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Title Sequences

Title Sequences
The title sequence of a film opening is especially important as it aims to establish character, setting, genre, mood and atmosphere.
The opening titles introduce the title of the film and the key people involved in the film through visual text, i.e. the distribution company, the production company, the names of the primary/top billing actors, sometimes introduced alongside their character, the producers and executive producer and the director and then the film title itself. Generally the cast and crew of the film are introduced in this order and the director always comes last. Sometimes the editor, composer, costume/character designer, cinematographer and screen writer(s) will be included in the opening sequence, but this can depend on the overall running time of the film as well as the running time of the opening itself.
Opening sequences are expected to include aspects such as an establishing shot, introduction the main cast, or at least the protagonist, and a brief summary of their relationships, a hint or beginning to the plot, genre, mood, music and sound, lighting and varied camera shots, though not all film use all of these elements at once, usually picking and choosing depending on the general content of the film.
The opening, as a scene, can be separate (discrete) or incorporated (narrative) into the film itself, often contributing to the narrative or setting the base tone of the movie. It sometimes occurs before the main action of the film starts (e.g. 'Reservoir Dogs (1992)' starts with the main characters having a seemingly meaningless conversation while eating breakfast) but can also present a scene that relates to the primary narrative either directly or symbolically.
It is actually very unusual for a title sequence to be completely unrelated to the genre or the narrative of the film. All elements of the titles can be linked to the rest of the film; music choice and font type can often signify a great deal of foreshadowing, genre type and even the course of the plot. 

Often, opening titles can be a mixture of styles, for example, the opening of 'James Bond: Casino Royale (2006)' can be argued to be a discreet, animated and also live-action stylised opening, therefore featuring multiple, arguably contrasting elements to make an interesting and unique opening that hooks audiences in.

Discrete
Discrete title sequences are almost 'mini-films' at the beginning of a film that set the mood and tone of the narrative. Often, the main character is still featured within the scene, but the titles focus on cinematography, editing, sound (typically the song most associated with the film is used here) and mise-en-scene rather than introducing the narrative. This type of title sequence is most famously used in recent James Bond films, such as 'Casino Royale (2006)', 'Quantum of Solace (2008)', 'Skyfall (2012)' and 'Spectre (2015)'. This technique doesn't have to use a large degree of funding, however, as artistic ways of presenting the titles work just as effectively, as is the case with 'Napoleon Dynamite (2004)'. Films like 'Brave (2012)' or 'The Incredibles (2004)' could also arguably be using a discrete opening as they use flashbacks and interviews at the beginning of the film as a separate introduction to show how the characters have adapted in the modern day of the film, almost creating two openings as the audience is re-introduced to the characters in the present. 

Narrative
This type of opening focuses on narration. This is a simple but effective type of opening as a character, or narrator, is providing exposition to explain the state of the plot to the audience.It also allows the audience to make a judgement of the character before they meet them within the story purely by the type (male, female, young, old, etc) and sound of their voice as well as what they are actually saying. Often narrators will be male, as the stereotypical narrator would be a man with a deep voice, e.g. 'Bedtime Stories (2008)', 'The Shawshank Redemption (1994)', but recent trends suggest that the voice of the main character is more commonly used in present day, e.g. 'Trolls (2016)', 'Ramona and Beezus (2010)', 'The Croods (2013)'. Narrative openings are often subjected to criticism for being cliche, as often films that begin with the main character speaking use the phrases 'This is me/*place where the narrative is set*','This is the story of...', 'My name is...', 'That's *introduces another character*' or 'I bet you're wondering how I got myself into this situation', or words to that effect, that can leave audiences feeling as if the film is going to be predictable, childish or boring as a result.


Below is a video compilation of films that use the above phrases, made by 'WeirdHat' on YouTube, including the following films: 'Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs (2009)', 'Ratatouille (2007)', 'Wreck It Ralph (2012)', 'How To Train Your Dragon (2010)', 'The Croods (2013)', '101 Dalmatians (1961)', 'The Emperor's New Groove (2000)', 'Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002)', 'Tangled (2010)', 'Megamind (2010)' and 'Brave (2012)'.

Stylised
A stylised title sequence makes use of the editing to create an interesting scene, often incorporating the titles themselves into the scene as tangible parts of the setting to the extent it seems as if they are almost props within the moment. The font, position and format of the text is very important, as it is the focus, for example, font that appears 'sharp' infers that the film will be dangerous and likely has weapons. Stylised title sequences can be seen used in 'Zombieland (2009)', 'Kingsman: Secret Service' and, arguably, 'Deadpool (2016)'.




Text Over Blank Screen/Still Image
This type of opening steps outside of the world of the medium and, as the name suggests, introduces the audience to the titles over a still, blank screen, stationary image or freeze-frame. This technique is more subtle than the other techniques and needs less effort and funding to be effective. The text and font become very obvious to the audience as they become the focus and often this is emphasised by using coloured bold text over a black background. This type of opening is often used in thrillers to create tension or 'mini-cliffhangers' that allow the audience to make their own judgement on the film from the text styling and sound only, whilst building anticipation. It was famously used in 'Pulp Fiction (1994)' and has been used more recently by television shows like 'Stranger Things (2016 - Present)'.

There are also opening sequences that can arguably fit into one or more of this sub-sections, such as musical number openings that sometimes begin after a short narration from a primary character, but are mostly used to evoke a certain emotion in the audience through the use of music e.g. 'The Muppets (2011 remake/adaption)', 'The Lion King (1994)', arguably 'SING (2016)', or openings that start with a play-like setting where a main or mascot character stands in front of (typically red) stage curtains and makes statements about the other characters or the story e.g. 'Gnomeo and Juliet (2011)', 'The Lorax (2012)'.


Our chosen film genre tends to utilise the narrative opening style, as it is easier for the target demographic to understand. In our film opening, we plan to have the two main characters, 'Amelia' and 'Henry', narrate for a moment before cutting and showing them interacting with one another and playing on play equipment.

Comments

  1. A comprehensive overview of title sequences! Which type lends itself to your chosen genre?

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