Genre Specific Analysis

In the opening to " a nightmare on elm street" a strange, mysterious character is seen to be crafting a bladed glove,. This creates enigma as you are not sure as to who is creating the glove and why. Darkness also features heavily in this opening as it restricts the viewers field of vision and shrouds the background creating a sense of mysteriousness. The viewer is only shown a small square of video and the rest is surrounded by a black background so we do not see who is making the glove. Clanging tools can also be heard, this connotes a sense of clinical coldness.

The opening of "Halloween" also uses enigma. A point of view shot is also used which restricts the viewers field of vision, a mask is also placed over the camera towards the end setting a trend for the rest of the movie. The viewer can tell what is going to happen before it actually does, this is because the lighting and non-diagetic sounds suggest a sinister event is about to happen.

"A nightmare on elm street" also creates an eery atmosphere with the titles, the plain boring font suggests a normal, safe atmosphere. But the text is distorted, showing something that should be safe and normal has been turned strange and alien.
The titles simply appear giving a plain and raw feel to the opening, this could also create an uneasy feel with the viewer as this is not usually done.




The orange titles in "Halloween" contrast with the black background, this makes them seem slightly sinister and 'edgy'. They give an idea of the plot and they give the audience the time-frame for the movie. The sharp edges in the text remind me of the pumpkins teeth, the colour is also similar to the colour coming from the pumpkin, adding to the sense of eeriness. The titles fade in and out, this could mirror the main character's sense of confusion and the way his character fades in and out and different points in the rest of the movie.

After looking into the title scenes of both movies I have concluded that they both use enigma to create a sense of uncertainty in the audience, they do this by restricting the field of vision and using darkness to keep the audience on edge. Fast and slow editing speeds create different emotions but both are suitable as they create tension and fear.

Moodboard

This is my moodboard, it gives a general idea of the typical slasher movie components. 

First ideas

Genre: Slasher

Group: Me, James Linsey and David Perkins.

Target audience: Age 18-25 years old, mainstreamer. C1-E.

Narrative ideas: Barthes' enigma code, death at the beginning but unsure of the killer.

Character development: Victim, Detective? suspect/witnesses.

Mood/Tone/Time/Place: Eerie/dark morning investigation.

From Script to Screen: How does the credit sequence from Dexter work?

"Dexter's" opening titles takes a normal, mundane morning routine and shows that they all have an underlying sinisterness, this is shown by zooming in on these tasks. Drops of blood fall in the sink and around the title giving an even more sinister look. The sinister activities are only connoted, but these give the audience a predetermined opinion of the main character, Dexter.

Stabbing and strangling is connoted through clips like cutting up fruit and tying laces. 

The name dexter inspired the creative editor, Eric Anderson. 

"I saw that the letter forms in DEXTER are nearly identical right-side up as they are up-side down, much like DEXTER the character. He doesn’t go through a massive transformation when he becomes the serial killer, he’s exactly the same Dexter except somethings wrong. I really thought that would go somewhere."

The opening title gives a lot of information about Dexter. It shows that even though on the surface he looks like a normal man, his actions have an ulterior motive, and a sinister underlay. It shows that he is very much the same as most people, so it gives him a sense of normality. A shallow depth of field helps to add intensity to an otherwise boring clip. A very good example is when the noir lighting and depth of field come together in the close up shaving clip, these set a dark, moody trend for the rest of the series.

The music plays a key part in this section, the music in the background contrasts the grotesque, violent looking clips. The music changes with Dexter, as the music gets more strange, so do Dexter's actions. A track by 'Exploding Plastix' was going to be used at first, but it did not provide the same effect. Dexter was not seen as a 'normal guy', it gave the impression that he was a killer and completely different to everyone else. 

Research - Analysis of "Juno" Opening

The first thing that I noticed when watching the "Juno" title sequence was the music. The song "All I Want Is You" by Barry Lewis Polistar gives an incredibly childish feel to the opening, this works well with the style of animation. I feel that this was the perfect song for this opening, this song reinforces the idea that Juno is still a child. Something else that reinforces this idea is the orange juice that Juno is drinking in this opening, it goes against the normal teenager stereotype as in most of the media teenagers are seen drinking and smoking.   The way that the background seems sketched and stuck on like a drawing and adds a sense of immaturity and innocence. The drawn background also shows that she lives in a bit of a dream world, apart from everybody else.

The main character, Juno, is also contrasting with the background. Everything else you see in the opening to the movie has a cartoon-ish feel to it, including Juno. This could show that Juno is actually part of that perfect world that she is imagining. The clothing she wears is also representative of her personality, she is wearing a brightly coloured hoodie, this could reflect an upbeat personality. The lack of make-up and the plain clothes once more connote a sense of innocence. As she reaches her destination the coloured background fades away, this shows a sense of realisation.


The font of the text also says a lot about Juno's character. The text looks as if it was written playfully. Throughout the opening the text moves about and shifts colour, this makes it look as if it has been made by a child and gives a sense of fun. The text looks hand drawn and it reminds me of a child's colouring book. The fact that the background is animated, yet she is not could show the struggle to become more adult whilst still being herself.

Key conventions of opening sequences

"Brick" title

We recently had to research film openings, we looked at the openings of "Kick Ass", "In Search of a Midnight Kiss", "Trainspotting", "Brick", "Shifty" and "London to Brighton" from analysing these I have found out that opening title scenes will almost always contain the names of actors, producers ect. They will sometimes use techniques like "Written Exposition". This technique is found in movies such as Star Wars and Gladiator, this technique is when text moves across the screen to set a scene or introduce characters. 

"Shifty"

 Ellipsis is sometimes used to show changes through       time or effects on the character, this is when the time frame is changed. The tone and mood of the movie is usually set within the first minute or so of the movie, so getting the title scene right is crucial. Bathe's Enigma Code is commonly used to hook the reader into the story, this is when a mystery is introduced at the beginning of the movie, this usually involves the main character and gives them more purpose in the story.    

              

Main Task

For our "Main Task", we are supposed to create the titles and opening two minutes of a fictional feature film which we will also create. We will have to write our own dialogue and cast actors to play as our characters, we are not allowed to be in the film ourselves. 


Deadlines:
Research - 01/12/10
Photo-Storyboard - 3/12/10
Filming - 7/1/11
Production - 28/1/11
Evaluation - 11/2/11