Title sequences

What is a title sequence?

A title sequence, also often referred to as an intro, is the way in which a film or television programme introduces the title, the key characters and the actors who play these characters in the piece. Typically, it helps to introduce the theme and genre of the programme or film and helps to establish the tone and setting for the remainder of the piece. It may have been created using many different forms of media including live action shots, animation, music and still images. 

Examples of title screens from popular films:

 Above is the title screen taken from the iconic Lord of the Rings trilogy. The typography is very iconic of this series of films as it represents the time and place in which the films are located. In this example, he white background really allows the typography to stand out as this is one of the key areas of a successful title sequence.

The title screen above is taken from the iconic Harry Potter films. The typography used in the title of these films is used throughout the entire series and is very fitting to the overall tone of the films. The title helps to create this tense mood to set up the theme for the rest of the film. The letter 'P' in the word 'Potter' is also very significant in the typography as it resembles the scar that is located on Harry's forehead throughout the series, relating the titles very closely to the content of the films themselves. 

The title screen here is taken from the Disney film Frozen. The background of the title screen shows ice which is clearly very related to the title and theme of the entire film. The typography is also designed to look cold and icy. Doing this helps to set up the tone for the film to come. The use of bright colours here helps to suggest the childlike features that the film is due to hold.  

Exisiting A level media thrillers

Whilst  planning our thriller film opening, we decided to look at other pieces that have been created by A level media students. 

Captive

The piece begins with an establishing shot of the protagonist tied up, immediately linking the piece to the title, 'Captive.' This shot is then followed by a series of close up shots, focusing on the shoes and face of the actor. The presence of blood and the rope seen in these shots instantly hints at danger, putting in place enigma codes for the audience, leading us to wonder what has happened to the character at hand. 

Throughout the sequence, the diegetic sound of heavy breathing of the protagonist and water dripping can be heard, along with the non-diegetic high pitched string sounds. The use of this non-diegetic sound helps to build tension within the scene, creating a dark, eerie atmosphere for the viewer. 

The use of quick cut editing in the piece helps to build on the tension in the piece, a very typical convention of a thriller film. The use of the fast paced shots, along with the juxtaposition of light and dark within these shots creates a fearful, chilling atmosphere, setting the tone for the piece to come. 

Theorists

Todorov

Todorov's narrative theory claims that all plot lines follow the same base pattern and this pattern is split into 5 separate steps. These steps are:

1. Equilibrium
2. Disruption of the equilibrium
3. Recognition of the disruption
4. An attempt is made to repair the equilibrium
5. newly found equilibrium

This theory can be applied to many mainstream film narratives including 'Lord of the rings' and 'Spiderman.'


Propp

Propp identified a theory about characters in a novel/ narrative. According to Propp, all characters have a narrative function meaning that they provide a structure for the text.

These characters identified were as follows

• Hero
• Villain
• Prince/Princess 

Prop's theory followed the idea that the protagonist would be the 'Hero' in a piece and would come into conflict with the antagonist (Villain) throughout the narrative.


Levi Strauss

Levi Strauss believed in the idea of binary opposition throughout a film narrative. This is the evident contrasts between people, groups or states of being.

Some well known examples of these are:

• Cats vs Dogs
• Good vs Evil
• Life vs Death
• Black vs White

Strauss believed that all conflict in a narrative was based around these oppositions and the conflict would be the climax of the entire narrative. 

Surveys

In order for us to learn what people would like to see out of our thriller films, we used survey monkey to create surveys to allow us to gather this information. We asked a range of 10 people to complete the surveys so that we had a range of different answers to look through.

The first question we asked our survey was, 'What is your age?' We chose to ask this question so that we could gain a better understanding of the age range of the people who would be answering our survey. From the results gathered, we found that the largest age group that we questioned was 16-19 year olds (40%). The next largest age group questioned was 12-15 year olds at 30%, followed by 12-15 year olds at 20% and 24-27 year olds at just 10%. We will take the responses to this question into very close consideration whilst deciding the target age bracket for our opening sequence as we must ensure that we create our piece to suit the audience who would be interested in watching.

The second question that we asked was,' What is your gender?' The results gained from this question were completely equal meaning that 50% of the people taking part were male and 50% were female. We asked this question so that we could gain a better understanding of the people who were taking part in our survey. 

The third question that we asked was, 'What is your favourite sub-genre of a thriller film?' The results showed us that the least liked sub-genre was a 'religious' thriller but and the two most preferred were psychological and crime thrillers. The film that we have began planning follows the route of a hybrid of a psychological and crime thriller so these results help to support our choices very much.

The next question that we asked was, 'What are the most effective features in a thriller film?' The results told us that the most important features to the people taking part in our survey are music and actors/acting. From these results, we now know as a group what elements of our piece are most important to focus on to make the production as successful as it 

We then asked, 'What do you think is the most appropriate colour for on screen titles?' The highest result for this question was the answer white. I believe that the reason behind this is because white stands out from others colours which can make the text seem bold and more prominent. 

The next question asked in our survey was, 'what narrative is most effective in thriller films?' The most popular answers in this question were kidnapping, murder and supernatural, each being at 20%. Our initial film idea surrounds the topic of murder, so this fits our ideas very well. Whilst deciding our final plot line, we will take the themes of supernatural and kidnapping into account also as these are also very interesting themes that we could incorporate into our final film. 

The final question that we asked in our survey was, 'Do you think it is important for a thriller to have a quick and intense opening?' 90% of the answers to this question were 'Yes', leaving only 10% as 'No.' I believe that having an intense opening to a thriller film helps to set the scene for the piece. It allows the viewer a slight insight into what they are going to see, building tension and drawing them into the narrative further. 

Codes and conventions of thriller films

Josh, A member of my group created this powerpoint that discusses the different codes and conventions of thriller films. 

codes and conventions of thriller films from Joshua East