1. The purpose of a title sequence and film opening

What is the purpose of a title sequence and film opening?

A title sequence is used to introduce the film and give the viewers a feel of what is to come. It can also be used to name of the actors that are going to be featuring in the film, and at the end of a title sequence it will always give the name of the film.

Title sequences incorporate the logo of the institutions that are involved in the film, including the production, distribution and finance. The purpose of this is to advertise the company, establish the expectations of an audience and can be used as a symbolic code for the specific genre that is being used.

Title sequences can also be used to give the audience an idea about what genre the film is, as well as setting the tone/theme for the upcoming movie.

2. How can a film opening attract an audience?

3. What makes a good title sequence according to Kyle Cooper?

4. Analyse 2 title sequences

5. What conclusions can you make about the titles in title sequences?

The way title credits are ordered is that firstly the company behind the film is usually named, typically filling the whole screen and sometimes dates when the film was created.

This is followed up by naming the director of the film and all of the main (usually famous) actors that are featured.

Finally, any notable producers are named in the opening, and any other additional companies that may have helped with production.

The title credits and opening typically last between 1 and 3 minutes, depending on how big the film is and how many actors are featured in the film. The font styles that are used usually correspond with the certain time periods that the film may be set in, and font size will all depend on how many actors and producers that they wish to list at the start of the film, e.g who deserves to be credited for their work during production.

6. Pick your favourite film and analyse the type of title sequence it uses

The type of title opening here is a "Stylist" opening, with the time vortex in the intro setting the scene and telling us this is a sci fi film. You don't often see a flying blue box in space travelling through colourful lights and stars, so it is trying to give the audience a feel of what is to come.

As for the order of the credits, you firstly see the name of the film, shortly followed by a list of actors and important people. Usually the first people you see are the main characters.

7. What are the 4 different types of film opening?

8. What is Genre?

History of the Crime Genre

What is Genre?:
It is the way of categorising films. Genre can evolve into hybrid genres and sub genres, e.g. Alien.
- Genre changes over time due to:
- The attitudes of the public changes
- Changes in law/ legislation
- Genre changes

Sub genres of crime can include cosy mystery genre, legal thriller, forenisc thriller and military thriller. Other hybrid genres can include Film Noir, Courtroom Drama, Hood Films, Heist and Law and Order.

What was the first ever Crime film?

The first known crime genre film was known as The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912) and it was about organised crime. It was directed and written by D.W Griffith and is known as a non-profit film, symbolising the minimal money it made if anything at all.

How has crime films changed through different decades?

An early example of a crime film is “Born to Kill” of 1947 it’s about a man who kills a girl she likes and her boyfriend out of jealousy. Due to the decade that this was made in, this would have been a lower budget film considering the fact that WW2 would have just finished, and the number of willing actors would have been at an all-time low. Another example is “Bonnie and Clyde” of 1967. This is one of the first crime films to be filmed in colour, immediately suggesting this has a higher budget. This film is one of the more famous crime films of this decade, considering its rather tragic ending. “Pulp Fiction” of 1994 however is known as one of the most successful crime movies to date, despite it being usually known as a gangster-crime movie. It is about two hitmen trying to retrieve a suitcase from their employer. Finally, a more recent crime film would include “Spectre” of 2015, although crime is just one of the sub-genres of this film. It is about a cryptic message from Bond’s past which sends him on a trail to uncover a sinister organisation hidden away. This film was made over the course of 3 years, meaning it would have had a high budget and lots of props and actors to work with.

     



In more modern crime films, story plots tend to have a more complicated and longer storyline due to the fact that modern films have larger budgets, which means they can make the films longer. Modern crime genres usually have a more significant number of actors included on the cast usually to accompany bigger storylines. Some noticeable directors include Tarentino and Whit Masterson.

9. Post your answers to the BFI Statistics yearbook

10. Analyse title sequences of your chosen genre and Conventions

11. Genre Shortlist

For our film opening, we had the option of two genres:

1. Crime
2. Horror

I have decided to do the Crime genre.

12. Why is sound so important in a film?

13. Analyse the use of sound in one film opening

In this particular film opening, there are range of different sounds and techniques that are used. As the scene begins, we have some sound effects to go with the on screen text, which is showing you where the film is set. We also begin to hear a voice over, which is helping us to set the scene.

As we cut to the actual man talking, we can faintly hear some non diagetic music in the background, as in these particular shots we want to focus on what the actor is saying and we want to hear it as clearly as possible.

When the man leaves the room, the non diagetic sound starts to become louder and we eventually cut to a song, which starts as the title credits occur. As this song is playing, some diagetic sound is present, with a series of explosions and crashes happening around this man as he is walking. There doesn't appear to be a sound bridge in this particular opening.

14. Summarise your findings of the genre conventions in film openings from the crime genre

Bullet points of conventions of crime genre:

-  Fast paced, suspense and a lot of action
-  A crime genre always has a protagonist and antagonist
-  An action scene such as a fight scene or chase scene
-  High intensity Moments
-  Wants the audience to get the know the character(s) very quickly
-  It will create enigma (making the audience ask questions)
-  Other crime genre examples include robberies and shootouts