Evaluative Commentary

Forms and conventions

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?What was similar to your media product to others?

I think my title sequence was slightly similar to the one of Dexter.  This is because we used close up shots of props, characters, and the actions that characters were taking that would convey the genre of thriller/horror.  The close up shots are suppose to make the audience feel as if there is confined space and want to see outside the shot.  

What was your genre and what genre conventions did you follow?

The genre of my title sequence was horror/thriller.  The location in a good horror/thriller movie could be in a house, which is isolated.  Therefore in our title sequence we showed a long shot of the bedroom, which is isolated and quiet as no one is in the house except for the two main characters of Hannah and Zeba.  To convey a horror/thriller genre, films usually use jump-cuts as the quickening of the shots creates more tension for the audience.  We used quick shots in some areas of our title sequence, for example when Hannah is having thoughts about Rohan and Zeba together at school, the speed of the shots increases which also increases the tension for the audience.  Usually in horror/thriller movies, the evil character, who in this case is Hannah, are seen dressed in dark clothing.  So, in our title sequence Hannah is dressed in black clothing, which symbolises death, evil.  We normally associate horror/thriller movies to have an evil character and a naive character who ends up either dying in the movie or being heroic and killing the evil character.  In this case we have Hannah as the evil character who is planning to kill Zeba, who is the naive character and believes Hannah is her honest, trustworthy best friend.  The themes that we explored in our title sequence were death, good vs evil, and hate.  These are themes that are normally explored in horror/thriller films.  

What other film were you influenced by?

My film was influenced by Sorority Row - because of the storyline and the genre, Mean girls - the hatred between friends, and the TV show Dexter - the camera shots used to convey genre.

Role and use of new media technology

How have your shown awareness of the role of new media in your production?  How was it useful to use a HD camera instead of a traditional celluloid camera?

To build my knowledge about title sequences and what kind of music and camera shots are used to convey genre, I did some research by searching different title sequences on YouTube.  After watching these title sequences I analysed them.  This made me more aware of how the music and camera shots etc have a massive impact on how the genre is conveyed and established.  We also watched a range of DVDs and analysed their title sequences in order to understand how they are all different from one another.  In our Media lessons we used YouTube to listen to a variety of different music.  We had to note down how piece of music made us feel and we had to guess what genre it fulfilled.  This made us more aware about the sound that we should use in our title sequences and how it has to vary to convey a specific genre.  For our title sequence we used a software called Garage Band, where we created our own sound to fit our genre.  For our filming we used a HD camera.  It was much easier to use than a traditional celluloid camera as you are able to upload your footage onto a editing software such as Final Cut Pro, and cut whatever shots you don't need, add on any music etc.  HD cameras are also much better to use rather than a celluloid as it record in Hi Definition, which means footage will be much clearer.  Finally, with a celluloid camera you have to use extra lighting, however, with a HD camera you can use the natural light.

Audiences

Who were your target audience, and how did you attract them?

Our title sequence was targeted to both males and females, however we thought females may like our title sequence more as the killer and the victim are women, therefore it is challenging the traditional male killer convention.  We aimed it to young adults from the age of 15 and above, although it is a horror/thriller film, we thought it would be acceptable for them to watch with an adult.  

What feedback did you receive during pre-production? 

We had to present our idea to the class and ask our peers if they would be convinced to come and watch the film in the cinema.  Our peers told us that they would not come and watch our film in the cinemas and they thought the storyline was very similar to other horror/thriller movies such as Scream.  This was because we decided to have a male killer in our title sequence.  This made us want to twist our story and make it more interesting and unique, therefore our peers would be willing to watch it.  This made us decide to have a female killer as we thought that not many horror/thriller movies have female serial killers.  We thought this challenged the traditional male being a killer convention.  

What feedback did you get during post - production?

Whilst editing our first set of shots, our teacher pointed out many factors that could lower our marks.  These included errors such as bad composition, dark lighting, length of shots, jump cuts, unknown characters shown in scenes etc.  These errors made us worry that we will lose marks and receive a low grade, therefore we decided to add extra shots into our title sequence and film it all again from scratch.  When our teacher saw our second set of shots, he was pleased and thought the shots flowed, the lighting was great and the length of the shots is perfect.  

