Spy espionage title sequence

Skyfall (2012)

http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/skyfall/

In the start we see James Bond (Daniel Craig) fall into what looks like the sea, so straight away we know who the main focus is on. The camera pans/follows Bond as he sinks down, whilst closing up on his face, revealing that he is in fact unconscious. This is done whilst background music begins to play. The song used is made especially for the movie and it also creates publicity, as when people here it, they think of the movie (mainly because the name of the movie is in the lyrics) so they are boosting their audience by creating a linked media (film and music).

The screen fades to black then after 2 seconds, the scene emerges revealing a close up of a hand, which is then grabbed by another hand then pulled down.

(WORKING ON MORE)

Spy espionage title sequence

Mission impossible (1996)

In this opening they use mainly close ups of faces, parts of peoples faces, objects and of the titles/names. The main part they want us as the audience to notice, is the fuse that keeps being shown and that you can here throughout most of the beginning as a fuse is something that leads to blowing something up and blowing things up tend to be in spy movies or action movies.

The clips move quickly, so you only get a glimpse of what it happening, this is suitable to the genre as if you were a spy, usually you have to be pretty quick, e.g fighting and cracking codes (codes are also shown in the title sequence).

The music is commonly used in spy movies, so this indicates right away what genre this movie will be. The music matches and doesn't seem out of place, for instance for a comedy stereotypically you wouldn't have a creepy lullaby playing, so music is important when it comes to the genre.

The sequence starts with the fuse being lit, and once it is lit, the music finishes its intro and starts, along with the sequence of clips, so the fuse could be a representation of how long the title sequence will be, just like a spy would only have a certain amount of time to get away/ do what needs to be done before the fuse gets to the end.

The font used is easily readable and is suitable to the genre as its fancy or creepy, its bold and straightforward. As the subtitles appear, a more close up but blurred version of it slides from one side of the screen to the other, as if on a billboard, the movements are different so the subtitle gets bigger/closer to the screen and the doubled version zooms from right to left.

The scene starts with a picture of a woman, but the lighting around it is dark, meaning there is mystery involved. When the air hostess and the man speak, she says what she has said to everyone else, but this time they were speaking a sort of code, so she would know what 'movie' to give him. This of course is not a movie but a document explaining what the mission that they want him involved in, is about.

Horror thriller opening 2

The cabin in the woods

http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/the-cabin-in-the-woods/

In this opening it starts off with a close up of a substance that looks like blood on a black background, it moves as if it is being poured and once that is done, it reveals ancient type murals. The would mean that the substance could be revealing the pictures underneath it from the black, or even creating the images, telling a story or secrets.

The camera angle would be at a straight angle, whilst closing up on certain areas, whilst someone pours the red type substance on something that stand slightly tilted, so it travels down, joins together and spreads around, but not to fast that it just drips off. This process could also be slowed down, to give a dramatic effect of the blood type substance to be actually pouring out of someone, this could also let the audience subconsciously know that there will be death and blood involved without actually having to tell them. 

The adding in of something old/ancient is usually seen as quite creepy because it is involved in most horror thrillers, then made to be scary, so nowadays when we thing of things like and old doll for instance, we don't think 'wow that's an old doll, maybe it was someone's grandmothers' we think 'Oh my god, that's a scary doll, look its so old, its probably possessed or something' so he director uses things we are familiar with so they don't have to create a scary object.

The colour of the font is red, this may be to match the colour of the blood and to make it more eye catching/ make it stand out. The font is similar to georgia, which is quite bold 

The art of a title sequence

First of all, what is a title sequence?

A title sequence is the method by which films or television programs present their title, key production and cast members, or both, using relevant or effective images and sound. It usually follows but should not be confused with the opening credits, which are generally nothing more than a series of layers of texts.

What's the difference between a title sequence and opening credits?

The title sequence of a film is the opening scene(s) that include dialogue and often action, whereas the opening credits show the cast and crew in writing, often accompanied by a song and/or some acting in the background.

Cirque du freak: the vampires assistant (2010)

http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/cirque-du-freak-the-vampires-assistant/

Most title sequences have a sense of autopilot, the main title for Cirque du Freak: The vampire's Assistant keeps you guessing. Taking on the role of a children's nightmare, the result is innocent but with the intentions of creating fear- a sure way to take the edge off the sweetness.

The title sequence gives you a small idea of what the movie is about. The scenes/images sort of invite the audience in, making them want more, but not giving anything crucial away.

The idea of a title sequence in thriller/horror movie is to prepare the audience for what is about to come, by showing certain places/people (etc.) from the movie, making the audience feel almost comfortable before the movie starts.

Adventure thriller opening

Sherlock Holmes

http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/sherlock-holmes/

The set out for Sherlock Holmes sticks with the time zone (1800) making the title sequence unique to most other movies. The idea i can imagine, is to look like a newspaper, as when the shots get frozen the graphics change to a brown almost paper like layout with drawings of mono-print/sepia drawings where the previous clip was, also the font is in olden swirly type writing. The splashes of ink or stains give an effect of it being vintage and old, this could be done by filming a piece of paper from a birds eye view and dropping ink from a high or a low height, this then would be digitised and edited on the computer.

Each short clip lasts 2 seconds and the drawings/frozen images lasts for 4 seconds. Whilst the title sequence is going on, old fashioned upbeat old fashioned music plays in the background, this gives the audience the idea that this movie wont be dull and that it is adventurous.

