... USE
THE GUIDE POST
- IDENTS, COMPANIES, PRODUCTION CONTEXT
- TITLES
SOUND; GENRE SIGNIFICATION1ST SHOTCENTRAL PROTAGONIST + NARRATIVEMISE-EN-SCENE FOR EXPOSITIONTRANSITIONING TO MAIN FILMAUDIENCE/REPRESENTATIONS + OTHER POINTS
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THEME 1: IDENTS, COMPANIES, PRODUCTION CONTEXTHow many idents do we expect, how long are they, are they simple/complex, is there a specific order, do they use music...
This is a simple task, requiring limited use of terms/theory, but clear + specific research is key: look at a good range of openings, calculate the total running time of idents, and use this as a basis for estimating a typical number + duration.
NOTE: You will see some with none or only one; note those, but make clear they aren't typical
How many idents do you expect to see? (3-4, but sometimes 1 or none!)
How long is a typical ident? (varies! typically 6/7 secs?)
Are idents typically complex or simple? (mostly simple?)
Do most have sound (
jingle/music)? (yes, but look at audio bridge point)
Do we see any difference between
studio/subsidiary + Indie movies on this? (studio idents often longer)
Is there any particular order (reflecting company role or size)?
Are they all for production co's, or also for distributor/s?
Is this the same order as in titles?
Is an
audio bridge, starting the film audio, common over 1 or more ident? (you'll often see WT or Warp's ident with the film sound starting over it)
THEME 2: TITLESCareful consideration of the number, duration, sequencing, design and selection of titles.
Number of people/company names in titles:Start/end time of main titles: 0:02-1:01Running time of main titles: 1minTitles in order using exact text (including case) [see this eg]
4 THEMES TO STRUCTURE TITLES RESEARCH + ANALYSIS
See below for some further pointers.
THE RAW NUMBERS:- how many titles do you expect to see?
- provide counter-examples with very few or no opening titles
- what total running time is typical?
- again, note exceptions
THE SPECIFIC WORDING + ORDER:Look carefully at the precise wording for each of these:
- companies (presents, a ... film/production, in association with...)
- director (auteur theory reflected in TWO credits - a ... film, directed by; where do these come in the order?)
- actors (introducing, starring, featuring, co-starring ...)
- technical roles (you need to be clear on which you will include; look for specifics eg director of photography or cinematography by?)
THE DESIGNLook at use of these aspects
and how they are used to distinguish/denote relative importance:
- (sans-)serif (consider to what degree titles connote genre here)
- size (names usually bigger than role, by etc; bigger stars bigger title?)
- colour
- case (UPPER, lower, Sentence case, maybe mixed)
FX, ANIMATIONSome titles are simply static, but often there's some form of movement...
- animation/movement/FX?
- transitions or straight cuts? fade to/-in from black?
- intertitles? (over black screen)
THE COMPANIESState how many companies were credited, and use your earlier research to discuss why/what different terms were used for different companies. This is very important detail for creating convincing titles.Look out for companies/institutions like Film4/BBC (often commission a film to be made), or BFI, National Lottery, UK Film Council, Screen Yorkshire, EM Media (etc) - who more often finance productions.Try to use terms such as Indie, subsidiary, conglomerate, big six to denote the types of company.
ROLESHow many specific roles were given a title? How were actors roles split up? Are you surprised at how many/few there are? You could have a look at IMDB's full credits listing to get a sense of how selective these opening titles are!!!Which ONE person gets TWO credits for the same role? Detail precisely the order/wording of this.You must provide a complete list, in appropriate order + with appropriate wording, of titles you intend to use as a result of the research on roles + companies.
GENRE/NARRATIVE CONNOTATIONSDenote (describe in detail, illustrating with screenshots) the design of the titles: font (Georgia is a serif font; Helvetica is a sans-serif font), colour, case (UPPER, lower, Sentence), size, positioning, any movement/animation, any additional graphical elements.Discuss the probable preferred reading: what the filmmakers are trying to symbolically communicate to the audience. Do the titles/their design connote/signify the genre and/or anything about the narrative?
