What I Have Learnt From Mapping Out Title Sequences

When mapping out three different title sequences of two action films and a drama, I have found that the number of credits usually ranges between 30 and 40 but it is surprisingly common for a large production to have only one or two credits which include the production/distribution companies and no mention of the main actors. The main actors are sometimes not mentioned presumably because they are already very well established and are instantly recognizable. I also found that when the anatagonist or protagonist is not as well established as other actors (e.g Transporter 2) there are more credits included in order to cement their presence in the film.

For our film opening, we will include approximately 11 credits which include:

2 to 3 for the production/distribution institutions

5 for the cast

4 for the director/screenplay etc

Institution

institution

cast

cast

cast

cast

other cast members (more than one name onscreen)

title

costume

producer

screenplay

director

The order may change within the post-production stage in order to reflect any changes we may have made within the film opening's production.

From the film mapping, I have gotten an idea of how these credits should appear on-screen and I now have an idea of how many credits should be used for our production. For the institutions, I noticed they were almost always included on-screen with an animation so I believe we could do the same with a GIF. Also, the text size varied much in size and effect, with everything from graphic matches and bold writing for each actor to simple, small text appearing in order to not dominate the opening. It all depended on the approach each opening was going for. Tense, vivid openings going for smaller texts and slow build-ups had larger texts that didn't interrupt any important scenes.

Our film opening will have both enigmas and tension that is important for the audience to see and a less intrusive style of credits will be included with smaller text size and no overly distracting effects on the text's font or entry on screen.

Film mapping for Need For Speed

Film Mapping for Need For Speed

Time: 0:00-0:58

EONE entertainment 0:00 - 0:13

dreamworks 0:20-0:23

reliance entertainment 0:24-0:30

EA 0:31-0:36

dreamworks pictures and reliance entertainment present 0:38-0:46

NEEDFORSPEED 0:48-0:58

Film Mapping and Opening analysis for American Gangsta

Film mapping for American Gangsta

Time shown: 0:00 - 2:00

Twenty second Universal animation

Twenty second Imagine animation

Twenty second animation for Imagine icon

30 Second film opening, scene showing Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington) setting alight and then shooting an unknown character, in the presence of his mentor

AMERICAN GANGSTA (5 second zoom on text, black background, white text)

BASED ON A TRUE STORY (6 second zoom)

Graphic match from black, doors lifted as mentor from opening is seen in a juxtaposing scene giving away food to citizens

HARLEM - 1968 (1:55)

Film Mapping for American Gangsta

Within the opening to American Gangsta, there is violence being shown instantly on screen to cement the film’s genre and level of maturity from the beginning. It also opens up a large number of enigmas as we know nothing initially about the man being set alight or the people committing the act, or why. There is also a clear hierarchy of power between the two characters as they are clearly dressed differently and carry a slightly different attitude. One character (frank lucas)  performs the execution and is dressed casually in a Cardigan that does not appear especially powerful or commanding; while his mentor is dressed in a suit and tie,  accented by an overcoat and scarf that looks expensive and secures his higher status.

When this violent scene is paired with the sinister setting of an alleyway at night, the enigmas are even more profound. Even within the short thirty seconds we see, the audience gets the sense that no-one is coming for the victim and there are no witnesses. This also makes the victim seem a little insignificant as the character is not named at this point and maybe suggests that this execution is not critical to the storyline,  the most important aspect of this true story-based film.

After the aforementioned murder scene,  we see a totally juxtaposed image of the character dressed in a suit previously. Now he is giving away food (what appears to be Turkeys around Thanksgiving) and smiling brightly in the middle of dawn as citizens look upwards at him, begging for food. This is a powerful juxtaposition as not only has the time of day changed to perhaps represent two different personalities, but he looks completely unfazed by the actions he witnessed being performed (presumably) last night. Also, his level of power has not been adjusted here as others are begging from him and there is no-one yet positioned above him on the hierarchy. His proxemics also place him above every other visible character as he is standing on the back of a van, giving even further levels of power and control.

Finally, this is the only scene within the opening that gives a sense of time chronologically; not only by the text appearing on screen (Harlem 1968) but by mise-en-scene. Props in particular play a part here as they are clearly from a certain era: the buses, cars, surrounding shops, street signs etc all represent the late 1960’s that the film is placed.

