Post 1: Conventions of Opening Sequence

Our task is to make the opening titles for a film, this means that its important that I research the conventions of opening titles in order to see what i should use and what i shouldn't.

One film that i researched was the film, 25th Hour, Directed by Spike Lee. The film is a crime drama about a man who is going to prison in 24 hours and in that time needs to reevaluate his life.

• The opening titles show different vistas of New York City with minimal movement in each shot, all with out a single pony in sight. this is to show the theme of prison and being on your own that the movie is about.
• Through the opening titles its uses very dark and cool colours, this is to apmlify the negative tone and mood of the film.
• The titles have a non-diegetic soundtrack of an orchestral choir score, which is used to reflect on the tone of the film.

The other film i researched was the film Super, directed by James Gunn. The film is a black comedy about a man who turns himself into a masked vigilante after a devine intervention, in order to get his wife back from a drug dealer.

• The titles are presented with very fast and jumpy hoof drawn animation quality in order to set a mood for the film, it also shows the comic book inspiration that the plot has and is based on.
• The colours that are used are all very bright and eyecatching, reflecting on the lighthearted mood of the film.
• In these titles it introduces all of the characters, showing that there isn't an element of mystery around the film.
• Through the titles it shows the dark comedy tone of the film with people being killed in funny and lighthearted ways.
• The non-diegetic soundtrack consists of a fast and vibrant pop rock sont which is used to further set the tone of the film.

From these two scenes in particular and a few others from http://www.artofthetitle.com/ i can see that the main conventions of a opening sequence are that - 

• They introduce the characters and the actors playing them, unless its a film that contains mystery.
• They introduce the setting.
• They set the tone of the film through visual codes such as colour and light and audio code soundtrack.
• They reflect the theme of the film.
• They show the names of the main people who were involved with the creation of the film, for example the director and producer.