Title Sequence Analysis

Title sequences codes, conventions and purpose

Prologue I will be discussing include Lord Of War, Seven, Vertigo and Catch me if you can

Lord of War - Yuri Orlov


During the Lord of War title sequence we are put into the perspective of the bullet. The typography within the title sequence appears on the video as a san serif font, the typography is not the main view point as we are not drawn to it as much as we are in title sequences such as 'Catch me if you can', we are more attracted to the video itself rather than the text, this allows the sequence to heavily rely on the title sequence its self. Throughout the sequence it represents the view of the birth and the life of the bullet as the first establishing shot is of the ammunition factory and the bullet going through each stage of its construction. The audience follows the bullet on its journey as it gets sent of to war. At the end of the title sequence the bullet is loaded into a gun and shot at a young boy on the opponents team during the civil war being taken place, this allows the audience to become notified with the war and gore that will be involved within the film whilst allowing the audience to be notified with the trouble that is about to unfold within the film. The non-diegetic sound is used throughout the title sequence, the contrapuntal music allows a sense of confusion and disorientate to the audience.

In conclusion I believe the title sequence is used to give the audience an elaborate insight to the films war base narrative.The contrapuntal sound is used within the sequence to allow the audience to question the film and what it will involve. The ending of the sequence helps identify the gritty aspects of war that the movie itself will hold.

Se7en - Kyle Cooper

Se7ens title sequence is very different from Lord of war, this is due to the audience not being established with the settings surrounding the series of close up images, this gives a very uncanny tension towards the audience due to their being a sense of mystery because the man handling the props is unidentified. Throughout the title sequence it is heavily edited with filters being used throughout. In one clip within the title sequence a black and white effect is used however the red ink within the sequence is shown, the red within the sequence is being linked to the danger about to happen within the film. The editing of the black fade also allows the audience to pick up a sinuosity feel from the sequence. During the sequence a needle and thread is used to put pieces of paper together, the use of the needle and thread is very displeasing when being watched and will cause the audience to feel very uncomfortable when watching, this is used to help fit in with the thriller of the film. The low key lighting and edgy, industrial music also allows the title sequence to fulfil its disturbing, unsatisfying settings. Throughout the sequence hand written scratched white text shown on a black screen every so often appears, this helps follow the idea of someone creating an investigation. 

In conclusion I think the title sequence is used to help get the audience questioning the film, the sense of mystery is common throughout the sequence which allows the audience to become more intrigued with what the film will bring, all aspects of the film are brought together through the use of gritty sound and editing to help fulfil the meaning of the movie.

Catch me if you can -

















Catch me if you can was a title sequence created by Kyle Cooper, Kyle cooper was a well known title sequence artist who made sequences for films such as Home alone, the Incredible Hulk and TV series such as American Horror Story. The style of the film is set within the 60 - 70s, within the sequence this is shown from the strong vibrant colours and thick black lines. The style of Catch me if you can Cooper took the inspiration of bold colour and lots of simple lines from Saul Bass. The lines used within the sequence allow a flow for the title sequence, just like the flow within the film whilst also suggesting how the film all flows together. Within the sequence Kyle Cooper is able to tell the story through his simple shapes and the flow of the lines, for example the use of the Type Writer style font gives us an indication of something which is involved within the film. The use of Serif font represents the old fashioned, traditional, formal aspects of the film where as the use of the San Serif font within the sequence allows the audience to be introduced to the light hearted side to the film, these are all represented through both the font and music.

Vertigo -

 

Vertigo shows the 'old style' of title sequences.The sequence was created by Saul bass which became one of his first of three sequences he created for Alfred Hitchcock, the graphic movement works as a prologue to the film, within this it allows the sequence to set the tone whilst providing a mood and foreshadowing the action which will outbreak within the film. It is clearly shown within the sequence that Saul Bass had created the sequence due to the use of the bold colours. The image of the eyes combined with the music creates tension within the sequence, whenever the eyes look directly at the audience the music rises, heightening the tension. Compared to the newer sequences that have been analysed they are much more detailed however when the Vertigo title sequence was brought out it had a huge impact on its audiences, this is due to people being used to just writing on a screen with no detail or images. For its time Vertigo had a huge effect on its audiences, it had finally allowed audiences to want to watch the opening titles.