Title Sequence

Title Sequence

One of the main issues with our coursework was the lack of a recognisable title sequence. Films can be successful without a detailed title sequence, perhaps just displaying the film’s name, however in our case a title sequence is essential to extend our work to a professional level. We planned to research different title sequence to figure out for ourselves what worked effectively and what didn’t work so well. We had been told to specifically research the work of Kyle Cooper, described by Details magazine as “almost single-handedly revitalizing the main title sequence as an art form”.

Kyle Cooper is famously known for creating the opening sequence to ‘Se7en’ (David Fincher 1995) displayed here:

The sequence doesn’t actually contain film footage, just short clips of footage which is relative to the film but its purpose in unclear so early on in the film. Despite the purpose or story being unclear, the footage fits in perfectly well with the mise en scene. It’s dark, hidden, unclear, questionable, just like the events which follow throughout the film.

The music builds tension and uncertainty; it has no lyrics which is what we should have considered when editing our opening sequence. The music gets faster and more instruments appear which is how suspense is built. There are also non-diagetic noises placed within the sequence, screeches and unnatural sounds. Even the sounds add to the mise en scene and verisimilitude.

The ‘hand-written’ credits parallel the footage of the suspicious notebook; they would both look good without one another but together they become successful, as it appears that perhaps an antagonist has devised the notebook, so keeping within the theme of a ‘hit-list’ is a great choice.

Cooper also created the title sequence to ‘Spiderman 2’

Cooper maintains the original Spiderman comic within the opening sequence, he scanned and edited many old comics and compressed them into a five second montage clearly displaying the ‘Marvel’ logo within. The credits to the actors are also written within a comic strip theme. The music emphasises the drama, again adding to the mise en scene of the fast paced, action packed film. Cooper spend over a year creating this masterpiece to ensure top quality attention to detail.

Audience Feedback

Chase – AS Media Opening Sequence (First Attempt)

Feedback

We showed the video to Mr Zaidi and a few of our classmates. There was a lot of mixed feedback. Jack, Megan and myself thought the video was okay but we knew it needed improvements. Generally the positive comments about the video were:-

• the beginning shot of the alarm clock changing time was a good effect
• the shot inside the fridge was well composed
• the shot when Jack and Matt run over the camera and it ‘falls’ over makes the shot look authentic and builds a sense of panic
• the use of the heartbeat sound at the end makes the audience empathise with Jack and understand the nerves he is feeling

We were pleased with these comments however there was a lot of constructive criticism. This included:-

• the unrealistic storyline (Jack would have gone to check his son’s bedroom and phoned the police before running out of the house)
• the poor camera quality due to the lighting
• using music the whole time made it seem too much like a music video (thriller films don’t usually contain well known popular songs with recognisable lyrics, they tend to use eerie music without lyrics such as a minor keyboard piece of music)
• Jack’s bedroom and clothing was unsuccessful within mise en scene (we tried to portray him as an adult but an adults bedroom is not usually electric blue with posters of Pixie Lott, also an older man with children would probably sleep in some kind of clothing, more than just boxers)

In addition to simply asking for feedback we constructed this questionnaire in order to find out what people thought of our video. We gave this questionnaire to 10 people selected at random from the school:

 

The results from the questionnaire were as follows:

Q1) We asked which genre people thought the film would be based on our opening sequence. Generally people thought it was a thriller which is good as that was the genre we were hoping to establish. However some people thought that the film would be an action film. This isn’t too much of an issue as many thriller films do contain lots of action and can represent both genres however we would like it to be easily recognised as a thriller.

Q2) We asked whether, based upon our opening sequence, people would want to watch the rest of the film. 40% of people said they would but 60% of people said they would not want to. This is obviously a drastic figure and is worrying that the majority of people do not want to watch the film. This is obviously something which needs addressing as clearly our opening sequence is not strong. When asking people why they had answered ‘no’, some responses were “it’s just not realistic”, and “I just didn’t find it very captivating.” With this, we will reconsider our storyline in order to make it more realistic and so it engages the audience so they want to continue watching.