Relationship between preliminary and the main task

What have you learnt about new technologies?

I have learnt how to use a new software called Garage Band, where we were able to create sound and music for out title sequence.  I also learnt how to record a voice over through the same software, which can then be transferred onto the footage.  It was a difficult to use at first but I am now confident, and know how to use the software efficiently. I learnt how to cut out diegetic sound from our original footage and then replace it with my sound effects which I created on Garage Band.  This made my title sequence look more realistic and professional.  Finally, I learnt about the three second rule which should be used when filming, which I was no aware of when filming my preliminary task.  The three second rule means that you should leave three seconds before acting the shot and three seconds after ending the acting.  This allows the shot to have some blank space before and after the shot, therefore making it easier to edit.  In our preliminary task we were not aware of the three second rule, therefore our title sequence consisted of many jump-cuts which lead to dialogue being cut off.  This made us lose marks and made our title sequence look unprofessional.  So, for my final title sequence, I was aware of the three second rule, which made my shots consistent and easy to edit and fit together.

Audience Feedback

On Tuesday 22nd March 2011, all students presented their final edits of their title sequence to the class and received feedback based on the criteria.  

Level 1 - Minimal

Level 2 -Basic

Level 3 - Proficient and Creative 

Level 4 - Excellent and Creative 

Criteria 

Holding a shot steady where appropriate  - Level 4

Framing a shot, including and excluding elements as appropriate - Level 4

Using a variety of shot distances as appropriate - Level 4

Shooting material appropriate to the task set - Level 4

Selecting mise-en-scene including colour, figure, lighting, objects and setting - Level 4

Editing so that meaning is apparent to viewer - Level 4

Using varied shot transitions ans other effects selectively and appropriately for the task set - Level 4

Using sound with images and editing appropriately for the task set - Level 3

Using titles appropriately - Level 3

What did you do well?

1. The black and white effect added to the flashback scenes was done very well.  Although it was a black and white effect, you could still see the shot clearly and see what is going on with the characters of Zeba and Rohan.

2. There was a range of shots used, the close-ups used conveyed the horror/thriller genre.

3. It all flowed, there were not any jump-cuts except for maybe one or two.

4. Good use of transitions (fades)

Target:

1. The tittles were slightly unclear to see in some areas as they blended with the background.  

2. There was too much of the story given away in the title sequence.  It is suppose to create enigmas, it does however it answers most of them, which is not suppose to happen.  

3. The music at the beginning conveys a slight different genre to the actual horror/thriller genre.  

Personal Opinion

I was pretty pleased with my final edit taking into consideration I had the least time to edit due to filming errors.  I was pleased with the music and thought the beginning music worked well as well, as I was trying to portray that everything is normal between both friends, which conveys that Zeba's character is quite gullible and naive as she cannot see that her best friend Hannah wants to kill her because of jealousy.  I was pleased with the way the whole title sequence flowed and did not jump from one shot to the next, it told a clear story.  I realised that the titles were not so great, however due to a lack of time I had to stay with the basic font and colour.  I thought that the colour white would stand out when the title appeared on the shots. This was true however in some shots the titles blended into the background, which will lead me to lose marks.  Overall I was pretty pleased with my final edit and how the music suited the genre well, and how it all told a clear story.  This was also seen by my peers as they did give me Level 4 for most of the points of the criteria which was the highest level you could achieve, so I was pleased with my outcome.

Filming Day

We had to film flashbacks that Hannah will have in our title sequence in school.  So when all film crew members had a free in their timetable, we met up in school and shot scenes of Zeba and Rohan together.  These shots would be shown when Hannah is sharpening the eyeliner pencil and has thoughts of jealousy of Rohan and Zeba together at school.  This filming took place on Wednesday 16th February 2011.

