One of the movie openings that I have chosen to analyse is 'Superbad', as I feel this a coming of age movie of sorts, and matches the sort of quirky humour that my group might want to go for in our piece.
It starts by fading into the Columbia Pictures logo with a film grain effect in order to help it match the 80's funk that has immediately started to play.We then zoom into Lady Liberty's torch, which is a graphic match for the classic Columbia Pictures logo that is the next credit of the opening
Coloured silhouettes of our main protagonists then pop onto various parts of the screen in a typical 80's fashion, that would often be seen in classic 80's shows, continuing this style that has been established due to the music.
All this clutter then instantly vanishes off screen leaving a single silhouette in the centre of the screen which then begins to move, dancing in a rather awkward manner. Next to the silhouette we see 'Columbia Pictures Presents' once again establishing their part in the production of this movie. On the other side we then see 'An Apatow Company Production' establishing who the main producing force behind this movie was, and perhaps appealing to those in the audience who are familiar with Judd Apatow and his production company. The figure continues to dance until the previous title has faded away, and we are left with the actual title of the production. As the dancing figure moves to the other side of the screen we begin to see the names of our actors appearing on screen.
The shape of a star then begins to enlarge on the screen until it becomes the background for the next shot, in which the outline of our second protagonist also starts to enlarge into the centre of our screens. 4 identical outlines appear, creating the illusion of there being other dancers. Throughout this shot the titles continue to introduce actors of the production.
The next shot then appears from the bottom of the screen, revealing a shot of both characters standing together, one dancing, before passing over to his friend. The first title we see in this shot is 'Casting by' which makes logical sense seeing as we have just witnessed everyone who stars in the film. The next is 'Costume designer'. Then 'Co-producer'. Next it shows 'Music Supervision'. Second coloured silhouettes of the characters then appear at the edges of the screen, leaping seemingly toward each other into the centre. As they land and walk to the borders of the scene, the silhouettes flash different colours in time with a synthetic sound in the music. As this is happening we are told who the music is by.
As we transition into the next part of this opening and two sets of the characters are dancing on screen, we see the 'Edited by' credit. Followed by 'Production Designer. Then the 'Director of Photography. The titles are noticeably reaching those who have lesser known roles in the production of a movie. This is followed by the 'Executive Producers' who typically do come rather late in the opening credits. Star like shapes appear in varying colours, enlarging outwards until they are off screen. The 'Produced by' credit then appears. Following this is 'Written by'. Finally the directors credit appears in the centre of the screen, between the two sets of dancing characters. They then disappear to be replaced by two other silhouettes that zoom in from the right and left side of the screen into the centre, behind the directors credit, they then leap into the air and a star flashes onto the screen and zooms towards us.
I think that this opening is very strange as it has next to nothing to do with the movie that follows, but I do think however that it sets up what you can expect, in this quirky and rather odd comedy.
The next opening titles that I have chosen to analyse are those to the movie 'Juno'. Again I feel that this is a coming of age movie, tackling a very different aspect and subject matter to that of 'Superbad', while still being similar in genre. There is some footage before the credits begin. The two very different scenes (one being shot in a very realistic fashion and the other in an almost cartoony one) are edited together via a sound bridge which then continues through the rest of the opening.
Our main character walks to the left of the screen as the camera tracks to follow her, its as she passes by a tree that we transition to a rendition of her world that has been drawn.
The first title we see, which has been written over an illustrated hedge is 'Fox Searchlight Pictures Presents'. Typically these distribution companies are the first to be credited it would seem. The camera stops tracking the protagonist and stops so that the credit can be read. The character however continue to walks to the left, eventually leaving the shot.
Once she does, we transition a shot of our character taking a sip of her drink and looking onwards toward some houses. To the side of her the credits 'A Mandate Pictures/Mr.Mudd Production.' Again, it seems to be that the production company/companies is always second in the opening credits.
These titles stay in their position while the background transitions to the characters feet. We can also see her feet in the background, slowly walking to the left of the screen again.
Once she reaches about the centre of the background the camera shifts to focus on the feet that were in the background as some letters fall into place to spell out 'A Jason Reitman Film.' We can see the drawing of a van move in the background, helping to establish that this is the real world, but just conveyed in a different manner.
We then shift to a shot facing the character as she makes her way down the street and beside her we see the title and her namesake 'Juno'. The title flashes a few different colours, to solidify the notion that it is the productions title.
The 'camera' then pans upward towards the sky and holds this shot for a few seconds before cutting to a medium shot of the character still making her way down the street. Next to her the first of the actors names appear.
This shot then falls away almost, as the next shot takes it's place. Behind our protagonists feet we can see a chair and guitar leaned against a garage door. Beside them we see another of the actors names. The camera slowly pans across the screen, not tracking the characters feet this time.
The Camera then shifts upwards to show the upper half of the character again and another actor credit.
The camera then zooms into the shot, revealing that the next scene is on the same 'page' as the previous. The protagonist walks into this scene, leaving behind another actor credit on the fence as she goes.
The camera then shifts to the left where its like we are on the other side of the street, where we see Juno walking. Above her is another actors credit on the side of a building.
Before she reaches the end of the street it cuts to show her walking past a musical shop, which again has another actors credit upon it. The camera doesn't move in this long shot, so that we can see the character make her way down the street and still view the actors credit. As she reaches off screen the picture starts to deconstruct itself, slowly becoming the next shot. Which is simply of the character crossing the road towards the camera, with another actors credit.