Q3) We asked people to rate how successfully Jack was made out to be a victim. 4 people rated ‘6’, 3 people rated ‘7’, 2 people rated ‘8’ and 1 person rated ‘5’. This is a good start for us as we have established Jack as the victim however we would ideally like people to be certain that Jack is a victim. We could improve on this by using more speech and more close up shots. Also if we were to alter the storyline slightly Jack would come across as more of a victim anyway as the plot would be more realistic, therefore the audience would be able to connect more with Jack as a victim.

Q4) We asked people what the strengths of our video were. Some answers included

• “the match on action works well and everything flows”
• “the camera falling over after they run over it looks effective”
• “the camera shot from inside the fridge is really unique and quite interesting”
• “the heartbeat effect is good as it makes me know that Jack is scared”
• “the alarm clock changing time just LOOKS good”

We are pleased with these comments as we worked hard to ensure that everything flowed seamlessly and we put in the camera falling, the fridge shot and the heartbeat to add effect and make the video more pleasing to watch so it was good to know the reception of those was successful.

Q5) We asked people what the weaknesses of our video were. Some answers included

• “Jack didn’t check his sons bedroom.. the whole thing is just unrealistic”
• “the songs didn’t work well with the video. It looks more like a music video there’s just too much music and too much of the wrong song”
• “it’s too dark, the camera quality suffers”
• “Jack doesn’t look old enough to have a child”
• “it just wouldn’t happen in real life”
• “it’s hard to keep up with – I don’t understand it”

Unfortunately there were more bad comments than good – however we see this as a positive as it means we can choose specific areas to change in order to make our video more successful, and we now have feedback so we know what the audience is hoping for from our opening sequence.

 

We took this information on board and decided that the best option for us would be to film our opening sequence again with a few tweaks this time. We’re going to keep the same kind of storyline and the same kind of shots, but make a few changes. A basic plan for us is:-

• use my house instead of Jack’s, as I have a younger sister and Jack’s ‘daughter’ will go missing rather than his son and we can film in this room
• Jack will wear comfortable joggers and a plain top
• Jack will check in his daughter’s bedroom and call the police; the chase will be completely removed (this is the most drastic change to the storyline however we feel it is important in order to make the plot appear realistic)
• as Jack turns the alarm off, a song will appear to play on the radio but will turn quieter as he leaves the room and walks further away. This will seem like the song is playing on the radio however it is a non-diagetic sound. Also we will consider using traditional ‘thriller’ music
• film in the daytime, as if Jack is getting up to go to work (to ensure good lighting and therefore good camera quality)
• keep the initial alarm clock shot and internal fridge shot as we feel these were strong features in our first attempt
• include a successful title sequence

Hopefully by changing these things our music video will appear more realistic and more visually pleasing. This way more people will hopefully want to go on and watch the rest of the film and we will have established a setting, narrative, genre and characters successfully.

Editing and Post Production

I volunteered to edit the sequence together. I had never done anything remotely similar to this so I knew it would be a challenge. I decided to edit on my laptop so I could work on it at school and at home. I managed to obtain Apple’s Final Cut Pro, a globally used piece of software used for editing high quality sequences, TV programs and films. At first it was difficult to grasp the concept, as each individual clip needed to be rendered in both image and audio before editing was allowed and the video and audio were two separate channels which needed editing separately.

Once I’d got to grips with how the software worked I was able to edit the video smoothly. At the time of editing I was not at school as I was ill with glandular fever and was not permitted to attend. This made checking up the progress difficult for Megan, Jack and our teacher Mr Zaidi. I edited the whole thing together and managed to go in one day for assessment and feedback. As I had missed the lesson on inputting a title sequence, which must include all of our names, the film’s title and “In association with Film4”, I had not included a title sequence but instead had included the “Metro Goldwyn Mayer” significant roaring lion, just to suffice until I knew exactly what had to be included.

After editing only the clips together, we only had diagetic sounds such as the fridge opening and closing and Jack moving the chair. We chose to use The Coral’s “In The Morning” as the first non-diagetic sound as we wanted a song which was light hearted and created a sense where all seemed fine and that nothing was wrong. This would create a bigger contrast when the next non-diagetic song began as the audience are under the impression that everything is fine due to the upbeat music.

As Jack closes the fridge and first sees the note I included a sound clip titled “shutoff2”. This is an unnatural yet thrilling noise which grabs the viewers attention and parallels to things out of the ordinary occurring. Then Muse’s “Hysteria” begins. It has a long introduction which build up to a ‘drop’ just as Jack begins to chase Matt. We were unsure of whether to have two songs or just the one, but we thought that music was essential throughout to communicate information to the audience.

