Planning Opening Credits
Opening credits are important to include when creating a film for a variety of reasons that benefit the audience. The opening credits allow the audience to recognise who the actors are in correlation to how much they feature in the film and their prominence as a character. The style of the credits will also allow the audience to recognise the style of the film in order to get them prepared for what they are about to see and what the general theme of the film will be. The credits can also allow the audience to gather information about what the narrative is based on what they can see during the credits making them want to know more about the film as what they see in the credits will be left quite ambiguous. The different fonts and colours used in the opening credits will also help to give the audience an idea of what the narrative will be like white font on a black background could suggest a struggle between good and evil.
In the opening credits of 'Se7en', there is a drab theme to the colours used. In the opening credits the audience see white writing against a dimly lit background of drab colours like browns and tans. This tells the audience that the film will feature a struggle between good and evil as the conflicting light and dark colours suggest, with the small white areas suggesting that the good side is not as strong as the evil side. This makes the audience want to continue watching as what is going on is very ominous and creates suspense as the audience are left questioning as to what is going.
In the opening credits of 'se7en', the style of the credits are used to introduce the killer to the audience. The font used in the opening credits is seen as jagged and hand-written with effects over the words to make them look as if they are shifting. This tells the audience that the killer is unstable because the writing is jagged and shifting, suggesting that he is unable to control himself and cannot perform tasks like a normal person, instead having to do everything in his own twisted way. The shifting credits suggest that he is unable to see things like regular people do and sees things in his own way, what may disgust a normal person he may enjoy. This creates suspense in the audience as they want to know more about the killer as he has been shown so ominously here with a series of disturbing activities, making him more interesting to the character as they want to see how he will effect the narrative.
In the opening credits of 'se7en', the killer's identity is hidden from the audience which is conventional to the genre. The audience only see what the killer is doing with no indications to who he is or what he looks like. This tells the audience that this is most likely the killer as they expect to have the killer's identity hidden from them. The killer is also seen doing odd things like using a razor blade to cut wax off his fingers and blacking out words in a passage, suggesting that the killer is attempting to cover his tracks in order to stop the authorities from catching up to him. This creates intrigue in the audience as they do not know what to expect from the killer as not much is revealed about him, yet the audience want to know more about him as he will be a large part of the narrative of the sequence.
In the opening credits of 'se7en', the order of appearance has been used to interest the audience. The audience see the credits go from the Production
company, director, actor, title of film, actors continued, casting, music,
costumes, editors, production, camera operator, co-producer, producer, writers,
director. The director and the main actors feature towards the beginning of the credits in order to interest the audience more as they want to know what involved these people had in the film, like a notable actor like Brad Pitt having a high position will indicate that he is important to the film,so fans of his will seek out this film in order to see as much of this actor as possible. This creates intrigue as the audience want to know what their favorite actor or director has done with the film in order to feel more connected to them and their work, and they also want to see how their work has turned out and what it is like.
This is what I designed in Final Cut Pro X for our opening credits. I decided to make sure the color was black and white in order to be conventional, as this connotes the inner struggle between the good and evil in the sequence, something the audience expect to see in the film as it allows for there to be a conflict that the main victim will have to solve before the killer can finish his killing spree. I also chose to make the font size to be smaller against the background as this would connote that the killer is stronger than the victim and will be able to overpower them, while being conventional due to the audience expecting to see the killer overpower the victim in order to create suspense in the audience due to the audience not knowing if the victim will be able to overpower the killer and stop him from continuing his killing spree. I also chose for the positioning of the text to be in the corner of the screen as this would represent how the victim is searching for the killer in order to attempt to stop him, not knowing that he is all around the victim and able to stay in control of the situation, with this being conventional as the audience expect to see the killer be able to learn information about the victim form watching them, leading them to threaten characters and be able to kill them easily due to him knowing where they are and what they're doing.
Group Member: Nojus
Strengths: I like the use of black and white to represent the struggle of good and evil in the film, something that the audience will pick up on and allow them to recognize that it is a thriller film as it is conventional for the audience to see a struggle between good and evil in the thriller film as the victim attempts to fight back against the killer. The spacing of the letters suggest the isolation that the victims will feel as they attempt to escape the killer, while also tying in really well with the title of 'The Stalking' and how the victim will be isolated on her own before the killer reaches her, conventional of the thriller genre as the audience expect to see the victim alone without any help before the killer kills them.
Weaknesses: The font of this idea looks very futuristic to me and could lead the audience to thinking that this could be a sci-fi film and not a thriller film as the audience would expect a more rough font that could resemble more of a scrawl to suggest to them that the killer is mentally unstable as he is unable to write properly, although this font comes across as neater and more like stars on a night sky, which leads me to think of a possible sci-fi setting.
