The final film we're going to be discussing the opening sequence to is The Reaping a film introduced in the year 2007. I've watched the opening sequence of this film at ArtOfTheTitle.com. I studied it based on our horror genre. I examined it due to the following questions.
How many titles are displayed during the opening sequence? The amount of titles in the opening sequence are 20 titles total. It starts off with series of main actors and producers and closes out with company presented by which in this case is the Warner Brothers. The titles come in on a black background with a red text. They come in as a jumble of words but as soon rearrange into words. They stay like that for a little and then leave in the same way they entered.
What images are prioritized? The images prioritize are very vague they do not show clear imaging of what exactly is taking place. They scenes are a close of up a lady’s face, then it goes into the titles where there are red washed photos of things such as leaves very close ups of those said leaves. There are also some unintelligible pictures but they mostly flash onto the screen and then leave.
What connotations do the images carry? The images has you feeling very intense, anxious and anticipated as to what's occurring and what's happening. The music that goes along with the opening makes it even more unsettling. Since they are extreme closeups, they are unsettling because we have no clue what they are. The feeling of not being able to understand what something is is a common fear in humans so they use this to their advantage.
How is the genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset? I would definitely say the genre is enforced through the score the opening sequence. The bumps along the music takes you on a roller coaster through emotions. The pictures changing goes along with the music in perfectly timed switches to other close ups.
How did the film establish an enigma from the outset? The enigma in the film established is very intense and dramatic the way that was established was through the use of different elements of filming as well, such as sound: the extremely suspenseful instrumental. There are flashes with the use of editing, and lighting as well contributing to the mood and theme of the genre.
What strategies does the film used to ensure that the film is appealing to it's target audience? The film uses a certain aesthetic throughout the film, and the color design is very dark themed. The font used was a red font. These are inherently creepy due to the previous mindset of horror. Which is, as I said before, unsettling images and creepy fonts.
How was the technology used effectively? There are no camera angles of any sort used in the opening sequence more so graphics and mainly editing. With editing there were a couple of fade ins- and different sorts of transitions to move the titles along. The titles also had a floating effect making a dramatic entrance each time through the sequence. There was also the ability to change the colors of the images to make them all one color.
Friday, January 31, 2020
Title Research: The Exorcist
I chose to do The Exorcist as my third movie. This movie is from ArtOfTheTitle.com. The Exorcist has 5 titles, including the title of the movie. It ranges from the studio who made the film to name of the film. This movie has very few titles and the opening scenes are very short.
The images that are prioritized are a dark house, with a single street lamp. Two people are seen walking down the street that the lamp is on. then it fades to a close up of a statute and then to a sunset. The final scenes are in the desert of northern Iraq where some men are digging through the sand.
The connotations are creepy. The scenes are dark up until it show the desert in which it is bright, The dark street is creepy due to the worn down house and the lack of people walking down it. The desert is where it becomes brightly lit and illuminated. This isn't creepy because it is just a bunch of men working in the desert and digging through the sand with pickaxes.
The genre is reinforced by the first few scenes. They make you uncomfortable by keeping it a darker lighting. And like stated before, it shows few people walking on the street making it creepy and unsettling. Mostly considering how late it seems to be at night.
The film establishes an enigma by showing the men in the deserts of iraq. This would make no sense being where a horror movie starts, considering its bright lighting. There is also no music, just the sounds of pickaxes and men grunting, This is where the scene stops, leaving us to watch the rest of the movie.
The target audiences is horror movie fans. This movie appeals to them by dragging them in with dark opening and then switching to a brighter setting. This leaves us wanting to know the significance of the areas. We soon learn that this is where everything takes places, including the events of the movie.
The technology is used effectively by using fades to show transition of areas. They also use dark lighting to their advantage and make it creepier. The men in the last few scenes show this was in an earlier time, judging by what they are using to dig up the sand.
