Titles, which are usually at the start of a film, is a short section of the film where the names of important people involved are shown. They are there to tell the audience who cast, producers, directors, and other very key people who were involved are. these sequences with up to only 21 titles (can be a different amount of titles but they are almost all of the time around 21).
The 21 titles are:
- Money - Production - Directors name film - Main star - Film title - Actor 1 – (end of main section) - Actor 2 - Actor 3 - Actor 4 - Actor 5
- Casting - Costume designer - Music - Edited - Production designer - Director of Photography (DOP) - Executive Producer - Produced by - Based upon - Screen play (writer) - Director
While there are key functions that a title sequence must do, they can also through font, colour, and editing revels hints of narrative, characters and establish the genre.
Goodfellas is a drama film released in 1990 and directed by Martin Scorsese. It stars Joe Pesci as Tommy DeVito, Robert De Niro as Jimmy Conway, Ray Liotta as Henry Hill and Lorraine Bracco as Karen Hill.
The opening sequence starts with three men in a car, which one of them is asleep. The driver hears a noise and thinks its a the car making the noise, presuming he ran over something. However the man sitting in the back of the car says to pull over to check the car to see if everything is ok. They all get out of the car and hear movement from the boot of the car. they all then prepare themselves with their guns and knives and proceeded to open the boot. A man that is only just alive is in there with blood everywhere, they don't see that fussed and stab and then shoot the man to make sure he dies. from this opening scene we can already guess that
The target audience for this film is definitely aimed for adults and young adults due the shear brutality of the stabbing and shooting. This is also the case due to the general theme of gangsters is an older topic, that young children may not enjoy.
With gangsters usually being related with the city of New York, the accents of the men in the car and the way that they are smartly dressed already connotes that it maybe be a film about a group of gangsters. How innocent the men are to start with, confuses the audience as they don't seem bad people until they pop their boot. You can tell that they are psychotic when they don’t seem phased at all that there is a dying man in their boot and just continue to stab and shoot him with no hesitation. This completely changes the audiences view on the men and how they act.
I personally think that it is a very successful opening sequence as it confuses the viewer to think they are good people but then your view of them quickly changes when the boot opens . However on the other hand it could easily turn away more screamish audience members due to the gore and violence.
Tombstone is a western film released in 1993 and directed by George P. Cosmatos and Kevin Jarre. It stars Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday, Kurt Russell as Wyatt Earp, Sam Elliott as Virgil Earp and Bill Paxton as Morgan Earp.
This opening sequence starts with a group of cowboys on their way towards a village. when they arrive various people look worried and distressed from just looking at them. you see that they have turned up at the end of a wedding to surprise the groom. they suggest that he has killed two cowboys, highly likely from their group and turns into a massive gun fight and many people are shot. The end one person surrenders and then the Cowboys say that they have won. From what we have seen so far we can guess that the rest of the film made about the revenge of the Cowboys, maybe about their future of being Cowboys.
The target audience for this will be for young adults to adults due to the mass amount of violence and adult topic of gun crime and crime in general. It would be inappropriate for a younger audience due to being too brutal and disturbing, however for adults it is an interesting insight to how cowboys may have been and exciting due to the action.
Instantly the genre for the film is established due to the mass amount of cowboys and horses galloping towards the audience. The location also adheres to the stereotype due to it being a dusty and deserted environment as this is used a lot in western films. Also the non diegetic soundtrack adheres to the stereotype, as well and builds tension, as you know something bad is about to happen, due the powerful and concerning soundtrack.
When the cowboys arrive you can instantly tell that they're are bad, this is due to all of the people in the village looking scared of them and see them coming from far away and also the tension building non diegetic soundtrack. It is strongly shown when the groom notices that they have turned up and instantly know he is about to get shot. his wife only notices that they are bad when she sees her husbands face of horror.
I personally think this a very effective opening scene due to it getting the audience ready for the rest of the film due to there being a lot of violence very early on.
E.T is a SI-FI film released in 1982 directed by Steven Spielberg and stars Henry Thomas as Elliott, Drew Barrymore as Gertie, Dee Wallace as Mary and Robert MacNaughton as Michael.
The opening sequence starts with a starry night sky, it then pans down to a forest, where a futuristic spaceship is shown with a city in the background. We then see that the spaceship door is open and creatures are moving around. It then shows the inside of the spaceship with extra-terrestrial plants being grown inside. The creatures chests light up, which indicates that they need to return to the spaceship. One creature has wandered off on their own, and whilst looking out to the city lights encounters some humans. The creature's chest lights up and makes a noise, the humans notice and chase after the creature, who runs to the spaceship, but doesn't make it in time before the spaceship leaves, and therefore is stranded on earth. From this we can guess that the rest of the story is going to be about the creature trying to return to it's natural habitat.
The target audience is young children to the elderly. This is due to the Si-Fi theme being enjoyed by all ages. The lack of violence connotes this tried to be targeted for families and all ages.