The lighting is quite dark, because all that would have been used were street lamps, plus this also lets the audience know that there will be mystery and suspense in the movie. Also the colours are usually quite plain, unless someone needs to stand out, then they are put in a vibrant colour e.g. a red dress.

The transitions used are a straight cut, they last no less than a blink.

The costumes are suitable to the era, mainly suits, top hats, canes etc. From these costumes you able to tell who is wealthy and who is not, the wealthy wore nice suits with shined shoes and top hats with canes, the not so wealthy wore brown scruffy type suits with the trousers a bit higher than their ankles because they couldn't get theirs tailored, with worn out shoes (because they work a lot) and sometimes a cap to match.

Horror thriller openings

Zombieland

http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/zombieland/

In zombie land it shows a close up of the american flag american flag blowing in the wind (signify's that the movie is mainly based in america) with the national anthem playing faintly in the background, slightly slowed down and corrupted. The camera zooms out slowly whilst the sound is followed by a guy narrating, starting with 'oh america' as if he were giving a speech. At that moment the audience is unsure of who he is, but you can guess that he will be important somehow. The music fades into a screeching, corrupted version of the american national anthem, already making the audience feel slightly eery and scared, creating a build up.

The camera changes view point by twisting right, showing us that the flag is upside down, the camera then pans to the right, whilst slightly zooming out, revealing a turned over car that is partly on fire with more chaos happening in the background.

The camera moves around as if it is being held by a camera guy but not the one filming the movie, the one that is IN the movie. This camera movement creates a realistic effect, as if the audience is involved in the movie (minus the fizzing/crashing of the film). The camera moves around, showing the whole scene. We as the audience could say that the shot used could be hand-held shot as the filming is not very steady. We could suggest that POV (point of view) shot was used as we see what the person is seeing and instead of the idea that it is the camera breaking up when it glitches, it could just be the persons vision/memory breaking up itself, not believing what they see.So the labelling of shots, depends on the persons point of view.

The editing/speed starts off slow, moving outwards as if on a tripod, then the type of movement and speed changes instantly, moving/looking around at quite a fast pace as if the person in panicking. The movement is quite fast so if looks everywhere quickly, but not too quick that you can't see what's going on. It's almost rushed, as if the person filming is trying to get everything on camera quickly, not worrying if it doesn't get everything completely, just making sure people see what is going on.

The props mainly used in the very opening are cars, on fire, crashed, upside down or just abandoned.

The camera then quickly zooms out, but so much that we see Earth, looking nothing how it looks now, so the audience can see how much chaos is really going on, also giving the movie a realistic effect. The camera zooms back in on a different part of the world, showing a 'fatty' being chased by a zombie, which is the start of the 'survival guide' the voice over has created for surviving zombie land. It then shows different scenarios as part of the survival guide with a variety of long shots, tracking shots, close ups and over the shoulder shots.

The darkness of the zombies clothing and skin could connote that they are the bad guys, almost evil.

As the voice over reads out the list of precautions, writing appears over the clip, in a plain white font, but it is as if it is almost placed in the scene, adapting to whats around it, for example when the man is being chased, the text pulsates saying 'cardio' as if imitating a heart beat.

More camera terminology/shots/angles

Angle of shot it the direction and height from which the camera takes the scene.

Viewpoint- the apparent distance and angle from which the camera views and records the subject. 

Point of view shot (POV)- a shot made from a camera position close to the line of sight of a performer who is to be watching the action shown in the point of view shot. This gives a realistic effect, as if we are seeing the world through the characters eyes. 

Two shot- a shot of two people together.

Selective focus- rendering only part of the action field in sharp focus through the use of a shallow depth of field. A shift focus from foreground to background or vice versa is called rack focus.

Soft focus- an effect in which the sharpness of an image, or part of it, is reduced by the use of an optical device.

Wide angle shot- a shot of a broad field of action taken with a wide angle range.

Tilted shot- when the camera is tilted on its axis so that normally vertical lines appear slanted left or right, ordinary expectations are frustrated. Such shots are often used in mystery and suspence films to create a sense of unease in the viewer.

Safety last (1923) is part of the romantic comedy thriller genre. The romantic part would be the guy trying to impress/get the girl, by adding comedy the main characters attempts of impressing girl would go wrong and fail. By combining a love story and a slapstick it makes the movie more enjoyable and keeps the audience entertained.

Double indemnity (1944) is part of the film-noir thriller genre. These films are usually dark and mysterious, hardly any natural light, mainly street lamps or lamps in bars/houses. In fact noir, translates to 'black' so the hint is in the name... if you know a bit of french.

High noon (1952) is part of the western thriller genre. In westerns the set would usually be a desert with the occasional tumble weed or a saloon/bar with female dancers, you'd have your cowboys (sometimes red indians) and there is most likely going to be a stand off and the bad guy loses, then the cowboy gets the girl, or whatever he desired.

The french connection (1971) is part of the crime-caper thriller genre is similar to action thriller because they both involve guns and fighting, though crime-caper usually involves a murder. The bad guy is usually caught at the end and justice is made.

Alien(1979) is part of the science fiction thriller genre, due to its in space and includes aliens(from the title of the movie you'd never have guessed). Also it is made more futuristic, making technology way more advanced.

Batman- the dark night, is part of the action thriller genre due to the amount of fighting, guns ad explosions etc.