Title Research: Get Out
For this title research, I decided to look at Get Out. The title scene came from ArtOfTheTitle.com. This move has 26 title cards, once again, ranging from producer to co producer and the actors. The titles fade in and out. They are a light blue color and never really change. This title scene has a lot to talk about.
The scenes that were prioritized were pretty normal. Two different people getting ready in the morning, one getting dressed and the other grabbing breakfast. There was a scene of trees passing by, perhaps the woods or just a patch of trees. There were some scenes of the man looking at black and white pictures, presumably that he took. It then cuts to the woman knocking on a door, though her hands are full so she knocks with her head. When the door opens, its revealed to be the man on the other side and he lets her inside.
These scenes don't give away this is a horror movie. They seem like mundane, every day tasks people would do, not like someone who was in danger would do. Unlike in Split, they don't seem to be in any danger at the moment. They were both completely different stands on horror. Split was horror at the beginning, an obvious horror too, but this one is subtle. It shows the horror in other ways than just being straight up scary
As stated in the previous paragraph, this movie doesn't define it's genre in the first minutes. It instead, makes this movie seem like a normal comedy or drama movie. They use everyday activities to open this movie with, such as getting coffee, shaving, driving or looking through photos. There was no music in this opening so nothing suggested horror.
The target audience is horror fans, though it doesn't seem to be like that. The activities displayed in this part almost seem too mundane, though. Since you expect this to be horror, you expect something scary to happen. Though nothing too scary happens in the first few minutes, they make it seem like something scary would happen, and maybe thats the effect they are going for. Sometimes horror uses these types of techniques to give the watcher a sense of relief, even before anything scary has happened.
The technology that they use in the movie makes it seem a bit scary. Since this doesnt seem like a horror at first, they use some filming techniques that make it seem like a horror, such as the hand held motion and pans. They also jump back and forth from character to character, showing one doing one thing and another doing something else. This might just be a something ive seen in horror but I have always associated horror with hand held cameras. They use warm and black and white colors while filming. They use tons of close ups and a few two shots in the first few scenes.
The scenes that were prioritized were pretty normal. Two different people getting ready in the morning, one getting dressed and the other grabbing breakfast. There was a scene of trees passing by, perhaps the woods or just a patch of trees. There were some scenes of the man looking at black and white pictures, presumably that he took. It then cuts to the woman knocking on a door, though her hands are full so she knocks with her head. When the door opens, its revealed to be the man on the other side and he lets her inside.
These scenes don't give away this is a horror movie. They seem like mundane, every day tasks people would do, not like someone who was in danger would do. Unlike in Split, they don't seem to be in any danger at the moment. They were both completely different stands on horror. Split was horror at the beginning, an obvious horror too, but this one is subtle. It shows the horror in other ways than just being straight up scary
As stated in the previous paragraph, this movie doesn't define it's genre in the first minutes. It instead, makes this movie seem like a normal comedy or drama movie. They use everyday activities to open this movie with, such as getting coffee, shaving, driving or looking through photos. There was no music in this opening so nothing suggested horror.
The target audience is horror fans, though it doesn't seem to be like that. The activities displayed in this part almost seem too mundane, though. Since you expect this to be horror, you expect something scary to happen. Though nothing too scary happens in the first few minutes, they make it seem like something scary would happen, and maybe thats the effect they are going for. Sometimes horror uses these types of techniques to give the watcher a sense of relief, even before anything scary has happened.
The technology that they use in the movie makes it seem a bit scary. Since this doesnt seem like a horror at first, they use some filming techniques that make it seem like a horror, such as the hand held motion and pans. They also jump back and forth from character to character, showing one doing one thing and another doing something else. This might just be a something ive seen in horror but I have always associated horror with hand held cameras. They use warm and black and white colors while filming. They use tons of close ups and a few two shots in the first few scenes.