Our original date for filming the whole title sequence was Monday 21st February 2011 from 1:00pm to 5:30pm.  However not all film crew members were able to make it, so we had to have another day when everyone was available for filming.  We changed the date to Thursday 24th February 2011 from 1:00pm to 5:30pm.  We arrived at our filming location which was in Dagenham at 12:45pm.  We set up the bedroom which we were going to film in and made sure we had all our props ready (eyeliner pencil, sharpener, picture of Zeba, iPod etc.)  By the time we had everything set up it was 1:15pm.  We then started to shoot our title sequence.  We approximately finished filming at 5:00pm, which was earlier than what we predicted.  

When we returned back to school on Monday, we began our individual edits using the software "Final Cut Pro".  It was a straight forward software to use as we had previously used this for our Preliminary task.  However myself and Zeba were not pleased at all with the shots that our camera man Oscar filmed.  He had cut off our heads which showed bad composition.  In another shot where Hannah was crossing out Zeba's photograph, in the mirror we could see the reflection of our camera man sitting on the bed! who was suppose to be behind the camera.  In the second shot of Zeba turning the door handle, the lighting was absolutely terrible, it was completely dark, so Zeba's hand was difficult to see.  These problems were not noted out by our camera man on the filming day.  Me and Zeba were not happy with these shots at all however Oscar and Rohan did not mind.   

Me and Zeba wanted to shoot the scenes that went bad again.  This was becoming very difficult for us as we would have to ask for permission from our friend whose house we were using to film in.  This was a big issue for us as the whole final edit was due at the end of the week.  However me and Zeba decided to take a risk and film the whole title sequence again from the beginning.  This would be MUCH easier as we can film it correctly, making it easier to edit, and so it will flow more smoothly, and it would have been difficult to match the hair, make-up and costume to match the previous shots.  Rohan and Oscar were not interested in filming the shots again, so me and Zeba went back to the same location in Dagenham and filmed the title sequence from the beginning again, without the help of Rohan and Oscar.  We were really pleased with the results and took everything that went wrong from Oscar's filming into account.  We felt the composition was great, the shots were continuous and the lighting was perfect.  We did take some extra shots which did not match the storyboard.  We did this as we thought it would make our title sequence look more effective as there would be a wider variety of shots used and explored.

When we returned to school on Tuesday 8th March 2011, we transferred all our new shots to the computer to begin our editting.  As we didnt have much time to edit, we had to try and get everything done quickly as the deadline was Friday 11th March 2011, so we were pretty nervous if we would get it editted in time to meet the deadline.  We used a final hour on the day of the deadline (Friday) to get our final bits completed.  We were lucky enough to complete our final edits to desire.  However if I was to complete this project again I would make sure all shots were filmed properly so that we could have more time to spend on editting. Because i feel like i didnt have enough time to take into consideration what kind of font I would like to use for the titles and the colours.  Due to timing I stuck to the basic font and colour.  

Music Composition

We have now come to the stage of composing music for our title sequence.  We had to understand the the music has to relate to the genre of the title sequence and if it does contain lyrics it has to relate to the plot of character, however if it does not then our title sequence will not be so effective and will make the audience confused about the genre.   Some examples from popular movies where the music creates the mood and atmosphere would be 'The Talented Mr Ripley'.   We know that the film may be set in the 60s as we hear jazz music in the title sequence.  Another example is Rocky, which uses quite victorious music connotating the victories of boxing matches that Rocky has had.  This tells us more about the character suggesting he never gives up.  The music is also quite fast-paced creating a boxing atmosphere.  A third example would be from Jaws where the music is slow, and deep creating tension which informs the audience that something bad is going to happen (the shark is going to attack).

Examples of Title Sequence's from Previous Students

In order to gain some more ideas and get a sense of what we will have to create for our title sequence, we watched some which were made by previous Media students.  Watching them made us realise the little mistakes that could be made in ours, which we will have to be aware of.

