Monsters Inc title sequence

The Monsters Inc title sequence by Susan Bradley is heavily inspired by Saul Bass as it completley relies on graphics to create a introduction proologue to the film. The linear design creates a certain style and feel to the title sequence that conveys the narrative and is shared within most graphic title sequences such as the anatomy of murder and westside story. As this is a later title sequence than Sauls work the design is more intricut and tells the narrative more obviously and artistcally due to the improved technology that later designers have access to.The chosen serif font connotes the theme of monsters as it looks irregular and slightly freakish however the way the designer has used the text as almost a prop in the narrative makes it fun and child friendly and therefore reflects the target audience of the film which is families and specifically children. 

Vertigo

The veritgo title sequence by saul bass shows imagery of a womans eye. The whole duration leaves the audience feeling quite disorientated which reflects the title and the genre of the film. This is one of Saul Bass's title sequences that rely heavily on graphics and imagery rather than any dialogue or actual shooted action footage The choice of music compliments the thriller genre perfectly as it creates suspense and makes the audience feel slightly uneasy as if something bad is about to happen. This immeditaley sets the tone of the film before the audience even begin to follow the narrative and is therefore reflective of how title sequences are a crucial part of a film.

Saul Bass

Saul Bass is a well respected Title sequence designer, probably the most famous and this is due to him changing the whole concept of them and combining them with graphic design.However he started off as a graphic designer and designed lots of corporate logos and film posters before and along side title sequences.He has worked with a number of Hollywoods best film makers in his career including Alfred Hitchcock and Martin Scorese. He became famous in the industry after his amazing title sequence for 'The man with the golden arm'. He went on to make many more impressive and aesthetically interesting title sequences such as 'The anatomy of murder','Vertigo' and west side story. Saul Bass is such an influential designer as he completely changed the dynamics of a title sequence making it much more visual and making the titles become part of the art.

Catch me if you can title sequence

The catch me if you can title sequence is a very graphic monologue created by Kyle Cooper but inspired by Saul Bass's earlier work such as vertigo. Kyle Cooper is a very successful title sequence designer and has made title sequences for films as prestigious as Home Alone, The Incredible Hulk and Se7en. The narrative of Catch me if you can is set in the 1960s which is reflected within the graphics of the title sequence with the prominant colours and black lines which act out the storyline. The monologue goes through all the main events of the film through just colour and black figures and lines. This is sigificant as it shows how title sequences have come from only displaying the main cast members names to showing a full narrative and in this case representing the events that are to follow within the film. The lines that make up the text in the title sequence create a certain flow to the title sequence and results in the text giving a bigger impact than it would in a filmed title sequence. Kyle Cooper has been very clever and particular with the features he has included in this title sequence to support the narrative, even in his font choices. The typewriter style font is reflective of the main character in the film as he uses a type writer. 

So what is a title sequence?

A title sequence is the introduction to a film which often states the main cast members and production company,as well as the director and any important members of the production. It is the films opportunity to make a good first impression on the audience so that they are gripped from the very beginning.Over the past couple of decades film makers have tried to make there title sequences as aesthetically interesting and unconventional as possible. 

Conventionally a title sequence will include cast and crew members names,the title of the film

The history of title sequences

During the early days of cinema, title sequences were often purely informational and had very minimal aesthetics,if any at all. That started to change with the introduction of film with sound,when visually interesting montages and prologues were derived. By the 1960s, they became an art form, especially with the establishment of the iconic graphic designer Saul Bass. Above is an example of a simple title sequence from the 1940's.

AS specification

I have looked through the OCR media studies specification for AS and looked at the way my work will be marked to ensure that i know what is expecteed of me and how i can follow the specification to achieve the best possible grade. 

Video: 
Preliminary exercise: Continuity task involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. This task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule.
Main task: the titles and opening of a new fiction film, to last a maximum of two minutes.

Continuity sequence

When we were given the task of making a continuity sequence initially i thought it would be quite simple as, as a group we had lots of ideas of the narrative and how we could incorporate the key elements that we needed to include which were:

• Match-on action
• 180 Degrees shot
• Shot reverse shot to demonstrate a conversation

However when we begun filming our continuity sequence we came across a few hiccups in the process. We initially started filming in a classroom but was interrupted as there was a lesson in there so we had to relocate to a different classroom. We chose to follow the narrative conversation between a teacher and a challenging student, however due to not taking enough shots we did not fufill the 2 minute criteria and the continuity sequence required. Also due to not having enough time the editing was not up to the standard that i would have liked and at some points in the video there is evidence of the camera being unfocused and shakiness. Overall i thought the narrative and acting within the continuity sequence was the most successful part however if i was to have more time i would re shoot the shots that were shakey and spend more time editing to improve the quality of cuts.