Title Research: Split
For the first movie title I looked at as Split. The title scene came from WatchTheTitles.com Split had 22 title cards, ranging from the name of the studio who made it all the way to the director. This includes the title card along with every other title card, producer, co-producer, assistant director and everything in between.
The first few scenes are of the main girl being captured by our story's main antagonist. It shows a little of a hallway for two scenes and then goes to our main character. She is being pulled down a hallway while strapped to a medical bed of some sort. These are prioritized by showing how urgent this situation is. the scenes are short clips giving it an anxious vibe too.
The connotations for this are supposed to be urgency. Between the quick cutoffs of the scenes and the dark lighting. It makes the watcher feel nervous. The music also helps with the feeling, it's a sorta intense music choice. But this goes with the whole theme of the movie, urgency.
The genre is defined in the first scene by not really letting you know whats happening fully so you dont get the whole picture. They do this by giving you a sense of dread and splitting up the scenes in a way that gets you nervous about whats happening. The music really helps with defining the genre because its intense. Music in horror films typically are intense type of music to help make you feel nervous or anxious about the situation.
The target audience is fans of horror. This movie does all it can to make sure you know this is a horror movie. They use lots of dark and moody lighting, a cool color palette in almost all the scenes we see. The actors also help express this is a horror movie. The actor we see as a terrified facial expression on as she is strapped to the medical bed and carried away.
The use of technology effects the movie properly by cutting away at the perfect time. They cut away to the title card which is just a plain black background with bold white text. The titles appear first in a repetitive manner but then switches to a single, enlarged title. This is the same for all the titles for all of the movies producers, actors and others. The tittle is presented when it just appears on the black screen along with the signature, bolded white text. The movie typically used close ups and pans just to give it more of a scary vibe. The edits were just cut aways, nothing very special.
The first few scenes are of the main girl being captured by our story's main antagonist. It shows a little of a hallway for two scenes and then goes to our main character. She is being pulled down a hallway while strapped to a medical bed of some sort. These are prioritized by showing how urgent this situation is. the scenes are short clips giving it an anxious vibe too.
The connotations for this are supposed to be urgency. Between the quick cutoffs of the scenes and the dark lighting. It makes the watcher feel nervous. The music also helps with the feeling, it's a sorta intense music choice. But this goes with the whole theme of the movie, urgency.
The genre is defined in the first scene by not really letting you know whats happening fully so you dont get the whole picture. They do this by giving you a sense of dread and splitting up the scenes in a way that gets you nervous about whats happening. The music really helps with defining the genre because its intense. Music in horror films typically are intense type of music to help make you feel nervous or anxious about the situation.
The target audience is fans of horror. This movie does all it can to make sure you know this is a horror movie. They use lots of dark and moody lighting, a cool color palette in almost all the scenes we see. The actors also help express this is a horror movie. The actor we see as a terrified facial expression on as she is strapped to the medical bed and carried away.
The use of technology effects the movie properly by cutting away at the perfect time. They cut away to the title card which is just a plain black background with bold white text. The titles appear first in a repetitive manner but then switches to a single, enlarged title. This is the same for all the titles for all of the movies producers, actors and others. The tittle is presented when it just appears on the black screen along with the signature, bolded white text. The movie typically used close ups and pans just to give it more of a scary vibe. The edits were just cut aways, nothing very special.
Title Research: Art Of The Title
While researching my genre and how to make a title, I visited a website called Art of the Title. The website shows the opening sequences of a variety of films and shows. The films and shows are from a range of genres, including comedy, horror, romance, fantasy, and mystery. They showcase openings of films and shows that are both from long ago and more recent. On top of that, the website included detailed articles about the events of movies. It includes very detailed descriptions of certain scenes and describes the opening credits in an easy to understand way. It also assesses the costumes and setting of the movies. These articles included movies that also ranged widely in genre. The site was also very easy to navigate and use. I chose to visit this website to get an idea of what is common in horror opening sequences. The range of movies meant there was ample choices of horror movies to collect information from. This meant I could record how films in the horror genre represen!
t and establish their genre in the opening credits. I also was able to record the amount of titles used in the openings and what imagery was used in different films. This information would then help me when I make my own opening for a movie. All in all, the website was very beneficial when planning and getting ideas for the opening sequence of our own film for our project.
t and establish their genre in the opening credits. I also was able to record the amount of titles used in the openings and what imagery was used in different films. This information would then help me when I make my own opening for a movie. All in all, the website was very beneficial when planning and getting ideas for the opening sequence of our own film for our project.
