music as it has complete contrast to the images from 03:12. This contrast would reflect our idea of the contrast between our characters personality. Not only this but as a viewer i feel it adds a scary feel. Also this clip is simular to our aim as we wanted to have different types of disordentation and has tought me that in one way we can do this or to enhance this is to include black and white images in too. In addition from this clip where it is very disorientated like what we want to achieve in our own film it was shown us how we can achieve this in different ways such as having fuzzing pictures and only part of a shot. For example instead of having the whole building in the shot they only focuss on part of it. another thing what i have learnt from this clip is how simple fonts of writing even though simple stands out and creates a serious tone to the film. The only thing that would make this clip not useful in our research would be the opening scene at the beginning as we are not doing this for our project.
Tuesday, 15 December 2009
Wednesday, 9 December 2009
Opening Title Order
After looking at different title sequences i have notice that there seems to be some sort of order. of course that when in the cinema people would expect that the production company logo is first shown and then people such as the actors/directors/produers are in the main opening title sequence. However, to make our opening titles seemed realistic if there is some sort of order it would be best to follow this in our own piece.
To find this out i have done some research into this. I have found out that different types of films have different a different style of order. For example on television shows which have recurring character/ different characters they take out the names that are not in that episode. Also some title sequences do not show the names of the recurring/main characters but show clips of them instead this is shown in the American programme "8 simple Rules"(shown Below)
Here each character is shown to the audience without the names of the actors showing but are still introducing themselves to the audience but each character coming to the door. Another example of this is the show "Gilmore Girls"(clip shown Below) alike "8 Simple Rules" they show each character that is in the show, but in "Gilmore Girls" opening titles the sequence changes depending on the episode as if a character is not in the episode then the character is not in the opening titles.
Also, unlike the opening titles in "8 Simple rules" they have included the actors name along with the clip of the character. Plus, i have found with television programmes opening credits they have the producting company in the closing titles rather than the beginning like films.
After looking at television opening credits i can look in what i need to avoid in my own opening title sequence through finding the contrast between TV and film.
I have found out that the opening credits tend to start with the production company followed after by the director. Plus, this is done in a certain way too. Most commonly the production company would be stated by saying "A Production Company Name Production" and the directors saying " A Director’s Name Film.” After this then the most important/main/ most famous characters are then stated. However, there is never more that five as it would be too much. Then the title of the film. Also, if we where carrying on with the film after the title we would have the other main characters in the plot but with less value. Also i have learnt that if there is a more well known actor playing a smaller role then their name would be shown as well as the character's name that they are playing such as “And John Doe as Character X.”
To find this out i have done some research into this. I have found out that different types of films have different a different style of order. For example on television shows which have recurring character/ different characters they take out the names that are not in that episode. Also some title sequences do not show the names of the recurring/main characters but show clips of them instead this is shown in the American programme "8 simple Rules"(shown Below)
Here each character is shown to the audience without the names of the actors showing but are still introducing themselves to the audience but each character coming to the door. Another example of this is the show "Gilmore Girls"(clip shown Below) alike "8 Simple Rules" they show each character that is in the show, but in "Gilmore Girls" opening titles the sequence changes depending on the episode as if a character is not in the episode then the character is not in the opening titles.
Also, unlike the opening titles in "8 Simple rules" they have included the actors name along with the clip of the character. Plus, i have found with television programmes opening credits they have the producting company in the closing titles rather than the beginning like films.
After looking at television opening credits i can look in what i need to avoid in my own opening title sequence through finding the contrast between TV and film.
I have found out that the opening credits tend to start with the production company followed after by the director. Plus, this is done in a certain way too. Most commonly the production company would be stated by saying "A Production Company Name Production" and the directors saying " A Director’s Name Film.” After this then the most important/main/ most famous characters are then stated. However, there is never more that five as it would be too much. Then the title of the film. Also, if we where carrying on with the film after the title we would have the other main characters in the plot but with less value. Also i have learnt that if there is a more well known actor playing a smaller role then their name would be shown as well as the character's name that they are playing such as “And John Doe as Character X.”
German Expressionism - Research
Due to our opening sequence having clips where there is an item that reflects the character, Reno, one of our media teachers told us that we should look in to German expressionism to help us further this idea.
