First Draft Of Our Main Task

This is our first draft of our title sequence for our main task. I think it is a pretty strong first draft with a lot of strengths and a few weaknesses. The weaknesses of our main task I think personally is the typography of our titles. I think I should edit them and use the Barron Kuffner font from Dafont. 

Main Task Title Sequence

Order of Titles

An improvement from our first draft is to correct our order of titles. We did not take this into account whilst making and editing our title sequence.

The order of opening credits are as follows:

1.    Name of the studio that is distributing the film.

2.    Name of the production company responsible for making the film. If an investor financed a substantial portion of the movie, they will usually be credited alongside the production company with “In Association with.”

3.    A (Producer’s Name) Production.

4.    A Film by (Director’s Name).

5.    Starring (this is optional or can be paired with the first cast member’s name), followed by the names of all principal actors.

6.    Film title.

7.    Featured cast members. A card that states “Featuring” used to be fairly commonplace but now appears to be falling out of fashion; in some cases, to speed up a title sequence, featured players are held off for the end crawl.

8.    Casting by.

9.    Music, composer, or original score.

10.    Production designer.

11.    At this point it can vary; you might see makeup, costume, or visual effects credits here or skip to the next few credits. At this point it should vary based on what is most important to the movie. If the movie’s a high budget sci-fi bonanza, it’s appropriate to credit the VFX team or supervising visual effects artist here; if it’s an historical epic, costume and makeup should probably get some notice here.

We will not have to include all of these roles in the making of our film such as a VFX team.

Why did the X-Files use the same title sequence?

The hit 90's TV series has recently made a comeback to our screens since the 9/11 conspiracies.The original title sequence being used brings up a lot of nostalgia for the old X-File fans that previously watched the show. The theme tune is very iconic and reinforces this nostalgia to bring up old excitement for fans. The old title sequence may of been used to depict the change in the re-make of the show. By comparing the old title sequence with the new roles draws people away from the idea that they are similar to the old X-Files as they have been compared. The importance of this title sequence is to bring out all the nostalgia and excitement of the X-Files to the old fans and bring them back to watch it. 

Slowing down the speed of shots

To add tension to our main task title sequence I wanted to slow down some of the shots that we filmed form their normal speed to create an eerie atmosphere between the black out cuts.
I changed the speed down in percentages to get the perfect speed for each shot to get the correct duration. This tutorial has been beneficial as it has added to my editing skill set as I have the technical ability to slow down the speed and duration of shots in adobe premiere in a number of different ways to display different outcomes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsd-yqWAvlY

Title sequence analysis summary

From analysing the title sequences , I have learnt that a common convention of title sequences are blackout screens with the typography on top. I have learnt that this draws the audience towards the typography and titles a lot more compared to titles on top of a footage background. The biggest shock for me was how simple the typography used was and that they are still very affective even though they are very simple and basic. I think my biggest inspiration is the tile sequence to ill Manors as the aspiring speech and moving titles ties in superbly with the blackout cuts. I have also learnt that the title sequence can imply and hint things about the rest of the film. I have also learnt that synchronous sound is very effective in building tension especially if the music has a relation tot he theme of the movie. I will especially take this into account when editing my title sequence and add music that has significance to our theme and idea.

Film Reviews 
From analysing thriller films I have learnt that tension is a crucial part and convention of a thriller. keeping the audience on the edge of their seat. This is something we are going to have to recreate but using our own ideas and twists. Also, relatable instances and situations I personally feel are far more exciting and nerve  wracking as you can put yourself in the situation. This has been replicated through Kidulthood and ill manors. I personally would like to recreate this feeling in my main task and take a similar approach to what kidulthood and ill manors have taken.

Django Unchained Title Sequence Analysis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcEfbTUAP0E

The opening credits for Django Unchained features a stationary mid shot of a rocky desert. This is followed by a western country folk guitar slowly picking a riff. This non-diegetic sound creates a loose country atmosphere. This ties in nicely with the setting as the movie is based in the Wild West.

The blocky red typography resembles that of a western saloon bar. This reinforces the setting of the movie which is the Wild West (19th century America).

These titles proceed to continue to show on the still shot background. 

The still shot then pans down into a group of black slaves before screening the main title.

By the camera panning down into a medium shot of the group of slaves, reveals the back of the main character as the group struggles forward revealing his brutal whipping scars. This straight away reveals the sheer brutality that slaves were put through at the beginning of the film to set the tone and level of violence yet to come in the film.

The rest of the title sequence features a series of shots of the main character Django. 

These shots depict the facial expressions of Django and exploit his emotions and hardship of the character towards the way he is being treated. The fade in and out technique seen above create the effect of Django blurring in and out of reality because of how brutal he is being treated and that he is de-humanised.