The next shot is a cut in shot of Juno opening her bottle of Sunny D with the casting credits next to her.
The camera then pans to the left, revealing a medium shot of the character now drinking from her bottle and the 'Costume Designer' credit beside her.
The next shot is like that of a birds eye view, slowly zooming in above our protagonist with musical credits ahead of her. The character looks up as if to look at the camera once the titles have vanished.
We then move to the next shot which is again more musical credits, as the character walks through what appears to be a park. While before this transition to a hand drawn art style we saw some joggers jog past in live action, we finally see some other characters aside from Juno make their way to the right side of the shot in the background.
We follow these characters into the next shot where we are behind Juno who is balancing and walking along the border of a playground. Beside her we see the 'Co-producers' credit. The camera stops tracking the joggers and they continue onwards, leaving the scene.
We then cut to a POV shot of the characters feet as she attempts to balance of the edge of the path. In this shot is the 'Film Editor' credit. As the character, and by proxy the camera, look up this title vanishes.
This is the transition to the next shot where we can then see Juno walking down the path again. Above her is the 'Production Designer credit'.
We then cut to the character walking between the trees, revealing the 'Director of Photography credit' as she walks.
We then cut into the characters face as the 'Executive Producers' credit appears.
Once again we cut above the character, with the a hand drawn branch blocking our view of her. As the camera passes by the branch the 'Produced by' credits appear.
We then cut into a medium shot of the protagonist walking down the road once more. As she does the camera shifts to be viewing her from the side, as the 'Written By' credit appears behind her.
We then cut into another shot of the protagonists feet, this time walking towards the camera which is slowly panning upwards to show her face again and the directors credit.
We then cut to a long shot of the character approaching her destination, as the camera slowly tracks her to show her entering the building and entering the normal world again.
Again this is a very interesting opening title sequence due to the fact that this hand drawn style doesn't actually have a large part to play in the rest of movie.
For some reason I couldn't find the video through Bloggers video button thingy, so click here to see the intro to SHAUN OF THE DEAD!
While this isn't a coming of age film like the previous two titles I have looked at it is a very British film, something my group wants to highlight in our piece so perhaps seeing how Britishness is represented and established in this introduction will help us craft a similar introduction.
Like 'Juno' there is some footage before the title begins which is once again connected by a sound bridge, this time the sound is diegetic, and is the bell above the pubs door opening just as we cut to black.
The camera tracks out of the darkness, tracking a Supermarket worker pushing trolleys through a car park. The distribution company titles appear towards the bottom of the screen.
The camera continues to track this man until we reach a white pole. The camera continues to move, but the location changes, showing the inside of a supermarket, and the many people behind counters repetitively scanning objects. In the same place as the previous titles the production company title appears. The camera, reveals the row of people all doing the same job entirely in sync.
Again the camera continues to move until we pass behind another bar to reveal a bus top, and people mindlessly waiting, almost motionless to catch a bus. A few reach into their pockets and pull out a phone, again all in sync with each other. This shot has the credit 'In Association With'. It appears that the titles are all going to appear in the same spot on the screen, except the title.
The camera then continues behind another object, this time moving through an alley, revealing youths all shambling towards it, in rhythm with the music being played. On the floor beneath them, we see the title of the movie. A car passes in front of the camera, transitioning the shot to a cluttered street of cars and a boy playing with a football. There is no credit in this shot. The camera continues to move to the right of the screen, revealing the street name, before dissolving into a shot of Shaun's kitchen, where we see an ominous shadow and feet slowly shamble their way forward. The camera slowly pans upwards to reveal that it is just Shaun stretching and yawning. This is essentially the end of the actual title sequence, as the rest of the footage in the video is the start of the movie, but entails a long shot that slowly zooms in, showing Shaun make his way across the room and sit down to play a video game, before being reminded he has work.
This is not much of a title sequence as it only has around three actual credits in it. However it is interesting in how it shows the British populace as all being zombies, even before the actualy zombies appear in the movie. it has a few pieces of British icongraphy. The miserable looking drones behind the check outs in the super market, the crowded bus stop and the young boy playing football. Maybe some ideas that could influence our final piece?
Font Research
One of the titles that I have chosen to analyse is that of Juno. For the same reasons that I chose to analyse it's opening, it being a coming of age tale. As discussed when analysing the opening sequence, the font used appears hand drawn, like you'd expect to see scribbled in a students book somewhere. The choice of font then, appears to have been chosen as it related to the source material, perhaps in order to appeal to a certain audience, or give an idea on what the film is about. The font is large, each letter appearing to be capitalised. Its also bold on one side, giving it a 3D effect having it stand out, but not over playing it as you may expect from a blockbuster action movie.
This is the font that was used on most of the promotional material for Superbad. This is a much more 'in your face' type of font than that of 'Juno'. Both are coming of age movies however. This font is much more typical of something you'd expect from an intense action movie, not a comedy about three teenagers. Again it has an almost vintage feel, as did the opening, matching what you might have expected to see on movie posters in the 70's or 80's, similar to the aesthetic that the audience will see in the opening sequence. Its also very eye catching, as it also has a 3D effect and has contrasting colours. Red being the colour of the title itself, but with a white outline.