After researching on the Internet i found out that German expressionism related to the creative German moments after the first world war. Due to little money after the WW1, Germany could not compete with the lush sets of Hollywood and therefore
used the mise-en-scene and different types of symbolism to create deeper moods across the audience. Sets contained wildly non-realistic, geometric designs and different designs to represent the different lighting and shadows which is shown on the left by a picture from the film "The Cabinet Of Dr Caligari"
It is a way of expressing psychological turmoil of space by characters and had had themes of madness and insanity- which would fit in with our idea of our psychotic man. German expressionism has influenced many film genres such as the horror film and film noir. Also it has influenced such films as Frankenstein, Dracula, citizen Kane and psycho. An example of German expressionism would be of the film "The Cabinet Of Dr Calligari" in the opening credits.
After researching on the Internet i found out that German expressionism related to the creative German moments after the first world war. Due to little money after the WW1, Germany could not compete with the lush sets of Hollywood and therefore
used the mise-en-scene and different types of symbolism to create deeper moods across the audience. Sets contained wildly non-realistic, geometric designs and different designs to represent the different lighting and shadows which is shown on the left by a picture from the film "The Cabinet Of Dr Caligari"It is a way of expressing psychological turmoil of space by characters and had had themes of madness and insanity- which would fit in with our idea of our psychotic man. German expressionism has influenced many film genres such as the horror film and film noir. Also it has influenced such films as Frankenstein, Dracula, citizen Kane and psycho. An example of German expressionism would be of the film "The Cabinet Of Dr Calligari" in the opening credits.
Idea Transformed !
Last lesson while planning for our project and talking about our ideas for the storyboard, we came up with a idea that would expand our previous idea. Originally we where going to shoot scenes with images such as hooks and the titles. But while planning and making sure how we would include all the connotations and semiotics that we wanted to get across to the audience about what the film is, we realised that we did not have anything that would represent that our character at the beginning has recovered from the rehabilitation and is normal even though he has OCD. Therefore, as our character has different sides to him; in the past mental and now back to normal, we thought the best way to show this in our opening titles would be to have two different parts to our opening titles creating an enigma of the character.
This would be done through having a shot with him being normal and then switching to a strange shot. We thought that the best way to show his normal rehabilitated side would be the character caring out a very simple task. We have decided that he should do a morning routine get ready to go out, as this is what every one takes for granted as "normal". For example, to start there would be an over the shoulder shot, the character to one side of the frame, putting on a jacket on and the audience just seeing when he lifts the jacket upon his shoulders. Then it would quickly cut to another scene of white background which is out of focus, a item in the corner, in focus, tittles in the gap but very jollity and fussy, like on the tv when out of signal and white, grey and black lines ripple across the screen with no picture. the out of focus title shot would reflect his mental side with the time he spent in the mental home. this would be the pattern we would follow in till the character gets to the point when he goes out of the house. the other parts of the routine that we have thought of would be having a close up shot at the feet and seeing his hands put his shoes on or tying them up. Another idea would be him brushing his teeth As he opens the door to go out, instead of seeing the outside IE- the streets and other houses. It would be white light coming through which would imitate the sun shining and would change to the whole background of the scene. this is where the title of the film would be revealed. i think that opening the door to the white would reflect opening the door to his mind as it is different by even though he is acting normal trying to be normal on the outside, inside he will probably stay the same. Plus, we chose white as this is the colour we, as a group, would associate with hospitals and mentality. However, white could be considered with pure and new. i think this could work with the opening titles as this could reflect the character coming out of the mental home and starting a clean slate and starting a new life
This would be done through having a shot with him being normal and then switching to a strange shot. We thought that the best way to show his normal rehabilitated side would be the character caring out a very simple task. We have decided that he should do a morning routine get ready to go out, as this is what every one takes for granted as "normal". For example, to start there would be an over the shoulder shot, the character to one side of the frame, putting on a jacket on and the audience just seeing when he lifts the jacket upon his shoulders. Then it would quickly cut to another scene of white background which is out of focus, a item in the corner, in focus, tittles in the gap but very jollity and fussy, like on the tv when out of signal and white, grey and black lines ripple across the screen with no picture. the out of focus title shot would reflect his mental side with the time he spent in the mental home. this would be the pattern we would follow in till the character gets to the point when he goes out of the house. the other parts of the routine that we have thought of would be having a close up shot at the feet and seeing his hands put his shoes on or tying them up. Another idea would be him brushing his teeth As he opens the door to go out, instead of seeing the outside IE- the streets and other houses. It would be white light coming through which would imitate the sun shining and would change to the whole background of the scene. this is where the title of the film would be revealed. i think that opening the door to the white would reflect opening the door to his mind as it is different by even though he is acting normal trying to be normal on the outside, inside he will probably stay the same. Plus, we chose white as this is the colour we, as a group, would associate with hospitals and mentality. However, white could be considered with pure and new. i think this could work with the opening titles as this could reflect the character coming out of the mental home and starting a clean slate and starting a new life
Research For Ideas On Task
Before our group start planning further how and what we are going to do, we thought that it would be a good idea to research opening sequences that would help with our planning.
