Initial Ideas

Ident Research

Legendary is known for releasing thriller films like Godzilla (2014), The Dark knight and Inception.Their logo shows this as the logo is shaped in a very strange and way and looks interesting to the eye.

Warner Bros is known for doing different types of movie like Harry Potter which is a Fantasy/Action movie but they have done other movies like Superman which is a Fantasy/Science fiction film. Their logo shows their ability to change with their logo staying the same apart from the colour or texture and this makes the logo very useful and diverse.

Title Analysis Sequence Harry Potter And the Prisoner of Azkaban

A good title sequence that I like: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

 The opening shot of the movie is an establishing shot in order to show the location of the house. The camera then transitions into a long shot which bring the camera closer to the main character bringing them into view. The camera floats through the glass of the window which distorts the camera for a moment and then continues in the protagonist room. The camera then frames the room and stays still allowing the viewer to see the main character and the secondary character in the same room. This opening sequence is extremely effective as the first few shots indicate magic as the theme of the film as the camera travels thought the glass without breaking it and hints at what is come later in the film. The main protagonist Harry Potter is practising a spell in his room and they use a mid shot to show this because they are able to have the secondary character react to the random flashes of light, This is made comical as the audience can see Harry do an action e.g. lighting his wand and then hiding it as Uncle Vernon bursts in to the room with a confused look on his face. This a good start to the movie as it gets the audience to think the movie is same as the last two but it is quite different from the last two.

(This a great video that analyses the whole of The Prisoner of Azkaban.)


A Bad Title sequence that I dislike: Twilight

This opening sequence does quite a poor job at introducing the main character as it starts with a quote and a camera shot of a deer being tackled by an unseen character and then moves the audience to a different location with the main protagonist. While this works at setting up a mystery of what or who killed the deer, the main character just turns up out of nowhere and starts talking about her leaving her mother which just takes the audience out of the moment of mystery and leaves them very confused about the overall plot of the movie. It could therefore have been improved by interspersing the main characters conversation with the shots of the deer being attacked. This would have kept some intrigue about what was happening but also would have been less confusing for the audience. The sound used in this opening scene does not work well with the idea that they have created.

Analysis Of Se7en Title Sequence

The sequence starts in balck and white but flashes of red make it look more menacing as the antagonist continues his work. This also hints towards the antagonist being very sinister and having plans for protagonists. This also hinted at as the text that flashes on screen is flickering and warping around on screen this shows that the antagonist is unstable and could snap at any moment. Close ups are used in order to confuse the audience about what is happening and to keep the antagonist hidden adding an element of mystery to the story. The final shot of the opening sequence shows a well lit city with the text Monday at the side this a very effective way of starting the movie as it clams the audience down for the rest of the movie but still keep the element of mystery to the story.  



Art of the Title Article Summary

The title sequences needs to be memorable.


Don't need to be genre specific, needs to have universal appeal and follow trends and patterns of format that works for the audiences.


Title sequences need to be effective because of its short format and sometimes the budget.

Intro Scene Analyses The Dark Knight

The Movie starts with a slow zoom in on a skyscraper and the glass smashing out and cutting to a mid shot of a bank robber in a clown mask with a grappling gun and another robber also in a mask. This is very effective in setting up the tension for the movie as the audience does not know what he is going to do. The music used in this scene is effective as it creates tension the longer it goes on. The camera then slowly zooms in from the back of the robber towards the mask he is holding, with the music becoming more intense. He then quickly puts his mask on, being very careful to keep his face hidden from the robbers and the audience. This is done to get the audience to question who this robber is and why he is being so secretive. The camera then cuts to the robbers in the building, going down the zip line, which then shows an over-head view of them shooting down the line across the street. This is done to show that the robbers are prepared to risk their lives to rob the bank.  The director uses fast-paced cross-cutting in the first minute of the sequence, cutting between ten different scenes.  The effect of this is to dramatically build up tension, convey to the audience a real sense of danger about what is going to happen in the film.