Title Research: Watch The Titles
As I was researching different topics, I found a website called Watch the Titles. I encountered it while researching titles of horror movies. The website has multiple features that were extremely helpful when trying to come up with a title sequence for my project. The website has opening sequences from a wide variety of movies and shows. These cover all genres and styles of film. The site also has the opening sequences of video games which was interesting but not particularly needed for my specific project. Finally, it included interviews of title designers for popular franchises, such as Spiderman. Within the interview they talk about how they came up with the titles that they have made and discuss typography. Typography is the art or procedure of arranging type or processing data and printing from it. This information was nice to look at as it showed the process and ideas the title designers encountered while making the opening of the films. While the interviews were helpf!
ul, I focused on the horror movie opening sequences as they were the most beneficial to my research. From the sequences, I could record common elements among the films. I also could take note of how the openings were able to portray the genre of the film with imagery. This information that I was able to collect would then come in handy for making my movie opening. Especially when deciding on what the opening sequence will look like.
ul, I focused on the horror movie opening sequences as they were the most beneficial to my research. From the sequences, I could record common elements among the films. I also could take note of how the openings were able to portray the genre of the film with imagery. This information that I was able to collect would then come in handy for making my movie opening. Especially when deciding on what the opening sequence will look like.
Sunday, January 26, 2020
Genre research: It
While researching the horror genre, I decided to watch IT to get an idea of common techniques that are used in popular horror movies. IT came out in 2017 and was widely successful when released. Therefore, I thought it would be a good representation of horror films and the techniques applied in them. While watching the movie, I took note of common camera angles and sound that was used in the film. I also paid attention for specific editing techniques and elements included in the film.
Camera Angles
Common camera angles used in IT include eye level shots, low angle shots and hug angle shots. It also includes long shots, over the shoulder shots, and two/three shots. The variety of shots keeps the person watching interested and the angles help add to the scenes, especially in the more scary scenes.
Movement
There was also an array of common horror movement techniques used in IT. These movements consist of pans, tracking shots, zooms, and tilts. The use of these movements is crucial to the horror aspect, and are used in the majority of scenes with the antagonist on screen.
Costumes
The majority of the characters are wearing normal everyday clothes for the time period that the film takes place in (The 80’s). There is a character that wears a cast that says “loser” on it but the “s” in the word is scratched out and replaced with an “l”. One of the characters where’s a yellow rain jacket and matching yellow boots that has now become well known for their character. The antagonist wears a dirty clown costume during the entire movie.
Lighting
The lighting in IT is a mixture between brightly lit scenes that take place outside, and low lit scenes that are inside. The low lit scenes are very suspenseful and often are lit with spot lighting to add to the fear factor.
Actors
The main characters are played by Finn Wolfhard, Jaeden Martell, Sophia Lillis, Chosen Jacobs, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Wyatt Oleff, and Jack Dylan Grazer. They all portray their characters very well and fit the characters nicely. The antagonist is played by Bill Skarsgård who is able to make the antagonist as creepy and scary as intended.
Makeup
The makeup is minimal for the characters who are wearing makeup. The antagonist wears the most makeup as they are wearing a full face of clown makeup.
