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.