The camera then cuts multiple times to both groups of robbers, both talking about the character The Joker. The camera cuts just as the first group is about to reveal information about the Joker to the second group that reveals the information. However, the feeling that the audience gets, is that neither group seems to know very much about The Joker, mostly rumours and myths and no one in the group has met the character face to face. The heist begins and the group on the roof kills the silent alarm. However, the hacker who killed the silent alarm is soon betrayed and killed by his team mate. This is a shock to the audience as we are not expecting this to happen. We then see the robber who killed his team mate make his way down to the vault with a panning shot being used to show the vault door and he starts drilling. As this is happening upstairs, the group downstairs have taken the staff hostage and have given them live grenades to hold. This makes the audience feel like the hostages are in terrible danger. However, the scene suddenly changes as we see one of the office workers has a shotgun and kills one of the robbers, which makes the plan the robbers had, go into chaos as the robber who was drilling the vault, is shocked and thrown back.

Intro Scene Analyses Flight Plan

No You tube footage could be found :'(

The Movie starts in a subway station with the main character sitting on a bench looking at the yellow subway carriage with a slow zoom in this is done to build the atmosphere as the audience waits for something to happen. The music builds up more tension as this scene continues until the main character meets her dead husband. The camera then pans across a snowy road towards a snow covered house this makes the audience feel like the couple are being watched. The audience up to this point does not know the husband is dead until he disappears when the main character and the husband get to their big house that has a strange eerie feel that makes the audience feel worried for the main character. The characters continue to a snowy bench that is covered in snow and they are startled by some birds and the husband vanishes. This first part of the intro is good due to the fact that the audience does not know if the husband is real or not this such a shock for the audience because they assume the mental health of the main character is in question which is highly interesting for the audience.

Intro Scene Analyses Limitless

    Limitless

The first thing we hear is the violent banging on the door and the chainsaw this is a diegetic sound this help the audience is be taken into the action immediately and the rest of the movie will be build up towards this scene. The non diegetic sound of some slow music does not hold any tension behind it, this make the scene feel as if its the end of the movie.

The camera pans across the scene this because the camera is trying to find the clues to the story that has already unfolded. By using this technique the audience is draw in and wants to discover what has happened. The mood and of the opening is cold and bleak because the neighbour is shot and killed and the protagonist is standing on the edge of the building preparing to drop to his death. The narrator is introduced when we the audience see all the chaos the murders and the other characters trying to get into the protagonist apartment. This increases the tension for the scene because we fear that the protagonist/narrator is in terrible danger from these unknown antagonists.

The film begins with a visual effect of white ‘credits’ bouncing in onto a black background.  In addition to this there is a non-diegetic sound effect of a dull, rhythmic ‘banging’ or ‘clanging'. This sound effect creates tension for the audience from the very outset.  Following on from this is a ‘sound bridge’ which leads into the first scene. The audience hears a character’s voice saying ‘’Obviously I miscalculated…’’, with a completely black background. This gives a sense of mystery to the sound perspective. The audience can hear the character speaking to them in a voiceover off screen. This creates a sense of mystery which engages the audience’s attention and builds curiosity.  This is a superb technique to ‘hook’ the audience into the initial scene.

Following this, there is a ‘jump cut’ to a ‘match on action’ scene of a door which is a ‘mid shot’. The metallic, clanging sound continues and shows a door being dented outwards with every blow.  For the audience, this creates curiosity and tension.  The audience is meant to  wonder what is on the other side of the bleak metal door. This frame is a ‘still image’ which appears to be a bleak, plain room. The colours are dark and grey, connoting mystery, danger and darkness.  

This frame then moves to a ‘jump cut’ where it zooms in to a close up shot of the door knob. This editing is an example of ‘Match on Action’ where the mid shot of the door has moved to a close up of the door knob with continued ‘clanging’.  Next is a ‘panning shot’ of the room adjacent which is an example of an ‘establishing shot’.  This scene is an apartment in a city such as New York  The audience knows this because  the background is of numerous tower buildings which are lit up. This is done to show the character is wealthy and is in extreme danger from the person behind the door. The ‘clanging’ noise continues throughout this panning shot.

Genre SubGenre/Hybrids

A genre is a type of movie like a horror or action.

A subgenre is a category in a category like horror but it would have a comedy style to it.


Examples of Thriller hybrids:

Thriller Action Film                    

Thriller Mystery Film

Thriller Adventure Film

Thriller Action Film(e.g: The Dark Knight,Batman Begins)

Most action thriller movie contain a hero and a villain and contain explosion to add tension.

Thriller Mystery Film(e.g: Inception,Fightclub)

A lot of Mystery thriller film contain a small mystery at the beginning that is hyped up to a bigger mystery.

Thriller Adventure Films(e.g: Iron Man)

A lot of adventure films have the main character traveling to different locations often very different from the last location.(e.g: a city to a desert.)