se7en
The film se7en is about a retiring detective (played by Morgan Freeman) and his replacement (played by Brad Pitt) working together to solve murders that involve the seven deadly sins.
In the opening credits of the film "se7en" they have used lots of different ways to make the opening credits effective and creative. i think they have done this through the using different editing styles. This is due to where the film is about crime, murder and religion, which all have different diversities, making the opening titles disoriented would reflect this. Also i feel that this would create the audience to be confused and intrigued. In addition, i like the way that the film has used cinemaograghy. this is because they have mainly used close up shots of items such as books etc, and have make the background fussy and phased out. i think this is useful to our group as it is a good example of what we can take ideas on as we want to focus on items that reflect the film. Plus, to give the connotation of crime and thriller, the opening titles have used low lighting to give the sense of danger which still follows when the screen is black with the white titles. i think the use of dark lighting will reflect that the film will be dark itself, that the film will give the audience the emotions of negativity due to the ideological connotation of black for people is everything bad. plus, i feel that the genre has been established through not including continuity as this would make the audience confused.
Six Feet Under
this opening title sequence would be useful towards our film due to some key elements that would give us some ideas. This is due to where we want to create an effect of symbolising the mental instiution from which the charcter has come from, there are images- even though it trying to reflect a most mortom- they have settings of a hospital feel which we can get ideas from. At 00:36 seconds there is a shot where the hospital bed is being wheeled down a corrider but the view infront is unclear as it is just a beam of light. In this case i feel that the directers have used this as due to their character being dead, it is representing the body going into the afterlife or officially dieing as people believe by seeing the light or walking into the light is common idiology when you die. i like the idea of this and feel that it is effective at the end of a piece as it makes the title stand out and could go well with our own. This could be used when opeing the door and seeing the light but in our context use the light as a symbol of a new life and start after the rehabiliation. For our piece we want to put random objects in a series which this clip does with the beaker and mesuring cylinders. In this case these types of props are used to enhance the mise en sence with the hospitial feel, if we did this we would have to make sure these random objects still link to our theme. Also they have varied the types of shots while filming these objects. this has been done trough focussing on only a part of the object or taking a shot then flashes to another of the same object but closer. in addition when they film the parts in the hospital the main colour is white with gives the conotations of a clean, healthy and pure feel. The only thing that i would not find useful from this opening sequence is the music seems out of place to me. However, this could be the music is flowing and the sounds would fit with the process of the what they are doing in preparing for her dealth with the postmortom till the berrial. I do like the sudden "dun" type bit as it is sudden as is in contrast with the other piece of music. In this case i feel the contrast in the different sounds in the music is for even through the process is normal to the doctors the sharpe part reflects how the other people who know the dead person would be on edge and upset.
Creep
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peggLQ1fLg8
the hpyerlink above is a clip of the opening sequence of creep. this is useful in our reseach when it comes to focus on distortion and the credits themselves. The clip has use very show and jumping movments with the camera and through editing with the contrast of the quick jolting credits. The credits in this clip unlike the other clips have a decorative font. I like the use of this when there are shots of just the credits places above a black background. They also use graphics upon the credits like the shine that flicks across from right to left of the title.
se7en
The film se7en is about a retiring detective (played by Morgan Freeman) and his replacement (played by Brad Pitt) working together to solve murders that involve the seven deadly sins.