The first title sequence we watched was called 'The Fat and the Furious'.  The title sequence uses a range of shots which was really effective, however the title sequence was too long which made it very boring to watch, as not much was going on.  We just see the regular behaviour of the male character, who wakes up, brushes his teeth and gets dressed.  I think this was completely pointless as it didn't really convey the genre at all.  For background sound all we could hear were police car noises, which had no relevance to the title sequence.  At the end of the title sequence we see a close up of the male character sitting in a car where the title 'The Fat and the Furious' appears.  I don't think the title of the title sequence was good, as it is a copy of the popular film 'The Fast and the Furious'.  The title of the film looks as if the student who edited it forgot to place the 's' in 'Fat'.  To improve this the student could have put speech marks around it so the audience know that this may be a spoof or that the editor didn't make a mistake with spelling.  The font of the title also did not convey the genre, and the title sequence as a whole did not tell the audience anything about the main character.  Overall I did not like the title sequence at all.  I thought it was boring, too long and was not effective at all.  The whole beginning of the title sequence was completely pointless, I think it could have been cut down shorter and should have shown a little more about the male character and shown if he could drive or not.  This would have told us a little more about the plot.

The second title sequence we looked at was called 'Dead Revenge'.  In the title sequence we see a female character and her actions - getting dressed, putting on make-up etc.  There were also a range of shots used but mainly close-up/extreme close-ups.  This makes it more clear for the audience to see what is happening and feel eager to know see what the female character is doing.  The title appears quite fast on the screen as the female character carries on getting dressed.  I liked the fact that it was clearly seen and the faded away.  The title sequence did tel us that the character is a woman, this was shown through the clothes she was putting on and the mascara and red lipstick.  Props like the red lipstick to connotate that the film may involve some type of death/murder.  The black clothing that the female character was putting on suggested a mysterious genre.  However the font of the the text used in the title sequence changed during the sequence, therefore this showed a lack of effective editing and also did not look professional.  Overall i thought it was a good title sequence as there were many elements used to create an effective title sequence. 

Story Board

We weren't too sure about the fourth shot on this storyboard where Hannah imagines stabbing Zeba in the eyes.

We thought this would give too much of the storyline away making the film boring to watch.

The last three shots on this storyboard were not effective at all. We decided to edit these and take some out.  This was because it was making the title sequence too long which is only suppose to be under 2 minutes.  We also thought too much of the plot was being given away in just the title sequence.

The third shot on this storyboard was of Hannah imagining of smashing a mirror in Zeba's head.  This was also going to make the title sequence too long and give too much of the story away.  We want our title sequence to create engima's for the audience making our title sequence more effective.  Therefore we placed our ideas on the title sequence just as a draft to get an idea of what we could do for our final.

We took this shot out of the title sequence which was of the fourth character Oscar, who was the mastermind behind killing Zeba and was encouraging Hannah too.  In this shot we would see oscar watching Hannah from the window.  However we had to keep in mind we are not telling the whole story in the title sequence, therefore we could not show all the characters at once in the first 2 minutes.

The third shot here, has been sightly changed now as we decided not to show Hannah's face when the title appears.  We decided that we would show Hannah's face with a smirk and then a blackout, where the title will appear.

Troubleshooting

When planning for our title sequence, we were experiencing some difficulties.  The first difficulty was naming the film.  We decided to name our film 'Bitch' as the word itself mean't  a female dog which connotated the role of Hannah in the title sequence.  However when we dicussed this with our teacher, we realised that having a film named 'Bitch' would not appeal to many people or stores, therefore our film would not sell.  We experimented many different names then finally settled on one...Death Kiss.  We thought the 'Death' could represent the film will be horror and involve someone dying however the word 'Kiss' suggests there may be some romance linked in the film which is between Zeba and Rohan.  Another problem that arose was where the film would take place.  We decided Zeba's house however we thought that there would be too much ambient sound due to family members being present at the same time.  We then had to change our location and ask other friends if we could use their house.  Our friend agreed however it depended on when she would be available for us to come and film in her house.   

Prop List

My group and I created a list of props that we will be needing when shooting our title sequence

1. Eyeliner pencil

2. A sharpener

3. Knife

4. Portrait of Zeba

5. Radio

6. Mobile Phone

7. Hair Brush

Shooting Schedule

Thursday 24th February - 3:00pm 

Meeting at Zeba's house on Ley Street.  Catching 169 to Ilford, then switching buses to go to Dagenham where we will be filming at a friend's house.  We will then set up our camera equipment and get ready to film.  

Vogler's Hero Journey

To make our title sequence effective it should follow a good narrative structure, either from Todorov's or Vogler's hero journey. We as a group we decided to use the structure of Voglers Hero Journey as we thought it fit our concept perfectly.  Below is our narrative structure:

The ordinary world 

Definition: The story starts in the ordinary world where the hero is going about everyday existence, oblivious of the adventures to come. This anchors the hero as a human, just like you and me, and hence we can associate our selves with the hero.

How our concept relates to this

Two best friends are having fun and getting ready to go out.

The call to adventure 

Definition:  The hero is next presented with a wrong done, a problem or challenge which they feel they must resolve. Thus the king calls for someone to save the realm from a marauding enemy, a private detective has a client bring a difficult case to them or an attractive other person is spotted in a bar. Thus the challenge is set, to defeat the enemy, solve the murder or win the heart of the other person.

How our concept relates to this

Hannah is jealous of Zeba's boyfriend - Rohan, behind her back.

Refusal of the call 

Definition:  The hero may well balk at the thought of the task ahead, perhaps refusing the challenge or having second thoughts. The problem seems to much to handle and the comfort of home seems more attractive than the rough wilderness or dangerous streets.  This would be our own response and we thus bond further with the reluctant hero.

How our concept relates to this

Hannah who is plotting to kill her Zeba in order to get Rohan to like her, she starts to have seconds thoughts, reflecting on the good times both bestfriends have had together since childhood. 

Meeting the mentor 

Definition:  The mentor appears to help the hero prepare for the road ahead. Thus Gandalf, Obi-wan Kenobi and a host of other wise and experienced people teach the hero the skills they need and give them critical knowledge to help them survive.

How our concept relates to this

Hannah is plotting to kill her Zeba who is her bestfriend.  She gets the help from her Zeba's ex-boyfriend.

Crossing the threshold

Definition:  Eventually the hero is ready to act and crosses the threshold, often literally as they leave the family homestead on their journey into the unknown.

How our concept relates to this

Hannah is ready to kill  Zeba and goes crazy thinking about how happy Zeba is with her Rohan.

Tests, allies and enemies

Definition:  Once out in the big wide world, the hero is confronted with an ever more difficult series of challenges that they may face, ranging from minor skirmishes and struggles against weather and terrain to riddles and various setbacks that would defeat a lesser person.

In this way the hero's character is both highlighted and developed. Now bonded to the hero, we feel a vicarious sense of pleasure as these challenges are met.

How our concept relates to this

Hannah realizes its impossible for her to kill Zeba on her own, so she teams up with Zeba's ex-boyfriend who she dumped.  He is angry with her therefore wants to also seek revenge.

Approach the Inmost Cave 

Definition:  At last the final destination lays ahead and the hero, battered but wiser from their trials along the way must prepare for the ultimate test. In ancient legend, a typical 'innermost cave' is the land of the dead or a labyrinth. It is the lair of the dread enemy where no help may be found and only deep courage will win through. Another threshold must be crossed here to enter the dragons' den of the innermost cave.

We swallow hard, as does the hero, at the thought of what might go wrong. To approach the innermost cave is to face death and still go on. This pause helps show the hero as still human and helps build the story tension before the high point of the story.

How our concept relates to this

Zeba's ex-boyfriend agrees to help Hannah to kill Zeba

The ordeal 

Definition:  At last the hero must face their deepest fears, typically in battle with the dark villain. This is the ultimate test that the hero takes, where the real story perhaps is the inner battle whereby the hero overcomes their own demons in facing up to the enemy outside.

As observers, we feel scared for the hero and may be terrified that they might fail or die. In so doing we also face and, with the hero, overcomes our own inner fears.

How this relates to our concept

Rohan realises Hannah's plans and tries to save Zeba from dying

The reward 

Definition:  In defeating the enemy, the hero is transformed into a new state where fears are vanquished and the new fearless person is born. The reward in the story may be gaining new knowledge, a treasure or rescuing a princess, but the inner reward is in the personal growth that is achieved.

How this relates to our concept

Rohan kills Hannah as she is caught and all her lies are revealed to Zeba

The roadback

Definition:  After the story has reached it main peak, the transformed hero sets out home again. Having gained the treasure they are have no need for more adventure and nothing left to prove and so set out back home again.

Setting out home is reverse echo of crossing the threshold in setting out on the adventure. In contrast to the earlier anticipation of danger, the anticipation now is of acclaim and rest.

How this relates to our concept

Zeba is traumatised by what has just happened to Hannah, but Rohan tries to comfort her and helps her forget about everything and move on.

The resurrection 

Definition:  The story has one last trick up its sleeve now, having lulled its audience into a false sense of security, as one last challenge faces the hero. Perhaps the villain was not completely vanquished or perhaps there are other people in need on the way back -- whichever way, we are again plunged into another climactic event, just when we thought it was safe to breath easy again.  In ancient stories, the hero has to be purified before return. After the toil of the journey and the ordeal, they are formally reborn into a new and beautiful form.

How this relates to our concept

After a few months, Zeba has fully recovered after what has happened to Hannah.  Rohan and Zeba carry living their lives together as a couple.

Characters

There are four of us in a group, however only three of us will play characters in the title sequence.

Hannah - Zeba's bestfriend and the killer

Zeba - Hannah's bestfriend and in a relationship with Rohan

Rohan - Zeba's boyfriend who know's there's something strange about Hannah

Oscar - Camera man

Dexter Title Sequence

We watched the title sequence of Dexter which is an American television drama series that centers on Dexter Morgan, a forensic bloodstain pattern analyst for the Miami Metro Police Department who moonlights as a serial killer.  Our task in the lesson was to create a storyboard of our own title sequence.  However in order to understand how much depth we have to show, i.e every shot that will take place, what will be seen in each shot etc, our teacher showed us this title sequence from Dexter.  Whilst watching this title sequence we had to count how many shots we see.  The majority of the class saw around 50-60 shots used in just a 1 minute and 42 second title sequence.  Counting these shots enabled us to understand how much depth we need to go into when making our own storyboards.   

We also discussed how this title sequence was created in an effective way.  Dexter Morgan is revealed only at the very end of the opening sequence, after a series of fragmented and disorienting close-ups.  The opening credits of Dexter suggest that very careful and clearly deadly precision is present in every aspect of the protagonist’s life. the blood-red colour used in the title 'Dexter' may or may not be actual blood; the title sequence inter cuts actual blood (the shaving shots) and flesh (the bacon for breakfast) with things which look like dripping blood and mangled flesh, but turn out to be ketchup and an orange.  The opening of Dexter presents the sinister side of everyday actions: shaving is disruptive and dangerous, preparing breakfast is bloodthirsty, a healthy appetite is somehow highly suspected. Yet critically, Dexter’s morning routine is not really  different from most people’s, he may be a serial killer, but he still puts his shoes on one at a time. The credit sequence foreshadows Dexter’s murderous side and yet provides a point of identification for the viewers through a focus on seemingly-everyday behaviour.

My Group's Film Concept and Feedback

In our lesson we were put into groups of four.  In our group, our task was to come up with an original film concept for our title sequence.  It was difficult to come up with a completely original idea and required lots of discussion.  We all decided to stick to the horror/thriller genre as we thought it would be more interesting to create a plot around.  

Group Concept

As a group we had arrived to a decision with our film concept.  Our film  concept was based around four girls getting ready to go to a party, however when they look outside the window they see a guy who is mysteriously watching them get ready.  The mysterious guy turns out to be a stalker to begins to kill the girls one by one.  We weren't to keen on the idea so we presented our idea to our Media teacher.

Feedback from our Media Teacher

Our Media teacher told us the idea was not very original and was similar to other movies such as  'Scream'.  He told us to try and change our concept so it is more different to other films that are out in the cinemas today.  We took on our teacher's feedback and as a group discussed other ideas we could use for our film concept.  However our teacher had told us to present our film concept to the class and see what they think.