Props
The props used in the film include a lot of small props that aren’t extremely significant and a few important props that drive the entire plot. The less significant props are things such as a lighter and can of hairspray, a knife, and an inhaler. One of the very important props is a small paper boat that begins the conflict in the film. Another important prop is a letter that one of the characters writes to another.m
Setting
The setting is a in a fictional town called Derry, Maine. The town is supposedly haunted and is quite small. Settings inside the town include a library, the school the main characters attend, the characters different houses, and the sewers where the antagonist lives.
Editing
Common editing techniques used in IT include cutaways, jump cuts, and point of view shots. These add to the fear and suspense during the more tense scenes in order to captivate the viewer.
Sound
The sound in the film relies on dialogue and has very little background music. There is quite a lot of ambient sound in the film. Even in more tense scenes, it is still relatively quite to create more suspense.
Elements that I enjoyed
I enjoyed that the main characters were all young teens who are working together to defeat a supernatural entity. The use of kids as the main characters makes it more intense and makes the viewer more fearful for the characters well being as they are still just kids. I also enjoyed the comedic aspect of the movie which was always a nice break from the more scary scenes.
Elements that I disliked
I disliked how predictable the scenes tended to be, an often occurrence with most horror films. It took away the element of surprise at times and therefore made the movie less scary during some scenes.
Camera Angles
Common camera angles used in IT include eye level shots, low angle shots and hug angle shots. It also includes long shots, over the shoulder shots, and two/three shots. The variety of shots keeps the person watching interested and the angles help add to the scenes, especially in the more scary scenes.
Movement
There was also an array of common horror movement techniques used in IT. These movements consist of pans, tracking shots, zooms, and tilts. The use of these movements is crucial to the horror aspect, and are used in the majority of scenes with the antagonist on screen.
Costumes
The majority of the characters are wearing normal everyday clothes for the time period that the film takes place in (The 80’s). There is a character that wears a cast that says “loser” on it but the “s” in the word is scratched out and replaced with an “l”. One of the characters where’s a yellow rain jacket and matching yellow boots that has now become well known for their character. The antagonist wears a dirty clown costume during the entire movie.
Lighting
The lighting in IT is a mixture between brightly lit scenes that take place outside, and low lit scenes that are inside. The low lit scenes are very suspenseful and often are lit with spot lighting to add to the fear factor.
Actors
The main characters are played by Finn Wolfhard, Jaeden Martell, Sophia Lillis, Chosen Jacobs, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Wyatt Oleff, and Jack Dylan Grazer. They all portray their characters very well and fit the characters nicely. The antagonist is played by Bill Skarsgård who is able to make the antagonist as creepy and scary as intended.
Makeup
The makeup is minimal for the characters who are wearing makeup. The antagonist wears the most makeup as they are wearing a full face of clown makeup.
Props
The props used in the film include a lot of small props that aren’t extremely significant and a few important props that drive the entire plot. The less significant props are things such as a lighter and can of hairspray, a knife, and an inhaler. One of the very important props is a small paper boat that begins the conflict in the film. Another important prop is a letter that one of the characters writes to another.m
Setting
The setting is a in a fictional town called Derry, Maine. The town is supposedly haunted and is quite small. Settings inside the town include a library, the school the main characters attend, the characters different houses, and the sewers where the antagonist lives.
Editing
Common editing techniques used in IT include cutaways, jump cuts, and point of view shots. These add to the fear and suspense during the more tense scenes in order to captivate the viewer.
Sound
The sound in the film relies on dialogue and has very little background music. There is quite a lot of ambient sound in the film. Even in more tense scenes, it is still relatively quite to create more suspense.
Elements that I enjoyed
I enjoyed that the main characters were all young teens who are working together to defeat a supernatural entity. The use of kids as the main characters makes it more intense and makes the viewer more fearful for the characters well being as they are still just kids. I also enjoyed the comedic aspect of the movie which was always a nice break from the more scary scenes.
Elements that I disliked
I disliked how predictable the scenes tended to be, an often occurrence with most horror films. It took away the element of surprise at times and therefore made the movie less scary during some scenes.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)