Title Sequence Research

 First title sequence: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

This title sequence was very dynamic and had a lot going on, which could be overwhelming for some audiences. It featured a comic-style look while staying consistent with the patterns of Spider-Man. Spider-Man was shown throughout the entire sequence, really emphasizing his importance. The credits were displayed in a comic-style font, which matched the design of the sequence. The music was adventurous and complemented the action, as Spider-Man or the camera moved dynamically. This was also an animated title sequence, which is more complex than a live-action shot sequence. There was a rise and fall throughout the sequence. Since the sequence mainly featured the same comic-style look with Spider-Man, the animators added variety by shifting the scenes from something boring to something more interesting to capture the audience's attention. The rap and electronic music matched the theme of what was being shown. At the end, after the comics were displayed, the title appeared with a beat drop and a black screen, signaling that the movie was about to start. Overall, I’d rate it 7/10.

Second title sequence: Terrifier 2 (2022)

This relates similar to the genre that is going to be in my final project. The genre is horror, now even though this is not the exact vibe we are going for it's similar. The sequence starts off with the protagonist, art the clown, cleaning a mess in a laundry mat in which he finishes, and then as he is walking we see a dead body he has killed (it is implied) and then the screen turns to black. Where the eerie music and vibe that was present disappears and we see a young woman/girl making a costume and in the beginning of this the objects in her room are shown to introduce a new setting. It's off putting because we just saw a dead man and now it cuts to a calm unbothered lady who is making a costume and that is all that is shown during the title sequence after the showing the dead man. The title actual title was shown after the dead man was shown then followed by the lady making the costume which was very unsettling and honestly, something my group might go after since it's so eerie. All the credits were introduced where harshly with the screen cutting to black every time and showing them in bold red letters, symbolizing that even tho the scene of the girl is cute nothing about what is going to happen beyond this title sequence will be happy. The music they use for the cute girl scene is in a way young, pop, and exciting but also unsettling because the music is a low-beat song so it feel like there isn't something right with what is being shown and what is being played. The ending was a simple presentation of showing what the girl made, and they were angel wings and some amour, when they were shown the music stopped, fading out as she blew the candles around it out. Possibly signifying her peaceful light of life is out? I wouldn't completely know tho because I haven't seen the whole movie, just clips. Overall an 8/10.

Third title sequence: La La Land (2016)

This third sequence begins with music, showing traffic on a highway and zooming in on a girl humming, then singing. She gets out of her car and starts performing a musical act. Others join her from the cars in the traffic, and they all dance and sing. The entire sequence was joyful and enjoyable to watch, as it was upbeat and energetic with lots of music. The credits were smoothly incorporated with fade-in and fade-out transitions. The scene was vibrant and filled with colors. The title was large, dramatic, gold, and in a way, vintage, and it appeared at the very end of the sequence. Before the sequence shows the actual title, it ends with all the singers returning to their cars and closing their doors on a beat drop, shifting everything from a bubbly, fun musical back to the mundane traffic, with honking and people complaining. The camera then zooms in to show a young man struggling with his radio to choose a song. The camera moves out to reveal the full scene of cars on the road before displaying the movie title. This was honestly very different and unique compared to most title sequences I’ve reviewed, and although many have been unique, this one was the simplest yet most impactful. It demonstrates that with the right movement of the camera and the right elements shown and heard, you can quickly capture the audience's attention. I believe that with how the music was portrayed and the classic font used, nothing detracted from the theme conveyed throughout the title sequence. Overall, I’d rate it 9/10.

Brainstorming

    

My group with Abby, Jadelyn, and Haaniya have all discussed that we wanted something classic or potentially older. We liked this idea because we all like the 2000's and older movies as they all have such a different feeling compared to newer ones which feel less intriguing. The overall three ideas that were being discussed were either first, a trad wife and her story of how she kills her husband that day for the reason that she works for an assassination company that kills specifically men who have done wrong. The other idea brainstormed was a boy who breaks into a house with his friends but it's actually his mom's house that he didn't recognize from all his bad influence over the past few years with his terrible friends. The third idea was completely different which was about a girls death anniversary and her story of her living her life every day as a ghost but having to endure being completely invisible to her loved ones, but one thing can see her. We are currently majorly considering action for any film that we do, although the issue is that the filming will be difficult because of how rapid it would be. Not only that, but it can also be difficult because it could result in potentially getting hurt for the actors since we are not professionals. That was the main issue with the second idea. The issue with drama is that it is hard to get the audience's attention if the film isn't balanced and interesting with all the elements, via the issue for the second idea. It needs to be just right to capture an audience. The positives of action are that the audience's attention can be captured easily and it is fun to film as much is going on. Positives for drama would be that it is much easier to film and it is more intimate for the audience. However, we found that a balance between the two would be perfect for the third idea. Now, since this idea isn't that much of an action idea we can rule those out. But this film idea is more dramatic but eerie, the edge-of-the-seat feeling. We have gathered it's the perfect way to get the attention of the audience and a grader to who needs something exciting to have it stand out.