In the opening credits of the film "se7en" they have used lots of different ways to make the opening credits effective and creative. i think they have done this through the using different editing styles. This is due to where the film is about crime, murder and religion, which all have different diversities, making the opening titles disoriented would reflect this. Also i feel that this would create the audience to be confused and intrigued. In addition, i like the way that the film has used cinemaograghy. this is because they have mainly used close up shots of items such as books etc, and have make the background fussy and phased out. i think this is useful to our group as it is a good example of what we can take ideas on as we want to focus on items that reflect the film. Plus, to give the connotation of crime and thriller, the opening titles have used low lighting to give the sense of danger which still follows when the screen is black with the white titles. i think the use of dark lighting will reflect that the film will be dark itself, that the film will give the audience the emotions of negativity due to the ideological connotation of black for people is everything bad. plus, i feel that the genre has been established through not including continuity as this would make the audience confused.
Six Feet Under
this opening title sequence would be useful towards our film due to some key elements that would give us some ideas. This is due to where we want to create an effect of symbolising the mental instiution from which the charcter has come from, there are images- even though it trying to reflect a most mortom- they have settings of a hospital feel which we can get ideas from. At 00:36 seconds there is a shot where the hospital bed is being wheeled down a corrider but the view infront is unclear as it is just a beam of light. In this case i feel that the directers have used this as due to their character being dead, it is representing the body going into the afterlife or officially dieing as people believe by seeing the light or walking into the light is common idiology when you die. i like the idea of this and feel that it is effective at the end of a piece as it makes the title stand out and could go well with our own. This could be used when opeing the door and seeing the light but in our context use the light as a symbol of a new life and start after the rehabiliation. For our piece we want to put random objects in a series which this clip does with the beaker and mesuring cylinders. In this case these types of props are used to enhance the mise en sence with the hospitial feel, if we did this we would have to make sure these random objects still link to our theme. Also they have varied the types of shots while filming these objects. this has been done trough focussing on only a part of the object or taking a shot then flashes to another of the same object but closer. in addition when they film the parts in the hospital the main colour is white with gives the conotations of a clean, healthy and pure feel. The only thing that i would not find useful from this opening sequence is the music seems out of place to me. However, this could be the music is flowing and the sounds would fit with the process of the what they are doing in preparing for her dealth with the postmortom till the berrial. I do like the sudden "dun" type bit as it is sudden as is in contrast with the other piece of music. In this case i feel the contrast in the different sounds in the music is for even through the process is normal to the doctors the sharpe part reflects how the other people who know the dead person would be on edge and upset.
Creep
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peggLQ1fLg8
the hpyerlink above is a clip of the opening sequence of creep. this is useful in our reseach when it comes to focus on distortion and the credits themselves. The clip has use very show and jumping movments with the camera and through editing with the contrast of the quick jolting credits. The credits in this clip unlike the other clips have a decorative font. I like the use of this when there are shots of just the credits places above a black background. They also use graphics upon the credits like the shine that flicks across from right to left of the title.
Wednesday, 2 December 2009
Ideas For Main
for our main task we have come up with four different ideas for a film plot that we could oreintate the tittle sequence around, all of which have the genre of horror/thriller. these ideas had themes based on vampires, criminal, ghosts and a crazy teen horror.
Vampires
This idea for the plot was a vampire on the rampage killing people as he had their heart broken. for this we would have a red background and shots of different clips.
Criminal
this idea for the plot was having a guy coming out of a mental home fully rehabilated but pretends he is a vampire.
Ghosts
someone coming back haunting people.
As a group we thought that we liked the idea of the criminal plot the best. this was becuase we thought that the others seemed to much like the film "Twillight" which would not turn out like horror at all. Due to this we have modified the idea a bit more. The plot of the film that we are going to orientate our tittle sequence on is going to be about a phychotic man who has come out of a mental institute and is fully rehabilated, but instead of pretending he is a vampire, he is slowly detearateing from one simple event that breaks down the years in the mental home. So, due to some past event starts killing people which he things links into this event.
To relate this plot to the tittle sequence, we had come up with the ideas of having very jolty camera movements. For example running down the hallway with the camera pivating all around. Also i thought we should make our tittle sequence very disoreintated too reflect his messed up psychotic mind. Plus, we had the idea to make the sequence look very white , pure,clean with tiny hints of the red to contrast. this is because in our group we have the ideology of of these colours for phychotic people and image hospitals. therefore, in our tittle sequence we want to reflect this by having props such as a scline drip and straight jacket. Also we had the idea to include shadows for a thrill which will contrast the white.
Vampires
This idea for the plot was a vampire on the rampage killing people as he had their heart broken. for this we would have a red background and shots of different clips.
Criminal
this idea for the plot was having a guy coming out of a mental home fully rehabilated but pretends he is a vampire.
