Title Sequence Clip Review
Before watching these film openings without the rest of the movie, I had truly had no idea of the number of factors that go into each opening. Music, font, font coloring, transitions, and character interactions. The most important thing that the opening of a film must accomplish is to establish a tone so that the audience fall into the same mood as the film they are watching (Kelly, 2011). For example, in the movie Scream, the opening scene features a red, bloody font type, that shows what the movie will be about immediately. Furthermore, in the same movie, something as simple as the popcorn bag being left on the stove and getting larger every time the camera cuts to it does nothing more than create suspense for the viewer. Another great example would be from the lion king. The opening music is the song The Circle of Life, and is being played while showing all the animals in the jungle gathering for the birth of the new lion king, which is ultimately the circle of life. While birth is part of the circle of life, so is death. The opening may not prompt you to think of death because of the positive, upbeat tone it creates, however the movie deals with death as two major plot points. Another great example would be Saturday Night Fever. The opening scene shows John Trovalta walking down a sidewalk to the beat of the song Staying Alive, immediately letting us know that were watching a movie in which music and dancing is heavily involved. As the scene progresses we learn that Trovolta is picking up various cans of paint for his job. Instead of going straight back to work, he casually grabs a slice of pizza and checks out various women, all while easy gaiting down the streets of Brooklyn, letting us know what kind of character he is, and that he cares more for himself rather than his work related responsibilities. Another great movie opening to reference would be Dazed and Confused. The first thing that stands out to me in the movie opening is the font. The font is written in 70’s hippie psychedelic style and it gives a perfect insight to what the movie will be about. A bunch of high schoolers getting stoned. Finally, the last movie I want to reference is Space Odyssey. The first part of the opening shows a pure black screen for about four minutes, accompanied with very ominous music, that fades in and out, creating the most suspense I’ve ever witnessed in a movie. The black screen can also represent the nothingness and endlessness of space, as this intro seems to go on forever with no end in sight. Furthermore, since the movie was made before the commodity of Today’s space exploration, I feel as if this opening really fits well with the idea of uncertainty. Next, the second part of the movie really relates to how the author closes the article. The author ends his piece by saying that no matter how good technology is, the opening scene still must complement a two-hour narrative. The second part of the opening shows an ape smashing bones with another bone, symbolizing the first tool. The ape is clearly just a human squatting down, however even with the low quality of production due to the times, we still analyze the opening and consider it as important as any other. It doesn't have to be a big budget explosive opening in order to grab the audience's attention and sometimes an over the top opening like this risks upending the structure of the film with a sense of where do we go from here? (Kelly, 2011). Personally, I don't see myself making a movie for my portfolio project rather than a magazine. Creating foreshadowing and setting the plot would prove to be far too difficult for me in just only 2 minutes of film.
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