The first picture of the starry night sky already depicts the Si-Fi genre due to Si-Fi being linked to space. We can tell they are extra-terrestrial, due to their unusually shaped body outlines and the fact that they are intrigued by the forest environment that they are exploring, which to humans would seem normal. As it's set at night the dark setting creates a mysterious atmosphere and almost instantly shows that the creatures don't want to be seen or found due to it being set at night.
The non diegetic sound track works with what is happening within the scene, this is shown when the creature is found, and the music gets louder and faster, with a more aggressive tone, which creates more tension.
Within the opening sequence, we are introduced to who believe to be the main characters - extra-terrestrials. The humans who are shown to be chasing the creatures, arrive by car in a dramatic, fast paced scene, which connotes that the humans are more likely to be the evil characters. This contrasts to the average stereo-typical Si-Fi film, where aliens are generally depicted as evil. The camera focuses on a bunch of keys that one particular human is wearing, this indicates that this human is the leader and suggests that they would use the keys to lock up the creature if caught.
I think that it is a very successful and effective opening sequence due to the dark and mysterious setting at night and the humans verses aliens being reversed to the other way around. this confuses the audience and creates a more interesting plot line.
Rear Window is a thriller film released in 1957, directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It stars Grace Kelly as Lisa Carol Fremont, James Stewart as L.B. 'Jeff' Jefferies, Raymond Burr as Lars Thorwald and Thelma Ritter as Stella.
The opening sequence starts looking out of a window with the opening credits, the camera pans around the neighbourhood and focuses in on what some of the neighbours are doing. It then tracks back to the person who's window it is and looks around his room looking at various objects. It then cuts to him on this phone where he is talking about his leg cast being taken off whilst he is looking at a female neighbour from his window view. From this we can guess, due to it being a thriller, that something may happen to one of his neighbours, and he won't be able to do anything about it, due to being confined to a wheelchair.
The target audience for this film is young adults and above. This is suggested due to the slightly comedic viewing of the male gaze of the female neighbour. The conversation that the man is having on the phone is more serious, would therefore not interest a younger audience.
The genre is hard to establish due to the non diegetic sound track that is contrapuntal towards the thriller genre, which confuses the audience to almost believe that they are viewing a different genre to what the film's description tells them. The comedic factor of the male gaze also contrasts to the thriller genre, due to thrillers stereotypically being more serious.
A POV shot that pans around the view from the window establishes that the film is set in an urban area, and maybe within a city. The lack of dialogue in this sequence lets the audience think of a plot line themselves. The camera backs up into a man's room where there looks to be a man, in a wheelchair, who has more importance to the storyline. The various objects around this room contrast against the happy setting that has already been shown within the neighbourhood, due to the pictures depicting death and destruction. The multiple photos on the walls and a camera on a desk connotes that the man is a photographer, which could indicate that the man has been injured in his work, as he is wearing a cast on his leg. Also a woman is shown a few times around his room in magazines and even on the walls. this connotes that she is of importance to the man and/or the film as well.
I think this a very effective opening sequence due to the lack of information on the plot and to the genre. Therefore making it harder for the audience to figure out what may happen later in the film, leading to a more intriguing story line.
Baby Driver is an action film released in 2017 starring: Ansel Elgort as Baby, Jamie Foxx as Bats, Jon Hamm as Buddy, Lily James as Deborah and many more.
It is about a young boy who is a heist getaway driver that relies on his music alone to keep him concentrated and motivated to become the best. His boss sets him up on a job that could put his girlfriend in danger, but the plan goes south as the dealer they go to ends up being undercover police.
The genre of the film is established in the first shot of a building. The fact that the building is taking over majority of the screen and that we can see the location on the building, saying Atlanta, gives us the location. Tied in with this building is a bank, with the cars moving past, the audience can start to piece together this may be a bank robbery.
The target audience for this film, from what we can already see, is from early teenagers up to adults. This is because there isn't strong amounts of violence and an almost comedic factor when the driver is getting into his music. It will interest the younger generation due to there being a loud and antisocial car that is drifting through the streets. It also interests an older generation due to the music being more rock based that will relate more to that generation.
The characters are slowly revealed with the camera starting on the car and then to the boy. This suggests to the audience that he is a young boy racer. A diegetic soundtrack is shown when the camera cuts to his ipod, showing the music we are about to hear is from within the films world, hearing what the boy is hearing. The fact this is singled out and is shown to have importance connotes music maybe a big part of the film. until the camera cuts to a man sitting next to him, who looks very dodgy. This confuses the audience due to not knowing why he is in the car. However the camera then cuts to the rest of the characters, who also look a bit suspicious, sitting in the car showing he is highly likely a getaway driver. the music that the boy plays in the car when all of the other characters get out of the vehicle adheres to the stereotype, as rock is stereotypically shown to be more rebel.
I think this is a very successful opening sequence due to it revealing the characters in a very clever and effective way, and creates a perfect plot for the audience to be interested in when watching the rest of the film.