Another feature within our editing is just after Jack gets dragged under the van, there is a horizontal wipe over the screen which is meant to mirror Jack opening and closing his eyes as he comes back around. The idea behind this I think is good however the edit doesn’t work as well as I’d hoped, the software was complex and difficult to use but we left it in to obtain feedback on it nonetheless.

Filming

When it came to the filming process, Megan, Jack and I met in Bourne along with Matty, who was playing the role of the antagonist. We waited until it got dark outside to begin filming as we needed to maintain the sense of darkness and the unknown; our verisimilitude. We filmed each shot in chronological order, the order we intend to display the shots in the opening sequence. This will benefit us when it comes to the editing process as the files will be easy to manage and identify.

Whilst filming we encountered a number of problems. Firstly, the camera which we borrowed from school was not compatible with the tripod we were using; it didn’t clip on right. To resolve this issue we used two elastic bands to hold the camera in place. This made panning difficult but it was a sufficient solution at the least.

Our second issue was the effect the lighting had on the quality of the shots. We were filming in the dark and we did not give any thought to the fact that the low lighting would decrease the quality of the filming, we wrongly assumed that the camera would cope with the surroundings and that all would be okay. We could not completely resolve this issue but to improve the situation we carried around with us five torches and set them up before each shot we filmed, in order to create additional lighting. We can also try to brighten the images when it comes to post-production effects.

Our final problem involved the setting of the last section of the sequence. We had planned to film the last section where Jack is tied up and beaten in an old, run down manor house in Bourne. However on reaching the location we collectively agreed that the location was unsafe to enter and we could not let filming commence. This left us with an immediate problem; we had no location which would offer the same values as the manor house:- darkness, emptiness, uncertainty, gloom. As we headed back to Jack’s house to rethink the final section we passed a lit up alleyway, with weeds and a broken fence and rusted metal. Instantly we realised that this location was perfect for our verisimilitude. However the street light nearby kept shorting out and we had to wait for a few minutes every time it shut off for it to switch back on and allow us to continue filming. This was not a major problem as it only slowed the process down, it did not affect its quality.

Overall I think that despite encountering a few problems, we coped the best we could under the circumstances and the whole process ran smoothly. We are now moving onto the editing process and are excited to see the final product!

Risk Assessment

Our location for filming is Bourne. As we are filming at night time in the town there are a few safety considerations and risks we must consider in order to complete filming safely and successfully.

• Our first risk assessment is the chance of getting our equipment stolen, and even worse getting physically hurt in the meantime. As we are filming in Bourne, an extremely safe, quiet and well lit town, we have decided that the chances of this happening are relatively low. As a safety precation however, just to be on the safe side, we are going to always be within arms reach of the camera and other valuable props. By never leaving them unattended they are always under our close watch. Also, we will text and call reliable adults and friends everytime we move to a new filming location so that somebody is always aware of our whereabouts in case something was to happen to us.
• Our second risk assessment is that some of our filming locations may be busy with traffic and we run the risk of a road accident. The chance of a road accident is just as high even if there is little traffic, as it only takes one driver to be on their phone or not concentrating for an accident to occur. As a safety precaution we will film in areas where we have full view of the road in both directions, and we will film in a well lit area with as little traffic as possible. We will also stay out of the road at all times unless we need to use it for filming; if we do, beforehand we will ensure the road is safe.
• Our third risk assessment is the general safety of the area of filming. This includes less obvious dangers such as glass or sharp stones on the floor, hidden steps, extruding branches which may be hidden due to low lighting. As the level of this risk could be of a ‘medium’ category, before filming begins in such an area we will thoroughly check it to ensure that it is suitable for filming purposes in a safe manner.

A list of rules

• Keep phones switched on at all times
• Look both ways before crossing the road
• Don’t leave the equipment by itself, guard it at all times
• Don’t take any valuables with us as they may be stolen (apart from phones in case of an emergency)
• Don’t use phones unless it is an emergency – they may be spotted by someone who may intend to steal them
• Be alert and aware of our surroundings
• Make sure our areas of filming are safe before proceeding e.g. cracks in concrete which we may trip over

01778 700 100 is our main number of contact. This is Jack’s house where his parents will be throughout the duration of our filming, so we always have an adult close by and they are easily contactable. Also in case of an emergency of any kind, we can call 999 to notify the police, the ambulance services or the fire brigade. Megan, Jack and I will all have our phones on our person during filming for safety measures.