Former student work

 Roll call:

Some weakness of Roll call were some shaky camera work which was distracting from what was occurring in the scene, the mug shots that were shown were too out of the frame, the showing of the title in the opening looked out of place, one actor had broken the third wall and looked at the camera while talking. Some strengths were the camera zooms were very good and they were stable, the props were utilized correctly which enhanced the film, and the acting for the most part of professional.

New everything:

New everything was in my opinion was a little sloppy for the reasons of the weaknesses being the transitions were sloppy, shaky camera work, sound quality was bad, it seemed very uninteresting as the story had no dynamics or something that made it stand out. The strengths of this were that at times the lighting had focused on the main character and the story had a structure to what was happening to it was easily understood.

Dreamland: 

In Dreamland the many strengths were that the scene was very established to what was happening, there was creative use of camera skills and editing, great camera quality, appropriate use of camera shots. Some of the couple weaknesses that were in this film were that it was a little unstructured and it relied a lot fo reversing for the first half of the opening scenes.

Dear Lover:

Dear lover was a very interesting film opener as the story was well established by the use of many scenes in such a short time, the explanation of the story was clear, various  types of camera shots, and it left the audience easing for what would happen next. The weaknesses were that the camera work was shaky, lighting was too broad and had no dynamics to it.

Dare to thrill:

Dare to thrill was my personal favorites for its many strengths such as great use of music, the advantage of editing in words, the dynamic and focused camera movement, the engage to the audience through excitement, properly setting the scene, putting the title in at a proper time and not an awkward one, and lastly leaving the audience of edge leaving them yearning for more. I have found no weaknesses for this movie opener.

Group members

 

Group member #1: Jadelyn Rodriguez

I chose Jadelyn Rodriguez because she shares most of my music and TV/Show interests. She also has delicious taste when it comes to the art of music and television, so her influence would be great in creating an awesome A-grade Cambridge video submission. She is also someone I have gotten closer to since I was a freshman and she was a sophomore, we were partners in debate together which caused us to spend time together very often. I never feel uncomfortable when I am with her, so working with her would be much more of a pleasure than work!

Group member #2: Abigail Natino (Abby)

I chose Abigail Natino for the reason she is like a big sister who always tries to help out. I know this project is a team effort that requires all hands, and I know for a fact she will not leave me behind. I have known Abby for a year now, and I am close with her family as well as our shared friends. She has a great amount of loyalty in her heart, so it's a fact I can count on her. She is trustworthy and reliable to do her work to help our group get an exciting A-grade.

Group member #3: Haaniya Imran

I chose Haaniya Imran because of our close humorous friendship, I believe with our healthy relationship of just understanding one another very well we will be able to work diligently and spice up our video submission. I have introduced Haaniya to my friends Jadelyn and Abby as they do not know her, but I've known Haaniya for five close years, it is very confident to say she will not be unhelpful in our group. She gets along very well, and goes with the flow with whatever comes her way. We need someone caring like her, but yet not caring when things get in the way. She knows how to easily overcome obstacles and find the best in things. 

Story Boarding (Written Blog post ONLY)

 

I've learned that storyboarding is actually pretty fun but a little tedious, definitely something that I wouldn't want to do as a career but it seems like something I'd have fun doing if I made a short film, not a whole movie. Storyboarding allows the director to visually see what the producers are looking for and determine test runs to see how smoothly the scene will actually look before actually filming them. It saves lots of time for directors when filming so they can get what is actually valuable filmed and done. The only challenge I faced with the storyboarding was how time-consuming it was and the drawing as I am someone who does draw often I struggle to create something as close to what I want in my head as my creativity in drawing people lacks a lot. As well as it is just something I don't find as interesting so those were the only things I struggled with during storyboarding. But it was overall a cool experience to draw out a movie that I enjoy!  

Story Boarding (Pictures and link to Movie clip ONLY)

 

Movie I Storyboarded on

Movie name: 500 days of summer

(There is one bad word that I apologize for)