Thursday, 17 November 2011

What titles?


The first thing we see when watching a film is the distribution companies logo. This tells the audience who distributed the film in a visual, interesting way. Examples of distribution companies are 'Hollywood Pictures' and 'Spy Glass Entertainment'. It is common for the music to start over the titles, this creates the mood early and helps the film to flow from the titles to the actual film.



   


We then see the names of the distribution companies, this just reinforces to the audience who distributed the film if they didn't know from their logos.



The next thing the audience see are the names of the production companies, these are the people that produce the film, they have a large influence over the film and how it is made.


Next, we see the name of the main actor/actress in the film. This is usually the most famous actor/actress in the film, and gets the audience excited as they know of them due to their fame.


The title of the film then appears, there is sometimes a flourish in the music to emphasize the importance of this. The titles also tell the audience that all of the titles after this are either of actors/actresses or from crew members.


The names of the supporting actors/actresses are then shown, these are usually less famous then the main actor/actress. The list of actors go from the most important to the least important, this is to entice the audience early on.







We then start to see the titles of the crew. The first we see is the caster, the job of the caster is to choose the actors/actresses who will play each character in the film. They find suitable people who will portray each character effectively.


Next, is the costume designer, these design the costumes for each character in the film, the costumes that they design portray the personality of the character.


The music creator is next, they create the music for the film, they try to create music that fits the mood and atmosphere of the film.



The editor is next, they piece together the different parts of the film. They remove the clips that are incorrect and only use the clips that are correct, they try to create a piece that flows well and meets the script.



The purpose of the production designer is to create the set that the film will be shot at, they also set the lighting and may also create the props. They work closely with the costume designer to create an authentic setting that is believable for the audience.


The director of photography sets up the cameras and decides where they will be placed and make sure that the shots are working correctly. They can also be referred to as a 'cinematographer'.



The executive producer handles the money and the business side of the film. They stay away from the creative side of the film.



Producers are similar to a manager, as they make sure that everything is running smoothly. They are also focused on the business side, however they are more hands on than the executive producer.



The writer and director are see next. If it says 'written by' it means that the film is an original. But, is it says 'screen-play' it means that they have taken a book for example and made it into a film. The purpose of them is to make sure that the film is presented correctly and fits the script and the ideas that they have.


The titles of the crew members are the opposite of the titles of the actors. They go from the least important and finish on the most important member of the crew - the writer/director.


A different example to the one above is the film 'Se7en'.
This film uses both a mixture of titles over black, and titles over video. This has the best of both worlds and meets the preferences of everybody.

This is an example of what the titles look like over black. Even though this is over black it is very quick and fits in with the already fast paced title sequence, this is different to the titles of Sixth Sense (above), which is very slow paced and draws out the titles to create suspense and tension within the audience, as it feels like were building up to something big. However in this case it is very paced and keeps the audience on their toes as they have to be quick to read what's on screen.


But, the titles are also placed over video. This helps to keep the audience who don't like titles over black pleased as they can see video aswell which keeps them more enticed. By placing the titles over video it also means more niformation can be revealed or it can also help reinforce the atmosphere and mood. In this film it does it very effectively as the titles are still clear to the audience and keeps them interested, which can be a criticism of placing the titles just over black.



Overall I think that the film 'Se7en' has more effective titles than 'Sixth Sense' as it is more interesting to look at, and it also helps to set the scene for the film, which 'Sixth Sense' doesn't really achieve.

In our film however we will have to place our titles over the video, so we will have to think about the framing of the shot as the titles need to be clear so that the audience can read it. They also need to fit the mood of the opening, so the correct font will need to be used to portray this.

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