Opening titles and credits

In films opening credits and titles are very common and can come either integrated or standard.

Some examples of integrated titles are:

Harry Potter:

In the opening we see the title come from behind one of the clouds

 

Zombieland:

The title is in 3rd and when the crow bar goes through the water sprinkler it breaks both the water and title apart



The girl with the dragon tattoo:

The title is submerged in dark liquid we assume is oil

 

Examples of none integrated titles are:

Pulp Fiction:

A simple opening and the title fades into the background with the rest of the credits appearing as a normal credits.



Jackie Brown:

Similar to Pupl Fiction the opening sees the character move along the shot and the title simply pops onto the screen.



Integrated titles are more complicated and usually can appear behind or in-font of another visual on the screen such as a building or a car. There is no official order in which titles will always show up in a film, recently some motion pictures babe actually not used opening credits and only display the movies title at the closing credits. Films such as the Star Wars franchise don't show opening credits they only show the films title.
The common opening credit order however is still:

• Name of the studio
• Name of the production company
• Possessory credits
• Starring 
• Film's title 
• Featuring 
• Casting
• Music
• Production design 

Other possible credits could involve:

• Set design 
• Costumes
• Hairdresser
• Make up
• Sound recording 
• Visual effects director 

Also:

• Edited by
• Director of photography 
• Producer 
• Based on (true story, book)
• Writers 
• Director 

YOUTH script

Youth

By

Max Cochrane

Shooting script

EXT. LONDON. HAMMERSMITH BRIDGE. DAY

We see the Hammersmith Bridge with dark clouds in the sky, the title of the film slowly appears and then fades.

EXT. LONDON. HAMMERSMITH. DAY

We see several parts of Hammersmith the station, and the street, random pedestrians that walk by on their day.

INT. LONDON. WILL'S HOUSE. HAMMERSMITH. DAY 

Will wakes up slowly, gets dressed places his cap on and then opens his curtains, we see him take a deep sigh then enter his mothers room but before doing so he also grabs his golf bat and golf ball. We can see his mother asleep or passed out in her messy room with an empty bottle of vodka in her hand. Will carefully reaches onto her bedside table and steals a note from it perhaps to also prevent her using it to buy more drink, once he has taken the money he proceeds to exit the house.

EXT. LONDON. HAMMERSMITH. DAY

We see a few more shots of Hammersmith and then will quickly walking down his road after leaving his home before starting to walk looking mostly on the floor, he doesn't pay much attention to anybody. After a while we see how he is skilled with a golf bat and ball as he begins to do tricks with it and see shots of him playing golf in alley ways hitting them into cups and trying to do tricks with the golf balls, at one point he hits it much harder and manages to knock down one of the pieces of rubble he used as a target as he looks on with pride. We witness him wander around with his golf bat for a while longer before he returns home.

INT. LONDON. WILLS ROOM. DAY

We see Will watching videos of famous golfers and watching them play, as he watches we see him smile showing the audience he wishes to be one on day, as he watches he slowly looks up outside his window, as the scene is coming to an end we hear Wills mother call out his name in anger and him turn around startled and worried as the screen fades to black and the title "YOUTH" appears.

END

opening sequence first draft

audience feedback for first draft

Some of the things which I have been advised on it that:

• The scenery shots were good however there are too many and I need to take some out.
• It was odd that the boy is shown getting out of bed already in his clothes.
• Some of the shots taken in the bed room were blurry and out of focus. These are the shots in which I am going to reshoot.
• Wake up scene is overused so should taken out and replaced with him just getting ready and heading out.
• I am also going to take some new shots of him watching and his mum shouting at him as I want the opening to have more conflict and excitement so to further hook the audience to watch more of it.

opening sequence conventions

1. List of generic conventions of opening sequences

2. Conventions of your specific genre

3. Conventions you will choose to stick to

4. Conventions you will deliberately subvert (change slightly/turn on their head)

1.

·      The purpose of a film opening is to entice the audience to continue watching the film, it should usually establish the characters and the genre and this can be done in many ways.

·      Establishing shot, it is often used in an opening sequence to show the audience where the film is set, what location.

·      Sometimes there can be a narration which will inform the audience on minor details that will give them an understanding of perhaps backstory, what is going on, who the characters are etc.

·      Often in action movies there will be an opening with an action scene, which will be fast paced to get the audience interested straight away.

·      Another thing that would usually be used in action movies would be a chase scene this also attracts audiences to watch as they become interested.

·      Productions logos shown before the actual film, if the film is high budget the logo will be adapted to reflect the genre and story line of the film.

·      Title sequences can be used, sometimes showing the cast and production teams, the titles can also be used to build up tension and suspense and possibly show the genre of the film.

·      Animation can be used to portray the beginning of the film in a creative way and visibly show the difference between the film itself and the opening sequence.

·      A compilation of photographs can be used for example in romantic films, it shows the audience the theme and relationships within the film.

·      Narrative content, this includes the context as well as the pace of the narrative increases as level of engagement increases.

·      Soundtrack, the tone, volume and tempo, which will generically start, quiet and slow-paced.

2. I am choosing drama for my opening sequence so the conventions for that are:

·       Exhibits real life situations with realistic characters, settings and stories.

·      Portrays journeys of the character development.

·      Intense social interaction.

·      Purpose of a dramatic story line is to move the audience emotionally.

·      Heart of drama is the conflict.

·      Conflicts include inner/outer realistic struggles depicting hardships, difficulty, and pain.

·      Audience can relate to the characters (preferred reading - Halls Theory)

·      Structure with climaxes and anti climaxes to keep the audience emotionally attached and the tension on-going

·      A form of realisation at the end/happily ending.

3. The conventions I will try to stick with are:

·      Exhibits real life situations with realistic characters, settings and stories.

·      Portrays journeys of the character development.

·      Purpose of a dramatic story line is to move the audience dramatically.

·      Conflicts include inner/outer realistic struggles depicting hardships, difficulty, and pain.

4. Conventions I will change will be:

·      Heart of drama is conflict

·      Audience can relate to characters

·      Intense social interaction

Representations of characters

Will (Ethan Norman): Will is meant to be shown as a lower class boy with a passion for golf as his dream is to one day be a professional golfer. His clothes are dirty and he shown to be very fond of golf as he takes his club and ball with him and plays where he can, on the street and down alley ways. He is also shown at the start stealing money from his passed out mother in order to buy himself food and possibly prevent her from using it to buy drink.

Will's Mum(Millie Cochrane): Only seen in the opening for a few shots, he is shown passed out holding a bottle of vodka representing her as a drunk and therefore bad parent figure. She is also shown to be careless simply leaving money on her bedside table 

Foley Sound

Foley sound is the reproduction of everyday sound effects that are added into a film/video/other media forms in order to enhance the audio quality. It can be any sound from the swishing of clothing and footsteps to closing a door and then breaking glass.

For my video I am going to be replicating the sounds of:

• A door opening
• A golf club hitting the ball 
• People muttering
• Footsteps 
• A golf ball smashing into something 

In order to create these sounds I am going to

Equipment I am going to need for this will be to make the noises will be:

• Golf club
• Golf ball
• A door
• Several people

Equipment I am going to need in order to capture and record these noises will be:

• Cinemizer E614 Mics
• Firewire audio interface with 8 mic pre-amps
• Headphones
• MV44 soundproof headphones

The photos above is me using equipment to recreate the foley sound of a golf club hitting a golf ball