Film Mapping and Opening analysis for Transporter 2

Film Mapping for Transporter 2

time in minutes when credits are shown 0:00-2:00

20th Century Fox logo (signature 20 second animation)

TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX presents

a EUROPACORP production        in coproduction with TF1 FILMS PRODUCTION

in association with CURRENT ENTERTAINMENT

with the participation of CANAL+         and TPS STAR

JASON STATHAM

ALESSANDRO GASSMAN

AMBER VALLETTA

and KATE NAUTA

with MATTHEW MODINE

and JASON FLEMING

TRANSPORTER 2 (film title)

time in minutes when credits are shown 3:30-6:30

KEITH DAVID

introducing HUNTER CLARY

SHANNON BRIGGS

and FRANCOIS BERLEAND

casting by ED ARENAS    MELISSA HIRSCHENSON

costume designer BOBBIE READ

original score by ALEXANDRE AZARIA

martial arts choreographer CORY YUEN

car stunt choreographer MICHEL JULIENNE

editors CHRISTINE LUCAS-NAVARRO    VINCENT TABAILLON

production designer JOHN MARK HARRINGTON

director of photography MITCHELL AMUNDSEN

executive producer TERRY MILLER

produced by LUC BESSON and STEVEN CHASMAN

based on characters created by LUC BESSON & ROBERT MARK KAMEN

written by LUC BESSON & ROBERT MARK KAMEN

directed by LOUIS LETERRIER

Film Opening Analysis for Transporter 2 

The first thing that is made apparent within this film’s opening is that it begins in a very similar manner to the first instalment. We initially see an extreme long shot of a black german saloon car sitting still within a car park at which point the camera will pan across to the left and zoom towards the vehicle, before cutting to a close up of the side profile of the vehicle and continuing to pan across until an extreme long shot of the Audi logo on the front grille is visible.

The first Transporter instalment (featuring the same protagonist) had a film opening that was almost identical to this one apart from driving a BMW rather than an Audi. I suspect the vehicle choice was a matter of advertising for the manufacturer in question as they get to feature their high end luxury vehicles in a high-grossing box office film.

Another thing worth noting is that the original film’s opening eventually lead to the preparation of a bank robbery and a very memorable car chase. The fact that the second film begins the same way would perhaps lead us to suggest many more scenes as memorable and action-packed as the first.

As for the protagonist himself (Jason Statham playing as Frank Martin, unnamed at the film opening), he appears to carry himself with discretion, looks totally in control and an aura of formality given off by his black suit and choice of vehicle. An example of the character’s relative calmness and control is that within two minutes of the film’s starting, he is already threatened by an amateur car-jacking. A gun is pointed at him initially and he is threatened with melee weapons when he refuses to unlock the car’s coded ignition for the carjackers. He never looks frightened, anxious or even slightly concerned about losing a then brand-new car. He takes the whole situation as if it is a minor irritation before disarming the thugs of their weapons without permanently harming them; showing us that he has a touch of empathy as he could have easily killed them for the threats and inconvenience, and more importantly, the brief fighting scene reminds us in abundance that this is an action film through and through, and the genre is clearly confirmed within the space of three and a half minutes.    

Preliminary Task Video

This is our preliminary task video. Within this video, we have attempted to include all of the task's stipulations. Walking through a door, a corridor, a room in order to begin a conversation and following the 180 degree rule are all present features here.

Preliminary task storyboard

This is the storyboard for our preliminary task. It includes the length of each shot with a brief description of what is included too. Most shots included movement in order to cover the main stipulations if the prelim task (walking through a door, meeting someone for a conversation, etc) and these are all listed.

Ideas for our movie name

While brainstorming ideas for our opening sequence the topic of the name of our movie came up. We created, with the help of some people within our class some names which we could use. We picked the best five and wrote them onto large pieces of paper. We then asked some people in a year 12 class (aged 16-17) to write their name on a sticky label and put it on whichever name they most liked.

We selected to ask this class of people because they fall directly into our target audience, teenagers, we kept the task open to both males and females.

As you can see the name "The Tale of Demise" was the most popular, receiving 5/11 votes. We therefore will be using this name as the title of our film.

Ideas PowerPoint

Ideas powerpoint from thetaleofdemise

As a group, myself, Sophie and Freya set up a page of ideas in a word document to brainstorm our initial plans and ideas. When presenting these ideas, we decided to use a PowerPoint to clearly illustrate them. 

Preliminary Task Scenarios

Here we have a small collection of ideas that could be used for our preliminary task. All of these scenarios would cover the requirements of the preliminary task (providing a conversation and footage of walking through a door is included). The task stipulates:

-Footage of someone walking through a door
-A conversation between two people, obeying the 180 degree rule
-The conversation being staged in a (class)room

Potential Challenges of Preliminary Task

Potential Challenges of Preliminary Task

For our preliminary task, we was tasked with filming a 30 second scene of a character walking through a door, filming both opening the door and closing it behind them, and setting up a conversation of some kind within a room obeying the 180 degree correctly.

Initial ideas for this plan included having a character entering a room where two friends are waiting for a private conversation about saving and making money, until someone suggests an ‘unorthodox’ method of making money quickly. This can then be twisted into a tense of comedic scene and hopefully creates an engaging 30 second viewing.

The filming should be mostly still in movement, but there will be the occasional hand-held movement for the shot where a character must ascend the stairs to the classroom. Also, a shot reverse shot must be included in this sequence and making sure that each shot within this engagement is close enough in continuity to be identified as a shot reverse shot.

Following the 180 degree will also be a challenge as this will be the first opportunity to follow this rule in practical work.