Blog Post #12: Decoding Film Titles - "The Art of the Title"

                                                                  The Art of the Title 

  For this assignment, we were asked to analyze two film openings within the genre that we've chosen for our opening. The openings we chose needed to include a title sequence/opening credits. Once we picked our openings we watched it through once to get an overall impression and then a second time where we could rewind and analyze the choices made by the creators. After we analyzed the openings, we wrote 3 pieces that work together as a collective analysis comparing and contrasting the two openings. 

    The first essay needed to include how the film opening utilized 

1. First impressions & purpose (immediate tone, emotions created, effective/ineffective) 

2. Genre & narrative clues (genre conventions suggested, narrative or themes hinted, does the opening raise questions or establish mystery)

3. Visual design (color palette, typography, composition/framing) 

4. Motion & editing (movement, edition pace, how does pacing support tone) 

5. Sound & music (music or sound design, how does sound work with visuals, would the opening feel different w/o music)

6. Representation & audience (target audience, certain values suggested, how does the opening position the audience)

7. Overall effectiveness (how does the opening prepare the audience for the film, does the title sequence enhance or decorate the storytelling, what promises does the opening make to the audience)

    The second essay is completed using the same guidelines as previously stated but for the second film opening.

    The third essay should be a a comparison between the two openings that we compared

The two openings I chose were Jurassic Park and Invader Zim Enter the Florpus. 

Film Opening Analysis #1 Jurassic Park (1993) 

The immediate tone of the opening is tense and unnerving. The tension builds significantly throughout the first three minutes of the film, there is already a sense of discomfort created through the shadowy visuals and sense of anxiety portrayed by the characters. This tension builds over time as the audience learns more about what is being transported and the discomfort peaks as one of the characters is put into immediate danger. This sequence of events creates intense feelings of anxiety and curiosity for the audience. This opening is incredibly effective as an introduction to the film as it immediately establishes that the monsters in this movie are unrelenting, smart, and bloodthirsty. The audience is shown immediately that these creatures are dangerous and should be feared. This opening helps further build tension for the rest of the movie as the idea of a dinosaur theme park is presented, but the audience has been shown that this can only go wrong.

 The genre is heavily suggested to be sci-fi with horror elements. The idea of bringing back dinosaurs with genetic manufacturing has not been presented yet but the modern machinery contrasts with the small peeks you get of a living dinosaur, hints at the theme and foreshadows themes of man vs nature. The opening raises questions of why this is happening. The audience is shown a creature being transported, but they are not told why this is happening, or even what the animal is. It is hinted to be a prehistoric through the title of the movie, but what type of animal it is specifically left a mystery. 

The color palette of the opening is very muted, with a lot of grays and muted greens. All of the opening is very dark and shadowy despite the many lights present. This visually adds to the feelings of mystery and danger that the opening is trying to convey. Opposingly, the title sequence that plays before this has bright red and yellow letters in large bold letters. This style of text establishes itself as being important due to its size and flashy colors. The color red present in the text also can be interpreted as danger. The composition of many shots in the opening creates feelings of claustrophobia. The shots of people through the bars of the cage are very small frames within a frame and send off warning bells for the audience because of their tight appearance.

 The camera movement in the beginning is steady, when the camera moves it moves on a dolly so the camera does not shake at all. This creates a sense of stability despite the tension of the scene. However, as things start to go wrong, the camera begins noticeably shaking, highlighting the danger and increasing the tension. A similar build up happens with the editing, the pace of the editing ramps up significantly once the raptor beings attack the worker. This reinforces the film’s themes of horror and fear.

The use of music is sparse in the opening, most of the music is used alongside the title cards. The music for the title cards helps establish the eerie tone of the opening, the music is an ominous, deep, choral sound which feels unnerving to listen to. Music is used to highlight especially important or intense scenes. For example, when the worker is opening the gate there are a few seconds of triumphant music that quickly turns into tense music when the raptor pushes against the gate. This helps the audience quickly understand that what is happening is dangerous and that things are beginning to go wrong, so without music the opening may be slightly more confusing, especially with the quick pace of the editing. 

The opening is tailored to an audience that enjoys tense movies especially those with strong elements of science fiction and horror. The opening positions the audience to be anxious, uncomfortable, and afraid. This prepares the audience for the rest of the movie that has similar themes. 

The opening prepares the audience for an equally tense film, but the title sequence does not do much to enhance the story telling other than providing an eerie tone with the music. This opening promises an unnerving movie that will provide action and sci-fi elements but also chilling ideas and visuals 

Film Opening Analysis #2 

Invader Zim Enter the Florpus The immediate tone of the opening sequence is whimsical, the serious music is contrasted with humorous visuals of characters that have already been established to be comedic. This creates an ironic and humorous mood. The audience is supposed to find the opening entertaining and not look too far into it. This is effective as an introduction to the film as it establishes the film's brand of ironic humor and subverts the typical view of scary aliens seen in other media.

 The conventions suggested in the opening are sci fi and comedy, sci fi is clearly shown through the existence of aliens and sentient robots and comedy through the art style and ironic humor. The title sequence hits the hero vs villain trope without fully revealing the plot of the story. The opening raises questions of what the villains will do and whether they will be successful since the title sequence plays over a training montage. 

The color palette consists mainly of bright pinks and greens which in this film symbolize alien or extraterrestrial life. The editing pace is rhythmic and on the slower side, mostly following the beats of the music. The pacing supports the tone by allowing it to be more humorous rather than tense.

 The music in the opening is similar to other sci fi films that have a sort of iconic “alien march” kind of score that is filled with drums and creates a sort of eerie feeling. But, in this film it is used ironically, the more serious music choice contrasts with the nonserious visuals. The opening would feel very different without the music because there is no other sound used and the music is what makes the scene funny.

The target audience is younger, the humor relies a lot on slapstick comedy and yelling which usually appeals more to a younger audience. The opening positions the audience to be excited and curious about what will happen next.

The title sequence decorates the storytelling but continues the humorous theme. The opening promises a comedic and exciting film that can be enjoyed by young children or families. 

Comparing/Contrasting Film Openings

Similarities 

Both openings establish their science fiction genres quickly by showing other worldly or fictional creatures. For Jurassic Park, a raptor was shown, and for Invader Zim, an alien was shown. Also, both openings hint at the dynamic between the characters. Jurassic Park showed that there would be themes of nature fighting back against humans as society tries to control the environment. On the other hand, Invader Zim showed the dynamic of hero vs villain or good versus evil. 

Differences

The color palettes are very different. Since Invader Zim is leaning more into comedy, the colors are brighter and more saturated. This is starkly different from Jurassic Park, which leans more into horror and as a result uses a duller color palette. The editing pace is also opposite between the films. Since Jurassic Park is trying to build tension, the editing is much faster in comparison to Invader Zim.