Ghosts
someone coming back haunting people.
As a group we thought that we liked the idea of the criminal plot the best. this was becuase we thought that the others seemed to much like the film "Twillight" which would not turn out like horror at all. Due to this we have modified the idea a bit more. The plot of the film that we are going to orientate our tittle sequence on is going to be about a phychotic man who has come out of a mental institute and is fully rehabilated, but instead of pretending he is a vampire, he is slowly detearateing from one simple event that breaks down the years in the mental home. So, due to some past event starts killing people which he things links into this event.
To relate this plot to the tittle sequence, we had come up with the ideas of having very jolty camera movements. For example running down the hallway with the camera pivating all around. Also i thought we should make our tittle sequence very disoreintated too reflect his messed up psychotic mind. Plus, we had the idea to make the sequence look very white , pure,clean with tiny hints of the red to contrast. this is because in our group we have the ideology of of these colours for phychotic people and image hospitals. therefore, in our tittle sequence we want to reflect this by having props such as a scline drip and straight jacket. Also we had the idea to include shadows for a thrill which will contrast the white.
Tuesday, 1 December 2009
Beginning Of The Main Task !
Today I started in class planning for the main task. First in class we looked at what the aim of our task was which is to make:
"the titles and opening of a new fiction film, to last a maximum of two minutes".
for this in class we looked at some good and bad examples of some titles sequences from different films and the different ways they had created them. we watched the openings from Detour, North By Northwest, Goldfinger, Anatomy of A Murder, Catch Me If You Can and Seven. I found some of these clips useful and others not so much.
North By Northwest
I thought that these opening titles where good as for that time i thought they seemed artist. this is due to the film using different colours which contrast. Also i like how the black lines fade into the film footage of the lines of the windows from the massive building from America. I think that this title sequence gives give the connotation that the characters would be business workers from the business blocks. Plus, i like how the shots changes to show lots of different people but in every shot there are lots of crowds. i think this would show that the film is set in an American city as cities include lots of people. Also they have used natural lighting, i think this would reflect the outside of the building and the city and would blend with the brightness of the colours in the opening sequence such as green.
Goldfinger
"the titles and opening of a new fiction film, to last a maximum of two minutes".
for this in class we looked at some good and bad examples of some titles sequences from different films and the different ways they had created them. we watched the openings from Detour, North By Northwest, Goldfinger, Anatomy of A Murder, Catch Me If You Can and Seven. I found some of these clips useful and others not so much.
North By Northwest
I thought that these opening titles where good as for that time i thought they seemed artist. this is due to the film using different colours which contrast. Also i like how the black lines fade into the film footage of the lines of the windows from the massive building from America. I think that this title sequence gives give the connotation that the characters would be business workers from the business blocks. Plus, i like how the shots changes to show lots of different people but in every shot there are lots of crowds. i think this would show that the film is set in an American city as cities include lots of people. Also they have used natural lighting, i think this would reflect the outside of the building and the city and would blend with the brightness of the colours in the opening sequence such as green.
Goldfinger
I think that these opening credits are very good as it is very abstract. i think this because i feel it reflects the themes of the film very well after seeing the film. I think this is because the film is very sexist towards women and is shown in the opening titles when there are women painted naked in gold. Also i think this could represent that women are precious, as gold is a precious and desired metal. Plus, i think as there are women in the opening sequence this could suggest that James Bond is a "ladies man" which in fact he is. Furthermore i think this is also shown when film footage is reflected off the women too which would should that all women are attracted to him. Plus, the music used is very dramatic. i think that using this music in the opening titles would give the connotation that the film will be dramatic through action and adventure for example gun shooting, fire explosions etc. Also the background on the opening titles is black which is a contrast to the gold which the women our. this could be to show the difference not only to make them stand out but to also emphasise how important. Plus, i think that the placements of the clips on the women are important too. this is because different shots of the characters are on different parts of her body. for example James Bond is on her head and Goldfinger is on her stomach. this shows that James Bond is the main character and more important then Goldfinger as the head predominate feature of the body and is what people most distinguish. i think after analysing these titles i feel that that have been clever by managing to make the audience's eyes drawn away from the titles.
i think that when we come to make our opening titles they have to be interesting as i think they set the tone of the rest of the film to the audience. For example in the older films the title sequence are very long and boring as it is just a list of names upon a black background.
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