Storyboard

I have created a storyboard which shows the individual frames we wish to take, and also identifies the plot of the opening sequence.

Shot #01

A mid-shot of the alarm clock next to Jack’s bed surrounded by darkness, in silence. This will be a still frame of the minute changing. By having the minute change it highlights that the night is long and it is still only an early hour. The darkness and the silence will emphasise that the night can be lonely, and unpredictable, foreshadowing the later events of the sequence.

 

Shot #02

A mid-shot of Jack laying in bed unable to sleep. This shot will start in darkness and Jack will turn the light on. As he does so, ‘In The Morning’ by ‘The Coral’ will begin playing. He will lay in his bed and appear restless. This will show that he is unable to sleep and is annoyed due to this. The music beginning at this point will appear ironic, as the lyrics “shut the bedroom window in the morning , go to the shop, make plans to be leaving in the morning” are inappropriate at such an early time in the morning.

Shot #03

A mid-shot of Jack getting out of bed and stretching, followed by him putting his joggers on. Jack stretching plays along with the irony of the lyrics, as he appears to be getting up for the day, when really he is just getting up to pass the time. The early hour and the irony will make Jack begin to appear vulnerable already.

Shot #04

A long-shot of Jack heading downstairs. The lights are on upstairs, but off downstairs, so he appears to be heading into the darkness; into the unknown.

Shot #05

A close-up low-angle of Jack’s feet as he walks. We thought this shot was particularly successful when used in our preliminary task, so we’ve decided to draw it into our opening sequence. The shot of his feet will emphasise that the audience are unaware of what lies ahead for Jack and the low angle help play Jack as a vulnerable character.

Shot #06

A close-up of Jack opening the door of the fridge. This shot will be used mainly for our beneift as the creators of the sequence; it will give us the chance to prove that we can use match on action in the editing stages successfully. It also adds more visual creativity and keeps the sequence interesting to watch.

 

 Shot #07

A mid-shot of Jack from a point of view which lies internal to the fridge. This is the shot we initially discussed and decided we wanted to include at some point because it’s unique; it highlights individuality and makes the sequence more visually creative. It also lets the audience see what Jack is doing much more clearly than an external shot. It allows the audience to see the annoyance on his face and lets them see that he leaves the frige without taking anything, further emphasising his annoyance.

 Shot #08

An over-the-shoulder shot of the note on the door as Jack closes the fridge. This shot includes a zoom. The camera will zoom in on the note to really make the audeince aware of the message “I’ve got your son”. The zoom will emphasise the danger, and creates a more dramatic effect when Jack pulls the note from the fridge; the shot is left empty. It is during this frame in which we plan to include a stunned sound effect, a wind down of ‘In The Morning’ before ‘Hysteria’ kicks straight in. The drones of the introduction emphasise the danger of the message.

 Shot #09

A high-angle over-the-shoulder shot of Jack studying the note. The high angle will make Jack appear vulnerable to such a terrifying message, and allows the audience more time to intake what’s happening. During this frame Jack scrunches up the note and throws it down to let the audience know that he wont stand for it.

Shot #10

An extreme close-up of Jack’s eyes. This will show the audience very clearly the expression on his face; they’re able to see the panic in his eyes as he tries to piece information together. The music is building at this point creating tension.

Shot #11

An over-the-shoulder mid-shot of a hooded figure outside the window. The music continues to build and Jack and the audience see the disguised figure. The audience subconsciously assume that the hooded figure left the note which is what we intend them to assume as it is true.

Shot #12

A long-shot of Jack running out of the house. As Jack begins to run, the bass of the music drops, which creates a sense of sudden terrifying drama, and emphasises the speed of which Jack is running in order to catch the figure.

Shot #13

An over-the-shoulder shot from behind Jack as the chase begins. The music is tense which helps to build tension and suspense and the hooded figure can be seen fleeing from the area at high speed, proving his guilt.

