Title Sequence Clips

       Pulp Fiction, Scream, Saturday Night Fever, Jaws and Dazed and Confused openers all fascinated me; I never expected the start of a film to have so much meaning behind it. All of a sudden I now want go to the cinemas and analyze the opening scenes. My interest have now been peeked to cram knowledge about filmmaking inside of my head. In the article by Miles Merrill, First frames: titles in the digital realm, Fall 2004 (Issue 142), it stated younger titles “can join an elite handful of freelance designer such as Battaglia.” I referenced this certain piece of the text due to the compelling fact that people my age are able to succeed in the media field.

        In the movie Pulp Fiction it emphasized the fact that people may appear normal on the outside, but on the inside they can be deeply abnormal. The opening was located in a small coffee shop, a man and a women were sat in a booth until events took an ironic turn. The tone shifted in the opening, it started serene because the couple in the booth were simply sipping on coffee, but they were consulting about robbery. They used this intriguing dialogue as a technique to reel in an audience to continue watching. The tone later became quite sinister when the couple decided to rob the coffee shop out of the blue. They used the robbery as a technique to excite the audience as well as to foreshadow the potential continuous robbery’s to come in the film as well as the characterization of the two being quite deranged. Finally they utilized upbeat music as a technique to mesmerize the audience, so they are on the edges of their seats waiting for the next action packed or deranged scene to occur.

         In the movie Saturday Night Fever it was exactly what I anticipated. The opening created an enthusiastic tone for the audience. The upbeat music, the characters shiny shoes and the bright read credits, all foreshadowed the possible hectic Saturdays to come. They also utilized the location New York and emphasized the loud sounds of it to foreshadow a fast paced and lively film. The main character walking the streets of New York bouncing as he walked and emphasized this by using a close up shot of his feet to display the style of his walk; Thus meaning they wanted to use this as a technique-to emphasize the excitement there is to come, also so the audience could make the assumption he will get into dancing from how he carries himself. The dialogue used in the opening was also a technique to display his personality and confidence. The opening of the movie displayed character development, which was self-absorbed because he was supposed to rush and deliver paint, but decided to grab a pizza,  put a shirt on hold as well as flirt with women. 

  In the movie Scream it was what I anticipated once again. They used a sound effect that sounded like a knife and blood reaching screams as a technique to foreshadow terrifying events to occur. The tone was menacing throughout, constant terrifying phone calls from the same man and the heart churning background music. It foreshadowed murder, due to discussing about horror movies over the phone, the title of the film and her screams of fear and what sounds like a serial killer on the phone with her. The possible serial killer on the phone with her brought up knives when discussing movies with her and she picked up one for a second; this could of been used as a technique to symbolize how he will murder her. They used a phone call for the dialogue between the two, so the audience would be drawn in from not knowing who the eerie man over the phone was and what he will do to her or how or when he will murder her.

    In the movie Jaws you were able to foreshadow the events that would occur considering the credits were in the water and the foreboding music. A girl in the opening had a carefree attitude in the opening; this was a technique utilized to foreshadow what will result, due to her reckless behavior. The girl was laughing and having a good time with a boy at first. Then a boy was quickly intrigued by her, so he decided to follow her to the beach he stuck back on the sand, while she went swimming at night in the ocean, but it quickly took an awful turn when a shark made an appearance. She was attacked by the shark and no one could help her; This resulted in the tone to shift from carefree to deeply disturbed, thus foreshadowing who else this shark might attack next. They utilized foreboding music when displaying the title as a technique to leave the audience frightened and intrigued for what is about to occur. 

 In the movie Dazed and Confused  it basically described high school in a nutshell during the 70s. The opening consisted of drugs, rebellious teens, nice cars and a rock and roll song. They used a close up of a girl licking an illegal drug, so she would be committing an illegal action, which is a technique to symbolize chaos. No dialogue was used throughout the opening, so it created a strictly visual effect for the audience to analyze the troubles a number of teens in high school will get into. An audience would be interested to watch this movie due to the endless possibilities these teen will or could do throughout the film. It foreshadows plenty of disturbance these teens no doubt will cause. The tone is foreboding because when it comes defiant teen who knows what might occur, but also upbeat due to the rock and roll music played throughout 

     I would certainty choose film to be my portfolio project due to the endless possibilities I could create. In the article by Miles Merrill, First frames: titles in the digital realm, Fall 2004 (Issue 142), it stated "artists are experimenting with text and visuals with infinite variety, through methods such as scanning hand-drawn materials, Photoshop manipulation, 3D and 2D animation programs." This reference from the articles proves the unlimited capabilities you have when it comes to filmmaking. Personally would feel like their would be endless possibilities when creating a film.