Group Member: Olivia
Strengths: Like Nojus's idea, the color works well as it also has the connotation of the struggle between good and evil in the narrative, as shown by the white writing on a black background, which is conventional as the audience expect to see the victim and the killer attempt to outwit one another, although the victim is usually able to overcome the killer in the end of the sequence.
Weaknesses: I think the font is not fitting for our thriller film as it seems to be very cartoonish to the audience, while also being very unconventional as the audience expect to see a scrawl or a more sharp font, whereas this font is very small and unassuming, so it will not draw the audience's attention. The positioning of the text is also off-center and in an odd position, with the writing being higher suggesting that the victim is more powerful than the killer, which is unconventional as the audience expect to see the killer be more powerful than the victim, so by reversing this it will confuse the audience.
Group Member: Harry
Strengths: Like Olivia and Nojus' idea, the use of black and white will serve to connote to the audience the struggle between good and evil in the film and how the victim will have a hard time overcoming the power of the killer that looms over her which is conventional as the audience expect to see that the killer is more powerful than the victim.
Weaknesses: I think the positioning of the text in my piece is poorly done, as it is too low down for the audience to see and will look too far off the center, meaning they will have to keep darting their eyes around the screen or we will have to keep the credits in the same place for the whole sequence which will be boring for the audience to watch, rather than having them appearing a little off in a direction with each new credit that appears, with this not serving any purpose as to what I want the audience to know as it's distance from the middle might connote that she has already escaped before the film begins, which is unconventional for the genre. The font is also quite small so the audience will have to strain their eyes to see it and may seem to lose focus on what is going on on-screen, which is what we do not want, while the small size could connote that the victim is extremely weak and will have no chance resisting the killer, which is unconventional for the genre.
We have decided to work on Nojus' idea as it is conventional to the genre as it connotes through letter spacing that the victim will be isolated before the killer strikes which is conventional of the the thriller genre, while it also connotes that the struggle between good, the victim, and evil, the killer, and how they will have to overcome each other in order to stay alive, although the smaller amounts of white suggest that the killer is stronger than the victim, something the audience expects to see in the killer genre. Our credits will, from what we have seen be used in other thriller films, contain all the people that have worked on the film which will be mine, Nojus' and Olivia's name appearing in the positions that are traditionally used with a production company that would make a thriller film, with the positions we will film appearing in sequence as production company, director, actors, title of film, actors continued, casting, music, costumes, editors, production, camera operator, co-producer, producer, writers and finally directors. I think our credits should appear on a black background to begin with then fade into when the victim, Olivia, is walking to school while the audience watches from the killers point of view, but the killer will not appear in the frame.
In the opening credits of 'Se7en', there is a drab theme to the colours used. In the opening credits the audience see white writing against a dimly lit background of drab colours like browns and tans. This tells the audience that the film will feature a struggle between good and evil as the conflicting light and dark colours suggest, with the small white areas suggesting that the good side is not as strong as the evil side. This makes the audience want to continue watching as what is going on is very ominous and creates suspense as the audience are left questioning as to what is going.
In the opening credits of 'se7en', the style of the credits are used to introduce the killer to the audience. The font used in the opening credits is seen as jagged and hand-written with effects over the words to make them look as if they are shifting. This tells the audience that the killer is unstable because the writing is jagged and shifting, suggesting that he is unable to control himself and cannot perform tasks like a normal person, instead having to do everything in his own twisted way. The shifting credits suggest that he is unable to see things like regular people do and sees things in his own way, what may disgust a normal person he may enjoy. This creates suspense in the audience as they want to know more about the killer as he has been shown so ominously here with a series of disturbing activities, making him more interesting to the character as they want to see how he will effect the narrative.
In the opening credits of 'se7en', the killer's identity is hidden from the audience which is conventional to the genre. The audience only see what the killer is doing with no indications to who he is or what he looks like. This tells the audience that this is most likely the killer as they expect to have the killer's identity hidden from them. The killer is also seen doing odd things like using a razor blade to cut wax off his fingers and blacking out words in a passage, suggesting that the killer is attempting to cover his tracks in order to stop the authorities from catching up to him. This creates intrigue in the audience as they do not know what to expect from the killer as not much is revealed about him, yet the audience want to know more about him as he will be a large part of the narrative of the sequence.