Shot #14

A reverse over-the-shoulder shot of Jack during the chase. This shot will have the hooded figure in the foreground, which builds tension as the audience are tricked into believing that they are in danger as they are close to the figure. During this frame we need to be careful not to show the figure’s face as this will reveal his identity and the suspense will be broken.

Shot #15

A point of view long-shot of the chase. We plan to hide the camera in a hedge or something similar we can work with. This will create a sense of the audience ‘spying’ on the chase, as if they’re intruding on the action. The frame will show Jack and the figure running past the camera at high speed.

Shot #16

A long-shot of the hooded figure hiding round a corner preparing to hit Jack and Jack running towards the camera. This shot shows both parties and enhances dramatic irony, which is when the audience has more knowledge than a character. In this case the audeince knows that the hooded figure is hiding around a corner waiting to hit Jack when he turns the corner. As Jack is hit, we will add a sound effect in to really dramatise the effect of the hit, and the music will stop, leaving silence and a moment of darkness onscreen.

Shot #17

A long-shot of the hooded figure dragging Jack off-screen. Because he is being dragged off screen, it creates panic for the audience, as they do not know where he is being taken. The silence is terrifying and continues to add to the suspense.

#Shot 18

A close-up of Jack’s hands tied up with rope. This shot shows to the audience that Jack has been captured by the figure, and is being held captive for reasons unknown.

The opening sequence will then end. We have decided to finish it here because we believe it has successfully completed its purpose; it has established genre, setting, characters and the narrative, and leaves the audience asking themselves the following questions:

• who is the hooded figure?
• why does he have Jack’s son?
• where is Jack tied up?
• why is he tied up?
• why is the figure playing ‘games’ with Jack?
• what happens next?

The most important thing is that the audience are wanting to continue watching, and we believe after seeing this much of the film, they will want to find out more.

However, this storyboard is very basic, and our final sequence may be slightly different. We may decide to add more shots in or alter some slightly. Currently we have no dialogue but we are thinking of adding some in, perhaps one line from Jack such as “who are you?” as he is tied up.

Analysis of Props

Rope : using rope to tie up Jack’s hands or tie him to the chair (dependant on how much rope we can obtain for filming) will emphasise that he is trapped and has no method of escape when he is held captive by the hooded figure. It seems a relatively dated method of torture which adds to the authenticity of the situation whilst also maintaining the sense of danger and anticipation.

“I’ve got your son” note: the message will be written letter by letter with trimmings from newspapers. This masks the identity of the hooded figure further as his handwriting is not shown, he is hidden behind the typography. We are going to tea-stain the note and burn the edges so it looks crisp and dark. We’ll do this so that there is a further element of danger to the note as fire is involved in Jack’s son’s dissappearance and kidnapping.

 Note: using the note on the fridge which Jack will see, pick up and react to will signal to the viewer and Jack himself that;

• something extraordinary may have happened
• somebody has been in Jack’s house
• a situation is arising.

We are going to use magazine cuttings for the message to add to the sense of uncertainty; the message has no personality and is completely anonymous. This makes the situation even more suspicious.

Analysis of Sound

For an opening sequence to live up to its full potential it must include a soundtrack or a piece of music or non diagetic sound suited to the precise moment of the film. We discovered this by watching a few thriller opening sequences.

In the opening sequence to ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ the music in the background is played by an orchestra and the lead instrument is a violin playing in the minor key which makes is sound dangerous. Also the woman’s footsteps can be heard as she is walking, and crickets can be heard in the woods. All three elements build tension as the audience are warned of the foreshadowing danger.

In the opening sequence to ‘Se7en’ there is no non-diagetic sound whatsoever, all that the audience hears is the diagetic sound such as the man lifting his keys. This is effective in creating suspense as the audience are on edge due to the awkward silence; it builds up fear of the unknown.

After our research we decided that the best option for us is to play appropriate music. This will be effective because our opening sequence doesn’t contain much dialogue so the silence can be filled with music which will set the mood. To make the sequence effective we thought that we should use a minimum of two different songs. The first song we want to use is a ‘happy’ song, a song which is played in major and is upbeat to create a false sense of security as Jack is getting out of bed. We considered a number of songs which we could use for this such as:-

• A-Punk – Vampire weekend
• Heavy Heaven – Egyptian Hip Hop
• No You Didn’t, No You Don’t – The Courteeners
• In The Morning – The Coral
• Mr Brightside – The Killers

Eventually we decided that we want to use ‘In The Morning’ by ‘The Coral’ because we’re planning on including a shot of the clock next to Jack’s bed reading something like “2.03am”, and as the lyrics are about waking up and leaving on a good note for the day ahead we thought this would be very ironic as it is only very early in the morning and Jack’s day would not start on a good note, however the audience are led to believe that everything is ‘normal’ as the music is cheery, leading them into a false sense of security.

