I'm Lucy, 17 years old and studying A Levels at Welling Sixth Form. Here you'll find my coursework for Media as I look at title sequences and eventually create my own.
In today's lesson we focused on typography. We looked at films of different genres and discussed how the credits fit into those genres, as well as the size and colour of the font, and where they were placed on the screen.
Firstly, we looked at Catch Me If You Can (2002). This placed two different fonts next to each other. The serif font reminded us of a typewriter, which we thought could relate to Tom Hank's character of a policeman. This was because he would have had to type up reports on a typewriter, also relating to the time period the film is set in. The second font was a sans serif font, which was used to create parts of the images on screen. It is much more fluent than the serif font; changing and flowing into different objects. This could represent Leonardo DiCaprio's character, as he is a con artist and constantly changing professions and identities.
The fonts change positions frequently on the screen, yet nearly always keep to the same size. They are placed at the sides of the screen a lot, to allow the audience to focus on the images telling the story.
Lord of War (2005) was the second title sequence we discussed. It had very blocky, square font which was all in capitals and sans serif. This would usually make the credits the focus point of the title sequence, yet they were considerably small to allow the audience to focus on the things happening on screen, like Catch Me If You Can. The exception to this small font was of course the title of the film, which was larger than the other credits and centered. Unlike Catch Me If You Can, the credits were completely separate to the action, placed in various spaces on the screen where there was either little or no action.
The last title sequence we viewed was Forrest Gump (1994). The genre of this film is drama/romance, therefore has a centered serif font, which fades in and out. The text is very plain, possibly connoting the main character.
We also established that serif fonts are considered formal, posh, classic and timeless. In my title sequence, I will use a sans serif font. As my genre is a psychological thriller/horror film, not matching any of the films we looked at, I will use a scratchy font that conveys this.
This week we created a brainstorm of initial ideas for our title sequence. We focused on the STINCS abbreviation for the codes and conventions - setting, theme, iconography, narrative, structures, and style. We also looked at films of the same genre and decided we would research about their title sequences.
Today we were introduced to Roland Barthes, who came up with a theory that suggests a text and poses questions to the audience. He thought that all narratives share structural features that are brought together in different ways.
He came up with five enigma codes to group signifiers according to the role they play in the text:
The Hermenentic Code: The voice of truth.
This is the way the story avoids telling the truth or revealing all the facts, in order to drop clues throughout to create mystery.
The Proairetic Code: The voice of empirics.
This is the way the tension is built up and the audience is left guessing what happens next.
The Semantic Code: The voice of the person.
This is the way elements in the text can suggest a particular and often additional meaning, connoting what the story suggests.
The Symbolic Code: The voice of the symbol.
This is similar to the Semantic Code, but in a broader way. This is typically done where new meaning arises out of opposing and conflicting ideas.
The Cultural Code: The voice of knowledge.
This looks at the audience's wider cultural knowledge, morality and ideology.
Readerly and Writerly Texts
Barthes thought that most texts were 'readerly' texts. These texts' style and content are represented in the traditional linear way, meaning the audience is simply receiving the information presented to them. They attempt to give one meaning instead of multiple ones, commonly seen in advertising.
On the other hand, 'writerly' texts are the opposite and reveal the elements 'readerly' texts don't show. These texts put the audience in control, trying to determine the meaning of the text. The 'writerly' texts tend to undermine the reader's expectations.
The sequence begins with a plain white screen and black text appears in capital letters, informing us of the production company. It does not begin with a scene from the film like many title sequences usually do. This does not give much away and therefore creates suspense, fitting to the thriller genre of the film.
The text fades away and a red droplet falls in time with music. You immediately assume the droplets are blood, connoting death and violence, relating to the plot. The plain white background allows the audience to focus on the credits and droplets of blood as the colours contrast against each other.
As more important credits are shown, the pace of the music quickens and the drops keep in time with it, so more than one appear on the screen. This faster pace builds tension for the audience, possibly hinting at a chaotic plot or character.
Two droplets then splatter onto the white background, and the title of the film appears in the same font, with the second word in bold. This again hints at the plot and genre of the film.
The red droplets change to a constant red substance running, still resembling blood and adding to the tense atmosphere created by the faster music. This then cuts to the substance being drawn over a white surface, seeming to go against the idea that it is blood. However, the audience is still unsure what it is, therefore keeping the suspense.
A hand holding a large knife is lifted swiftly upwards on the screen as the name 'Christian Bale' appears, the star of the film. This suggests he is the antagonist and murderer. The knife is then slammed down to cut meat that looks like flesh, and a loud thud is heard which contrasts against the orchestral music and startles the audience. Again, this feeds into the idea of the thriller genre and foreshadows the audience will experience more shocks.
'Williem Dafoe' then appears, another well known actor and star of the film, keeping with the same font style. What seemed like blood and flesh now changes to show food, such as raspberries, clearly. This makes the audience backtrack and feel like they have let their imaginations go wild, linking to the ambiguous ending of the film.
The full plate of food is finally shown, with hands picking it up to be served. It is very neat and professional looking, hinting at the character's personality, as we find out he has OCD.
A birds eye shot shows the food is placed down on a table and the camera pans at an angle to show another meal. The audience views the meals upside down, creating disorientation.
The table shots cut to mid-shots of people eating in a restaurant and a waiter serving food. They are dressed in evening clothes and the waiter is wearing a white suit with a bow tie, showing they are wealthy and of high status. This suggests the film focuses on characters of this social background. The orchestral music continues yet changes to a happier tone. This compares the room where the food was being prepared (the kitchen) and the main part of the restaurant where people are eating, giving the idea that there is a secret and a defined separation between the two. This is because the kitchen shows emptiness and a cold feeling due to a lack of colour, besides the bright red droplets, and no people besides the hand holding the knife. In comparison, the restaurant is full of people talking and bright colours, such as pink and green.
This changes to a birds eye view of a woman cutting into a dessert. The contrasting colours of white and red reappear, connoting more blood and violence. The woman is also wearing a black evening glove, a colour associated with death.
Characters of the film are finally shown by an over the shoulder shot, starting with the star Christian Bale and his friends/work colleagues having a conversation with banter. The credits are still shown in the same font, yet as the most important names such as the production companies, director and stars have been shown, the audience are now more focused on the film rather than the credits. This allows a fluent transition from the title sequence into the beginning of the film.
Overall, it is a very effective title sequence as it plays with the minds of the audience. It constantly hints at the plot and character, yet does not make it too obvious, therefore allows you to make assumptions which you will have to watch to find out. I also like the use of colour to connote the genre and timing parts of it with music, which I would be interested in trying with my title sequence.