In the opening credits of 'se7en', the order of appearance has been used to interest the audience. The audience see the credits go from the Production
company, director, actor, title of film, actors continued, casting, music,
costumes, editors, production, camera operator, co-producer, producer, writers,
director. The director and the main actors feature towards the beginning of the credits in order to interest the audience more as they want to know what involved these people had in the film, like a notable actor like Brad Pitt having a high position will indicate that he is important to the film,so fans of his will seek out this film in order to see as much of this actor as possible. This creates intrigue as the audience want to know what their favorite actor or director has done with the film in order to feel more connected to them and their work, and they also want to see how their work has turned out and what it is like.This is what I designed in Final Cut Pro X for our opening credits. I decided to make sure the color was black and white in order to be conventional, as this connotes the inner struggle between the good and evil in the sequence, something the audience expect to see in the film as it allows for there to be a conflict that the main victim will have to solve before the killer can finish his killing spree. I also chose to make the font size to be smaller against the background as this would connote that the killer is stronger than the victim and will be able to overpower them, while being conventional due to the audience expecting to see the killer overpower the victim in order to create suspense in the audience due to the audience not knowing if the victim will be able to overpower the killer and stop him from continuing his killing spree. I also chose for the positioning of the text to be in the corner of the screen as this would represent how the victim is searching for the killer in order to attempt to stop him, not knowing that he is all around the victim and able to stay in control of the situation, with this being conventional as the audience expect to see the killer be able to learn information about the victim form watching them, leading them to threaten characters and be able to kill them easily due to him knowing where they are and what they're doing.
Group Member: Nojus
Strengths: I like the use of black and white to represent the struggle of good and evil in the film, something that the audience will pick up on and allow them to recognize that it is a thriller film as it is conventional for the audience to see a struggle between good and evil in the thriller film as the victim attempts to fight back against the killer. The spacing of the letters suggest the isolation that the victims will feel as they attempt to escape the killer, while also tying in really well with the title of 'The Stalking' and how the victim will be isolated on her own before the killer reaches her, conventional of the thriller genre as the audience expect to see the victim alone without any help before the killer kills them.Weaknesses: The font of this idea looks very futuristic to me and could lead the audience to thinking that this could be a sci-fi film and not a thriller film as the audience would expect a more rough font that could resemble more of a scrawl to suggest to them that the killer is mentally unstable as he is unable to write properly, although this font comes across as neater and more like stars on a night sky, which leads me to think of a possible sci-fi setting.
Group Member: Olivia
Strengths: Like Nojus's idea, the color works well as it also has the connotation of the struggle between good and evil in the narrative, as shown by the white writing on a black background, which is conventional as the audience expect to see the victim and the killer attempt to outwit one another, although the victim is usually able to overcome the killer in the end of the sequence.Weaknesses: I think the font is not fitting for our thriller film as it seems to be very cartoonish to the audience, while also being very unconventional as the audience expect to see a scrawl or a more sharp font, whereas this font is very small and unassuming, so it will not draw the audience's attention. The positioning of the text is also off-center and in an odd position, with the writing being higher suggesting that the victim is more powerful than the killer, which is unconventional as the audience expect to see the killer be more powerful than the victim, so by reversing this it will confuse the audience.
Group Member: Harry
Strengths: Like Olivia and Nojus' idea, the use of black and white will serve to connote to the audience the struggle between good and evil in the film and how the victim will have a hard time overcoming the power of the killer that looms over her which is conventional as the audience expect to see that the killer is more powerful than the victim.Weaknesses: I think the positioning of the text in my piece is poorly done, as it is too low down for the audience to see and will look too far off the center, meaning they will have to keep darting their eyes around the screen or we will have to keep the credits in the same place for the whole sequence which will be boring for the audience to watch, rather than having them appearing a little off in a direction with each new credit that appears, with this not serving any purpose as to what I want the audience to know as it's distance from the middle might connote that she has already escaped before the film begins, which is unconventional for the genre. The font is also quite small so the audience will have to strain their eyes to see it and may seem to lose focus on what is going on on-screen, which is what we do not want, while the small size could connote that the victim is extremely weak and will have no chance resisting the killer, which is unconventional for the genre.
We have decided to work on Nojus' idea as it is conventional to the genre as it connotes through letter spacing that the victim will be isolated before the killer strikes which is conventional of the the thriller genre, while it also connotes that the struggle between good, the victim, and evil, the killer, and how they will have to overcome each other in order to stay alive, although the smaller amounts of white suggest that the killer is stronger than the victim, something the audience expects to see in the killer genre. Our credits will, from what we have seen be used in other thriller films, contain all the people that have worked on the film which will be mine, Nojus' and Olivia's name appearing in the positions that are traditionally used with a production company that would make a thriller film, with the positions we will film appearing in sequence as production company, director, actors, title of film, actors continued, casting, music, costumes, editors, production, camera operator, co-producer, producer, writers and finally directors. I think our credits should appear on a black background to begin with then fade into when the victim, Olivia, is walking to school while the audience watches from the killers point of view, but the killer will not appear in the frame.
This post demonstrates a good understanding of why credits are essential. Your analysis of Se7en demonstrates a good understanding of the style, colours and conventions and this is because you have explored your points and have considered the meanings behind it. The screenshots that you have also included, helps to support the points that you have made.
ReplyDeleteThis post also demonstrates good group planning, through the individual designs that you have included in this post. You have analysed the strengths and weakness for each idea, before explaining, which design the group have decided to follow.
Aim-
1) Include points to explain what your credits will say- what role will you group take on board?