In order to create our opening titles, we each individually went and watched the opening of 3 different film genres and made notes on the order in which people apart of the film appeared.
After viewing this, as a production group, Me, Lucy and Robbie came to the conclusion that from the research above, the order in which people appear in the opening credits are:
- Production companies (in order of importance and how well known they are)
- Film Title
- Cast members and Production team
Opening Titles Structure Choice
After viewing the research of the group and seeing what each film genre's opening titles looks like, the group that I will be working with for my first task made a decision on the order in which the film cast and production team will appear in the titles:
Production Companies (being with their idents)
Cast (Starring..)
Film Title
Casting By
Music By
Costume Design
Visual Effects (If any)
Editor
Director of Photography
Co-Producers
Executive Producer
Producer
Screenplay By
Written By
Producer/s
Director/s (maybe co-director)
Opening Title Sequences
Opening title sequences are different to opening credits. These are like mini films within themselves. An opening title sequence is created in style of the film someone is about to watch and is used to present the title of their film and the main cast and production team member.
Opening Title Sequences are confused with opening credits.
Just remember the difference is that one contains key members of cast and crew along with the title of the film. On the other hand, the opening credits are just sequences of superimposed text.
Here is an opening title sequence from one of the James Bond films Tomorrow never Dies. This is a good example of an intricate opening sequence:
Analysis of Opening Title Sequence 1
This example of an opening title sequence is modern so straight away it gives the audience an idea of what to expect about the film. This sequence also through the mini story that is going on behind all of the title transitions are also giving the person watching the film an idea of what genre of film it is going to be. From this sequence I already know its not going to be a romance or a western unless they have created one big subverted film (which I doubt it will be).The title transactions are original and creative meaning people are likely to acknowledge the people who have produced and stared in this production.
Another think I notice in this opening title sequence is that the people whose names appear are only the key people that have been involved in this film, telling me straight away that the opening titles are for the main cast and crew not for everyone who was involved like the person who did the catering throughout the production period.
Analysis of Opening Title Sequence 2
Here is another opening title sequence taken from the recently released film Oz The Great and Powerful. It contrasts in style to the James Bond opening title sequence but more about that in a moment.
This film title sequence although like the previous tell us a brief mini story about what we are about to see in the film, these two film titles differ. This film title is in black and white which suits the film as it is a prequel to The Wizard of Oz. This was how the film titles for this film were at the beginning and so the person who has created this sequences has followed the idea of the original which again is keeping to the context of the film. The style of the titles are a bit more old fashioned unlike the James Bond opening titles as not only is there no colour but the style of the 'puppet like' way in which the names of the cast members and backstage team appear is almost like the punch and Judy old fashioned entrance which again suits the film style but differs from that of the James Bond opening. Also as you can see this film sequence is animated in a way that adds to the style of the film and the mythical creatures and places in which this film is set.
For both of the film openings the title sequence style is suited and follows on to the film that is about to be shown which as said before, grabs the attention of the intended audience.
For more opening title sequences that gave me ideas as to the styles of the opening titles sequences to most films, click the link below:
http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/by-any-means/
- The genre of the film
- The time period of the film
- The main cast and crew of the production
These take hours to create and like I said previously are like a mini film in themselves so for the first film Me and the rest of my Production team will be creating will have opening credits rather than an opening title sequence. The opening credits are simpler to create but just as effective.
