Title sequences: Gone Girl and 22 Jump Street

Gone girl
0:03- Production company logo ( 20th century fox)
0:11- Regency logo (the other production company)
0:25- David Fincher (Director) shown in small white writing along the bottom of the screen
0:53- Ben Affleck introduced name shown along the bottom fades in and fades out within 4 seconds
0:57- Rosamund Pike is introduced as one of the main characters same as above
0:59- Title of film is shown in the middle of the screen with a backdrop of a deserted area.
1:03- Neil Patrick Harris another main actor
1:04- Tyler Perry another actor
1:06- Carrie Coon another actor
1:08- Kim Dickens and Patrick Fugit
1:12- casting was done by Laray Mayfield
1:14- Sound design Ren Kyle
1:16- Music by Trent Rezner and Atticus Ross
1:18- Costume designer Trish Summerville
1:21- Film editor Kirk Baxter
1:22- Production designer Donald Graham Bunt
1:24- Director of photography Jeff Cronenweth
1:26- Executive producers Leslie Dixon, Bruna Papadrea
1:28- Producers Arnon Milchan and Reese Witherspoon (The actor)
1:35- Produced by Cean Chaffin and Joshua Donen
1:45- Screen play by Gillian Flynn
2:00- Screen begins to fade to black

22 Jump Street
0:13- shows the 23 jump street poster
0:15- Directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller
0:30- Screenplay by Micheal Bacall, Oren V, Rodney R
0:39- Story by Micheal Bacall and Jonah Hill
0:46- created by Patrick Hasburgh and Stephen J Cannell
0:59- Produced by Neal H Mortiz
1:03- Produced by Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum
1:08- Executive producers Tania Landau, Brian Bell, Reid Carolin Stephen J, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller
1:39-director of photography Barry Peterson
1:53- production design Steven Sakland
1:59- Edited by Daniel Rennie and keith Branchmann
2:07-Jonah Hill (main actor)
2:11-Channing Tatum (main actor)
2:23-Peter Stormane (actor)
2:39-Wyatt Russel (actor)
2:42-Amber Stevens (actor)
2:49-Jillian Bell (actor)
2:52-Ice Cube(actor)
3:06- other actors

RESEARCH- My favourite movie

This title uses animation and motion. It is already an animation and it starts with the main character playing with the other main characters who are toys. It’s quite a fun opening and suitable for the children audience.

Kyle Cooper: What makes a good title sequence

According to Kyle Cooper, what makes a good title sequence is how it seamlessly links into the actual movie. This is because the titles have become part of the movie because in some cases the titles show the plot of the movie as well as giving an insight to some of the possible twists that could happen in the movie. Furthermore, Kyle Cooper states that the title sequence sets an expectation for the rest of the movie as well as making the audience feel as if they do not want to be anywhere else. Because Kyle Cooper suggests that the audience is so intrigued by the title sequence, he assumes that the audience is excited to watch to see what all the different clips are suggesting what may happen later on in the movie.

RESEARCH - Analysing two title sequences.

I choose to analyse the Gone Girl title sequence and found that the movie was presented by 20th century fox and regency enterprises. The soundtrack for the title sequence was quite high pitched with a deep male narrative in the background which gave the audience insight to some of the characters and their relationships in the movie. The gone girl title sequence was also very muted in colour as the picture appeared to have a slight bluey grey tint to it. The title sequence had mainly focused on locations as the audience only got introduced to two character a man and women, these location were shown using a range of shots for example: the shot of the house was shown at a wide long shot. I felt as though the title sequence gave off enough insight to the movie as audience, as the title sequence made me want to find out more about these characters and their relationship as the only narrative we heard from the male character was him stating he wanted to crack open his wife skull suggesting the movie is going to contain some sort of violent relationship.

I also looked at the Scott Pilgrim vs The World title sequence these were very different in appearance which was expected at the genres of both movies are very different. The title sequence appeared to quite a ‘gaming’ vibe as the soundtrack which should the ident (universal) sounded like an old video game. The title sequence had a lot dialogue from about 20 seconds into the title sequence, this dialogue provided the audience with some information about the location, Toronto, Canada and it also gave the audience some information about the character/s like their ages and names this information was also shown on screen in a black box. The title sequence is quite cartoonized as there was some ‘comic book’ effects to it like the ringing of the door bell showing on screen and the ‘one,two,three,four’. The credits had been shown in bold black/white writing in the middle of the screen in front of patterned backgrounds, the background had appeared to move to the soundtrack of ‘the band's’ music.

RESEARCH - Kyle Cooper.

Kyle Cooper believes that good title sequence should set an expectation it should make you feel as though you do not want to be anywhere else but watching that title sequence at that moment, it gets you excited. It should flow seamlessly into the film it should link to the genre of film and the story behind the film itself. A good title sequence should also be able to tell a story, it should be able to connect to the audience in those first couple of minutes and grab their attention for the rest of the movie.

The purpose of a title sequence and film opening. (research)

The purpose of a title sequence and film opening is to show the ident for production and distribution companies e.g dreamworks and walt disney. The purpose is to establish shots of location and also hint at the narrative of the story. The  title sequence is the method which films use present their key production and cast members.  The opening will establish the genre of the film. The opening and title sequence will always include some sort of soundtrack which would often hint at the genre of movie, they also include some sort of effects e.g slow motion.

RESEARCH - The four types of film film openings.

There are four main types of titles sequences which includes:

Titles on a blank screen:

The main conventions for this type of title sequence are that is often white text on a black background sometimes there is expectations for this like what was done with pulp fiction. The font is normally very clear and easy to read. This type of title sequence is often used as is low budget and can be done at home. This title sequence is a simple, uncomplicated way to include institutional information at the beginning of the movie.

Titles on still images:

The main conventions for this type of title sequence are often just plain pasted text onto a contrasting background. These types of title sequences tend to have longer credits and often use different types of media. The text used for this type of title sequence are normally very clear and easy to read. An example of this title sequence in use is the movie Wimbledon, the used still images to show the movement of the audience during a tennis game.

Titles over moving images:

Some of the main conventions for this title sequence are that there is often no dialogue but there could be a narrative which helps introduce the tone of movie and helps lead you into the storyline. It normally only contains the moving image/s, the titles and some sort of soundtrack. The moving images sometimes provides some sort of metaphor which supplies the audience with further information about the movie. An example of this type of title sequence is the title sequence for the movie rear window, this title sequence is used to lead the audience start into the movie as the movie continues as the camera moves out of the window.

  

Titles using animation or motion:

The main conventions for this types of type of title sequence are that there is often some sort of animated text, this type of title sequence first became popular in the early 1990s. It is also quite a high budget title sequence as it requires certain digital technology. This type of title sequence is a type of stylized editing. Example of titles that have used this type of title sequence are the titles sequence for James Bond Casino Royale and Catch Me If You Can.

My favourite type of title sequence are the title sequences with moving images as I find this the most interesting way to show the credits, I feel as though this type of title sequence allows you to be creative with you design. It is is also an interesting way of hinting at the narrative of the story without being extremely obvious.