RESEARCH: THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO

We watched the opening to The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. We then did a close analysis of the opening.

 There are many images that are dark and disturbing such as the bottomless see of dark water, this promotes the fear of drowning. Mixed in with this you have a lot of images of the human form. In the first instance a prone body. This body has a collar with spikes on it and another with oil or water being poured on it. Juxtaposed with this there is a computer keyboard which signals the genre and the plot. This is a nightmarish sequence however not real because no one lets oil and water role over their keyboard. In one sequence at one point water gushes out of a females mouth as if it were vomiting. It is revolting and frightening.

Many of the images are of knotted and twisted forms tangled together in a confusing mess which is a metaphor for how the film will progress. The film will be an unraveling of tortured limbs and cables and the whole opening is accompanied by appropriate music. 

A new equally frightening image is introduced of fire, it is almost as if someone is being set a light. There is a clear image of a human body who has been set light to down to a charred remain. It is a frightening visual. A close up of a human eye with wires going into the eye like they're snakes creates a sense of being controlled by the cables. There is a creature escaping from the flames like a Phoenix's rising up.

Depiction of a man and woman bare skin with a hint of violence from the fist.This suggests a dark violent sexual relationship. Towards the end there is a lot of images of flowers opening which morphs into two pairs of hands which suggests there will be a dark sinister sexual relationship in the film. The music never gives up, it continues to pound in out heads. 

There is then a female face being gagged. It is as if the opening is a glimpse into someone's nightmare world. A human creature is created as if they where monochrome. The girl created is very boyish with very short straight hair, it is as if it's a girl who's trying to deny her feminine. There is a final kiss which is disturbing because of the dark colour at which stage the music tempo increases. A collection of Blow flies appear which connotes death. Sharp objects such as knifes contribute to the feeling of death. There is a male figure blindfolded which continues to promote the fear of danger. It continued to show pictures of him struggling. Very rapid cuts are used to suggest that restless feeling in a nightmare. The opening comes to it's climax when people's heads explode and people's mouths open in howls of anguish.

RESEARCH: A BRIEF HISTORY OF TITLE DESIGN

• I watched the clip A BRIEF HISTORY of TITLE DESIGN from the website Art of the Title http://www.artofthetitle.com . I watched this clip three times in order to be able to see the way title design has change over time with the introduction of new technologies such as CGI.

• This screenshot from the opening of Singing In The Rain shows how live action can be used to create the mood for the film, which is one of unalloyed comedy. The three characters are singing in the rain when the Title in bold brightly coloured text appears over the top of them, connoting the joyful quality. This is simple editing however the combination of the text and action explains simply and quickly to the viewer the context of the film. 

• This screen shot from the opening of Anatomy of A Murder is a simple but effective animation. This shows how use of technology has advanced in a short period of time since Singing In The Rain. This film opening is effective as 'Anatomy' is about the science of bodily structure, therefore by having the text appear on a body explains the meaning of the word. The style is graphical rather then realistic. The shape of the body is that of someone who is dead on the floor, this explains the word murder and informs the viewer of the context of the film. I like this use of animation as it is subtle and doesn't remove itself from the fact there is murder in the film, therefore I may try to use some sort of animation in this style in my film opening.

• The Pink Panther is a further advance in technology and is a great use of CGI. The panther crawls backwards as the texts enlarge. This creates a sense of humour and family fun from the panther's casual, human like behaviour. This feeling of fun and humour is reinfocrced by the large pink text and the fact that the panther is pink. 

• Saturday Night Fever starts with a downward pan of the main character John Travolta. This immediately makes the viewer aware of the main character and can see from the style of clothes (wide v-neck red shirt and leather jacket) the era the film is set in: 1970s. The title then appears at the feet of John Trovalta to establish that he is the most important character in the film, as he is privileged in most framing. The title appears as if it were a neon sign which is also appropriate for the era of the film and it connotes the young peoples social life in town. I would like to use clothes in my film opening that instantly set the era of the film for the viewer.

• Alien has the title appear over the background of a planet in space. The font used is more modern and makes both the 'A' and 'E' look un-normal therefore creating a sense of confusion and something from outer space. This is appropriate for this film as it sets the mood for the film of something eery going on.  I would like to use appropriate fonts for my film opening which create the correct emotion for the viewer before the film actually starts.

• Dawn of the Dead has a hi-tech use of CGI. The title appears in red on a black background. This makes the title stand out, the title then appears to start to bleed. The 'bleeding title' creates a sense of death and informs the viewer that the film is going to be a horror and is going to be gory. I would like to use effective CGI to portray the mood of my film opening.

RESEARCH: THE ART OF THE TITLE

Today I started to research film openings using the website THE ART OF THE TITLE http://www.artofthetitle.com

Delicatessen (directed by Juan-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro, 1991) 
For my first piece of detailed analysis I used my observations, class discussions and the websites commentary including that of Karin Fong, creative director and designer at Imaginary Forces. 

• The title design is witty and it fits in with the genre of black comedy. Viewers are enticed in by the way each credit is carefully and appropriately embedded within items of the story: the director of photography has his name appear to be engraved on a period correct camera. Also the costume designer's name appears to be embroidered on a clothes label. 
• The lighting and colour used in the film opening enables the viewer to identify the period in which the film is set. There's a sepia tone which contrasts with the black colours therefore creating a sense of a dark themed film. 
• The camera does a slow pan which twists and turns over the abandoned possessions. It stops over specific items to enable viewers to see the carefully embedded credits. The slow pan over the the possessions informs the viewer that the shop is old and has had many guests stay there. 

The Broken Orchid: my first steps in film making
I used this technique, when making my own first film opening, to engage viewers and give the previous history of a character. We did this before embarking on our Foundation Production, as we were inspired by Delicatessen.

We gathered objects that were related to the Far East, displayed them in an sequential specific way on a table so that a story would appear to unfold as the camera panned over the items. We wanted to suggest through the raw ingredients of the story (oriental costume, military uniform, vintage suitcase, maps and photographs of Vietnam, ethnic objects and a hand gun) a story of love and war.

I then edited the film, adding in a soundtrack as well as titles. I learned that having a small bit of live action was very useful to bring the still objects to life. I also decided to create a sense of enigma but having the girl hide her face before briefly revealing it. Below is the finished result: