Analysis on Two Title Sequences

Title Sequence Analysis

Our title sequence involves showing titles displaying one after another until the opening ends with the actual title. We wanted to showcase the title like most films by making it stand-out to the audience enough for them to recognise why we named our film Monitored.  

Film openings in the thriller genre have already be covered by my codes and conventions research on one thriller film and a comedy film to immerse myself a lot on typical thriller openings and general films.

For this title analysis, I’ve picked Catch me If You Can starring Tom Hanks and Leonardo DiCaprio. I mentioned this film before in the Codes and Conventions essay on its spectacular animated ‘short film’. The second film is Dawn of the Dead, a zombie apocalypse movie directed by Zack Snyder. This opening is a perfect example of how the titles in the opening play a key part in associating itself with the genre and the mood it portrays.

Catch Me If You Can (2002)

The film portrays the title sequence with an enigmatic style of a small awareness of the plot of the film. It keeps us in suspense and presents the audience with some things to deduce. Most of the titles are cleverly used to work together in the animation; they come across as fluent transitions. They run well with this ‘short film’ enabling it to elaborate more on the animation and the film. It sets a series of events.

Like most movies, the order of titles often starts with Production Companies, in this case, its DreamWorks Pictures and Parkes Macdonald Productions. The flair of this title with the lines is very a bit peculiar, this peculiarity makes us feel absorbed into a thriller film, this is because the feelings we receive are quite cryptic.

In Most films, the production company always comes first.

The most interesting titles are next in line; they start with the Director and the actors. The titles start off with a list of big, leading actors that blend in with the surrounding objects. So far, the setting is fairly obvious to us that the bench and the sign narrows it down to an airport. The actors’ titles reference possibly some of the most important scenes in the film. The letters of the titles stretch to form lines, so that they are incorporated into the opening with this influence. This is used to affect the dark figures throughout the title sequence.

Title blends in with a reference to the film.

The titles create the environment to 

There are times when the characters move in between these vertical lines appears often to show the main character is constantly on the move, nonetheless he wants to be unidentified by suspicious activity. This influence is also used for the taxi scene; the titles work as lines on the road to camouflage themselves, this furthers the idea of how things camouflage themselves to hide away from danger. The design choice to have these vertical lines gives an interesting perspective on how the title artist is telling a story; moreover, it gives an unfailing look and feel to the titles.

The title the film is displayed near the end and it appears to be like all the other titles accept the word ‘me’, which looks different. Shortly after the title comes up, the ‘me’ title drifts off like a cloud.  The word could suggest the person running in the opening could be the main character as the opening mostly centres on him. It suggests to the viewers that the person trying to escape from the ‘huge figures’ is not an easy task for them and it specifies the plot of the film.  What links well with the title is that it indicates transport when the lines moves up to the sky where we the movie’s title suggest the process the main character goes.

Dawn of the Dead (2004)

The combination of the red titles and the black background express dark meanings of death and destruction. A few seconds into the movie, we can gather from it that the movie would fit into the category of horror.

The first credit in this opening is shown, the text is red and its placed on a black background, the title looks much distorted when the title is smeared to look like running blood; this and the sound of squeezing liquid can only relate to blood, which may suggest that the subject of blood presents the titles this way.

Red title flows away like running blood

This idea of running blood can also relate how zombies infect humans; when a zombie bites a human, they release a virus into the host’s blood stream and as a result, they’re infected. These titles that are written in blood represents the infected in the film, this is inevitable as most zombie films will consequently have key charcacters dying in their films.

The genre is sub-categorised into a zombie film instantly as the title rolls in, Dawn of the Dead. The typeface is Sans Serif conveying that it is quite modern, this links with how the setting will be set in the present day; this thought provokes the audience to be scared by how realistic it is. The film is set around our time is crafty for the reason that it is a way of presenting the possibilities of a zombie apocalypse, subsequently the title connotes the practicality of the film’s narrative.

Title of Film

The Actor's titles in pair

Actor's Titles grouped together

The interesting way they postioned the titles is unique compared to placing it in the middle of the screen using the rule of thirds.. In this opening, they positioned their titles in various different places on a black background. The positioning of these titles (especially some of the actors’ names who are put onto one title). The positioning of these titles connote how isolated people are in the film, they come across as being isolated in a world struck by the zombie apocalypse. When the actors are mentioned they used the idea of positioning to convey how incredibly distressing the film is for the characters. On occasion, the actor’s names are huddled together in some titles. Based on zombie film conventions, this may suggest they’re in group, so that they can team up to survive. Sometimes, the actor’s names are put into pairs on one title to suggest they work closely or there is some sort of relationship.

Results on Questionaire & Our Target Audience

Not long ago, I decided to construct a collective way of gathering primary research . I gave out our questionaires on film to randomly-selected people and today I've finally gathered the questionares, I found some interesting results. These questionaires ended up with a variety of answers and one or two usual fashions.


Example #1

It seems that the growing trend from a variety of questions is films with high-production value. Whether it involves their favourite genre or the last two movies they saw. It's all been narrowed down to one genre that seems to satisfy a huge audience, Action. Wheather it's actions films mentioned by the public or they gave out the genre itself on some of the questions.

Example #2

The biggest desire for most films suggested by the public is the Engima code, they agree that using this will improve the quality and the story-line immensely. This might involve me and Liam to try and make audiences intrigued with the main task, although we want to make it obvious enough for them to crack the mystery.


Example #3

This leaves me and Liam to conclude our brainstorming activity figuring out our intended audience for our main task. We want to try and incorporate an action sub-genre to the already Thriller film. The idea of Barthes' Enigma Code has introduced us with an idea for the main task. This will implicate a clip exhibiting the resolution of the disequilibrium, thus restoring the New Equilibrium.

Example #4

Our Target Audience
We felt that the Questionaire was given out fairly to people who are 16 and 17. We believe they represent on behalf of the 16 - 24 target audience we want to reach. Because our film is a thriller, we knew for a fact that a more mature audience would appreciate this genre.

 It was most clear that the 16/17 year olds we asked answered questions relating to movies containing violence, swearing, sexual references and drug-usage such as: Skyfall, Tropic Thunder and Looper. These films are marked as '15' by the BBFC (British Board of Film Classfication). 

This evidence means that people in their mid-teens will want to watch mature films even if the restrictions coming from the ratings will hold them back, they'll still want to watch a film of our main task's classified nature. Thrillers are often rated as a '15', so there is a good chance we've managed to identify our target audience. Yet, the genre is better described as a Psychological Thriller, so the age is much older. This will most definitely be a 18+.

To further elaborate on the Main Task's genre, the Nature of the film describes a very emotionally scarred character, any film which consists of any kind of suffering is considered hard to watch. The main character has a sort of mental dilemma where he isn't certain if the Hooded Figure he sees (judging by him in the first two shots looking apprehensive, the two meeting in the kitchen and the dream) is real or not. 

This scarring of the main character is what more older, emotionally stabled people will be able to watch. They are a demographic who acknowledge the character's sympathetic aspect connecting them both. You feel upset at how he is suffering from his mind playing tricks on him and the constant thought of someone possibly plotting to kill him. The mystery of the Hooded Figure is blood-curdling to think about itself, it is how and when the consequences will occur for our protaganist. Therefore, we are left with a disturbing, tension-building opening with many questions left unanswered. 

Research on Media Institutions and Target Audience

Research into Media Institutions

Film is a tough market for 'the beginners' who are newly introduced to the film business. These 'beginners' are closer to becoming Independent film companies who are capable of distributing and producing their own films cheaply. It is about knowing who you want to please and bringing in an original idea to the table. To never look back at how films are at risk of limited release, but how it's going to acheive at reaching the audience. Most of the time, subsidiary film studios will churn out the same concept and narrative to very ill-minded Parent Companies whose only belief is that they know that any film idea they receive will be an overnight success.

Independent films are recognisable to major film studios if their film consists of acheiveable content and style that the film communicates. However, failure is a consequence these film makers are willing to accept, many independent films end up being released at local film festivals before distribution and have no release anywhere else like cinemas or DVD/Blu-ray. The content Digital cameras are very cheap and compact to use, and at the same time, these cameras produce video in high-definition for a more clear and accurate look to the film. Fortunately, many independent film productions can rival a major films studios film if it has similiar funding and distribution techniques.

Founded in 1934, Hammer Films is a perfect example of a successful British Indepedent production company responsible for prevailing in creating similar products to what I've made. During the 1950s and 70s was when they were at their peak. They've specialised in the horror genre producing some of the best thriller/horror films that dominated the market for many years. One of their best work was Dracula, a 1968 film that became a huge box office success. It was so prosperous that there was a demand for a second film, The Revenge of Frankenstein. Although, the U.S subsidiary film studio Warner Brothers was mostly responsible for bringing them a helping hand in distribution and production that eventually they gathered financial success.

The Walt Disney Company

Nevertheless, the entire film industry is completely dominated by the Hollywood studios with the money to generate all the success from a little help of the conglomerate (parent company). For instance, the biggest and most successful parent company of all is Disney who owns these subsidiary companies. When the conglomerate’s film company releases a new film, the conglomerate will put forward their marketing campaign and take action to set their goals for promoting the film using these subsidiary small companies who specialise in creating many media texts i.e. book publishing, magazines, radio broadcasts or television programs.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Touchstone is one of many American Major Film studios onwed by the ever-growing conglomerate, The Walt Disney Company. Established in 1984, Touchstone, they are known to release Thriller and action films or maybe both. Because they are owned by a conglomerate, their films are an instant hit at the Box-Office. They are famous for producing Thriller films such as; Enemy Of The State and Con Air. as Touchstone Films,

The most efficient and less time consuming way of promoting the film without any synergy assistance is to use viral marketing. The Internet is probably the greatest source of information, but also a useful marketing tool for creating trends on twitter to create word-of-mouth. Beside the fact that the Internet has enabled film companies to make the world aware of their work, the Internet plays host to torrent websites streaming movies on the web illegally. The popular demand for watching movies for free on the Internet has led cinemas to lose business with cinemagoers. The closest link to why this tormenting of movies is occurring is due to the fact that people don’t have the time to schedule a good period for the cinema, they’ll be able to find the time to watch movies in their free time in the quickest manner.

Different products perfected by companies have a small piece of the target audience, interlinking with other companies who create products aimed at the same audience. This is constantly experienced by the Parent Company hierarchy. The film companies who create cross-media convergence within the company chain will try to sell their film to the next level.  These companies that converge establish plans to find products that the film’s target audience will be attracted to. For example, Christopher Nolan’s Batman series targets an audience of comic-book lovers. Aware of their fandoms, Warner Brothers converged with media companies to use their media outlets to contribute to the film’s overall success. In this case, the fans of the cape-crusader will probably adore the game published by EA, a Warner Brothers branch.

Target Audience Research

Secondary Research

The World Wide Web

Film companies will try to convince a niche audience to come and watch their film that they would love to watch. The company’s prime aim is to edit the suitable parts from the film that the target audience will look forward to most into a trailer. These trailers will be shown to everyone, thus, the trailer catches the eye of a demographic of people who are interested.

Companies will ensure that the trailer will be shown on T.V, as goes to the social central of the world, the Internet. The Internet will attract a larger audience from their initial targeted audience from the T.V. The key features in the trailer will include a complex and artistic title, a series of clips used frequently to show some of the character’s dialogue; it could be humorous (comedy) or frightened (thriller). The most epic and stimulating films will often use tense music that grows till the end of the trailer. This feeling of tension creates fulfillment for the audience and to find out what will happen in the movie.  From these typical codes in film trailers, audiences can instantly categorise the genre of the film when they consume the media text.

Primary Research

This is a questionnaire for the target audience to fill out.

   
 1)   What other genre would you like in a hybrid film that already contains a thriller element?

2)   Name two films you have seen recently?

3)   Did you like/dislike these two films you watched recently?

4)   What features do you expect in a thriller film?

5)   What Genre do you prefer? And Why?

6)   What makes a perfect film opening? And Why?

7)   What format do you watch most of your films on (i.e. Mobile Phones, Laptops etc)?

8)   Do you like films with Enigma Codes (A thrilling twist that leaves the audience questioning)?

9)   What threat do you prefer to watch in a thriller film (i.e. Aliens, Ghosts or supernatural occurrences)?
10) What is your favourite film of all time?

The Forms and Conventions of Movie Openings

Blog Intro - Forms and Conventions by Olly Child