When Jack closes the fridge and sees a note on the door which says “I’ve got your son” we are planning on adding in a thrilling sound effect, perhaps a crash or a screech. At this point ‘In The Morning’ will stop, and ‘Hysteria’ by ‘Muse’ will begin to play. Our options for this choice of song were:-

• Stockholm Syndrome – Muse
• Hysteria – Muse
• Assassin – Muse
• Only Man (Jakwob Remix) – Audio Bullys

But after much deliberation we think that ‘Hysteria’ will be the most effective as the introduction is a very deep, distorted guitar with significant and powerful drumming and the lead guitar when it begins to play at 20 seconds into the track sounds slightly like a screech which is a strange noise fir a guitar to make, it sounds eerie and strange which is how the opening sequence is supposed to be portrayed. Also, the introduction to the song has a slow build up to the ‘drop’ where the rest of the track begins which helps builds tension and suspense until Jack starts running after the hooded figure at the ‘drop’.

Analysis of Characterisation

Jack will be acting the main character. He will wake up at the beginning of the sequence and get out of bed wearing boxer shorts which will create a sense of verisimilitude as in reality a young man would only sleep in this item of clothing. This will initially make Jack appear more weak and vulnerable, victimising him already before any action has occured. Another advantage of Jack only wearing boxers to begin with is that the film becomes more appealing to women which will open it up to a wider audience which eventually creates a greater profit. However for filming and weather purposes, Jack will casually put a pair of jogging bottoms on before he leaves his bedroom. This will maintain the sense of verisimilitude and emphasise his relaxed ‘just woken up’ mood. By wearing the jogging bottoms as well as the boxer shorts, Jack is given more dignity throughout the filming of the sequence, not only for himself but for the character he is playing too.

The antagonist is going to be dressed in a black hoody and black jeans to create a sense of danger and mystery. The colour black is also a stereotypical respresentation of evil. The hood will be worn up to cast a shadow on his face which will help to keep his face hidden and his identity protected. This will also help to build tension and suspense. Also by the antagonist wearing a hoody helps us emphasise that the sequence is set in the modern day as the hoody is a relatively modern item of clothing and is often associated with teenagers and thugs which is the look we intend to create.

Analysis of Location

This is an aerial shot of Bourne, a small, fenland town located just outside of Peterborough. This is where the action from the opening sequence will occur. Bourne is a peaceful and picturesque town; a town least expected to experience such a dastardly crime. This is one reason for using Bourne as the setting for our opening sequence; the element of surprise and danger of the unexpected helps add to the tension and suspense.

The following four photos are night time shots from around the streets of Bourne where the action to our opening sequence will take place. The dark atmosphere with subtle light creates an eerie effect which aids in building tension and uncertainty, reinforcing the idea that the night can be a terrifying concept.

The house to the left is the house in which the main character lives. It’s the house where Jack wakes up during the night to go and get a drink where he sees the hooded figure outside. We chose this house for a number of reasons. Partially because it’s Jack’s house, so we are able to use it for filming whenever we need to, and also because it’s in Bourne which makes it easy for me and Megan to get to. Also we chose it because it looks stereotypically like a ‘normal’ house; it looks presentable and well kept yet it is not too extraordinary. It adds the element of surprise to the sequence; many people live in similar houses and for a crime to occur in such a house makes the viewer on edge as they realise this could happen to anybody.

This is a photo of the entrance to the derelect manor house in Bourne which Jack and the hooded figure will appear to run into during the chase scene. It clearly emits a sense of immediate danger and builds tension due to the old crumbling walls and the scaffold walls and warning signs to keep pedestrians out. We are going to try to gain permission to use the manor house to film in, however if we are unable to do so we will just use exterior shots and edit sequences together to make it appear as though Jack and the hooded figure have run inside.