Feedback from the class

We presented our film concept to our peers as asked them what we could improve on and if they would watch our film or not.  A majority said 'no' they would not watch our film, as they thought it was too similar to previous films in the cinemas.  We asked our peers what we could improve on in order for them to be encouraged to watch our film.  They suggested we should add a twist to the concept which would make the film more interesting to watch.  We took on our peers feedback and put more thought into our film concept.

Change in Film Concept

As our Media teacher and peers told us our film concept was too simular to previous films released in cinemas.  We have now changed our idea and have added a twist, however we have still stuck to the horror/thriller genre.  Our film concept is now based around two girls who are best friends.  One of the girls boyfriend has a friend who liked his girlfriend.  He is now plotting to kill the girl as she turned him down with the help of her best friend.

We first decided a boy should kill the girl, but we thought this was too predictable, so we twisted the film concept, to the girls bestfriend killing her.  We thought this would be a shock to the audience as it not something the audience will expect from the girls best friend.

How Will These Title Sequences Influence Your Title Sequence?

After watching the class present their chosen title sequence and their analysis points as to what makes it effective, me and my group had thought of some great ideas to use for our own title sequence.  After watching the SAW IV title sequence my group thought it would be a good idea to use simular tight shots to emphasise the horror/thriller genre of our title sequence.  This is because it would make our audience feel claustrophobic and want to see more than what is being shown.  We also decided that we will use dark, slow music, so the audience is kept on edge and so they can prepare for the unexpected.  We want to show good development of the main character like the Joker from the Dark Knight title sequence.  Most importantly we decided to include engimas and this will make our title sequence more effective.  

The Taking of Pelham 123 Title Sequence

The Taking of Pelham 123 (Director: Tony Scott)


A title sequence which I analysed was from the film The Taking of Pelham 123.  I thought it was an effective title sequence because of the range of shots used which conveyed the genre, and I liked the use of editting as it established the plot of the film well.






Plot

Medium shots are shown of the trains moving and arriving at the stations.  This establishes the plot of the film is going to be based in the train station.

Editting

In the opening you see the Columbia Pictures logo playing in a small section in the middle of the screen.  As it continues, the section slowly approaches to fill the screen. This imitates the movement of a train going through a dark tunnel, making it appear as of the audience is in a subway tunnel.  This may be suggesting the plot is based around a train as you hear sounds of a moving train and the screeching of the brakes.(Pelham 1 2 3) 

When the names of the cast are appearing, a black stripe moves across the names.  This mimics the movement of a train, also the background sound is of a moving train which denotates what the film may be based on.

 When the name of the film is shown, the numbers 1,2,3 appear as the lights of a moving train are seen in the background.  Denotating the storyline of the film is about a train called Pelham 1 2 3.


Camera

This close up shot of a MTA badge, conveys the film involves the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, hinting towards the character of MTA dispatcher Walter Garber (Denzel Washington )

You see a long shot of the building in America which automatically tells the audience that the film is set in New York city. The music after this shot changes to rock music as it is fast paced to match the speed of the writing as it appears on screen this also sets the pace for the opening of the film.

We then see a medium shot of the side view of John Travolta.  The focal point in this shot is the tattoo on his neck which reads “from my cold” around a gun, which suggests he may have a gun.  The meaning behind the tattoo is “I’ll give you my gun when you take it from my cold, dead hands”.  This means he won’t let go of his gun until he is dead.  Also people who have been to jail are normally associated with tattoo's.  This conveys he is a strong and powerful character and hints that he could be the bad guy in the film.

Music

The music suddenly changes to a more fast, intense and rapping music.  This may be suggesting the busyness and amount of population in New York city.  It could also suggesting the film is set in a rough area.  

Genre

We get the hint that the genre is action/crime/thriller.  This is connotated through the fast-pace music and the fast movement of transitions suggesting action.  We see a shot of John Travolta with the tattoo of the gun, symbolizing death/he is a criminal.  We also see a close up shot of a bag in someone's hand at the train station.  This suggests that there may be something suspicious (i.e.gun) in the bag.  These connotate the genre thriller/crime.