Analysis of the opening titles of Vertigo

To help me recreate Vertigo's opening titles I have decided it would be good for me to analysis it. This is because when I recreate it I can create the same feelings within the clip making it a more effective re-creation.

Genre
The swirling pattens used in the middle of the piece suggests a thriller theme. This is also suggested by the jumpy music and the close up of the face which has connotations of fear and emotion.

Narrative

The film opening titles gives very little away about the rest of the films story. The red tint suggests blood and fear is a major part of the movie. The swirling patterns used which comes from an eye suggests a very mentally unstable character is going to kill someone.

Characters

The close up of a female actor suggests a main character is going to be a female. The swirling patterns in her eyes suggests the she maybe is the mentally unstable character that is going to kill.

Atmosphere

The black and white tint at the start of the clip suggests a retro atmosphere. The music creates a tense atmosphere.

Themes
Nothing about the narrative is given away in the opening titles suggesting a theme of mystery and suspense. The red tint connotes a theme of death.
Settings

Nothing is given away about the setting in Vertigo opening titles. The retro atmosphere connotes a retro setting.
Sound
The musics has a lot of volume changes and the music is very spooky. This connotes a typical thriller film.

Evaluation
This opening sequence is very simple. This is a positive as it doesn't give anything away about the film. however I feel it gives too little away and the audience are left feeling confused. This however might be the intention of the director; to confuse the audience and make them feel vulnerable.

Overall I think this film opening sequence is good

Analysis of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo opening sequence

This is a different genre to the other opening sequences I have analysed. I am analysing different genres to understand the different ways opening sequences can be structured and the different impacts they can have on the audience.

Genre
The music playing connotes a thriller/action genre. The humans covered in oil kissing suggests romance and passion.



Narrative
The editing to the opening titles is very fast past suggesting a quick paced storyline. The use of black oil spreading suggests secrets that could damage are being spread around. This is backed up by the setting fire of the oil which connotes damage being done. The phoenix suggests rising of hope or revenge being played out in the film.
Character
The characterisation in this opening titles is amazing. The oil covering the female suggests she is very mechanical and cold and her personality is being suppressed by some type of mental condition like autism. This is backed up by the computer jacks that are being pulled towards her and the computer keypad creating her identity really well.

This is also shown through the female being punched in the face repeatedly but just repairing herself connoting her being very strong on the inside. The Phoenix suggests whenever she does get down she rises above it. The male character coming from the water to be covered in oil connotes that he understands her even if he is not the same. The constant kissing between them connotes the idea that they have romantic interest in each other but something that is different than the typical normal relationship.
Atmosphere
The opening titles are very dark connoting a mysterious atmosphere. The flames suggest that the atmosphere may be slow at first but quickly heats up.
Themes
The dark in the opening titles suggest a mystery theme. The computers suggest a technical theme and the fire suggests an action theme
Setting
Through out the opening titles not much is given away about the setting. The water suggests a lake or the sea.
Sound
The music suggests a very tense film. It has various volume changes suggesting different paces of action throughout the film. The repeated oahhhoo suggests a repeating theme throughout the film.
Titles
The titles are not integrated into the clip apart from at the beginning when the oil covers the title.

Evaluation
This opening sequence is very effective and shows the audience a wide range of techniques used to illustrate the story line. The techniques may illustrate the story but they don't give anything away which is how an opening sequence should be. The graphics used are amazing and really create the feeling of a good film.

You can find the opening sequence to The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo below

Integrating Film Titles

One of the aspects that stand out about opening sequences is the integrated or non-integrated titles. Integrated titles can really make the audience focus on the secne before them, or make the audience understand the film will have a lot of hidden twists and turns that they should look out for. Non-integrated titles makes the actors, directors and film institute stand out, promoting them.
In my opening sequence I am hoping to integrate my titles, but to make them look professional I have done some background research to aid me.

The Dark Knight Rises


Here is an example of an integrated title. This is easily recognised as a title and is the center of focus on the screen. The intergrated title helps the scene flow.


Here is an actors name integrated into the scene. The name is a bit blurred but otherwise looks professional.

Sucker Punch


Sucker Punch gives other examples of integrated titles.

Analysing Lord of War opening sequence

This is my fourth analysis of opening sequences. I am almost at the stage of understanding how to produce a good opening sequence, including the different aspects I need to include like the way the titles should be presented, and not giving away too much of the story but still giving the general feel.

Genre

The opening sequence follows the life of a bullet connoting a war genre. The song being played has a very political meaning connoting a political genre.

Narrative

The opening sequence follows the life of a bullet suggesting that there is one main character that has a lot of events that contribute to who the person is as a person. The factory setting suggests that the main character has no choice in the circumstances they are brought up in and suggests the film will contain a life story of the main character. The fact that the bullet is gold suggests that the main character is very good at their job and the following of the life of the bullet suggests that someone is watching him. The clip in which the bullet is knocked out of the box suggests that the main character tries to escape from their life only to be dragged back into it. The bullet being placed in the gun and feeling other bullets going off connotes the main character watches as other people fall and the final gun shot to the head suggests that the main character does massive damage without meaning to but isn't actually their fault as they didn't decide to fire the gun.

Character
The opening sequence suggests the film revolves around the action of one character. The different rankings of people throughout the opening sequence suggests that many different types of people will be included in the film including workers and high ranking officers.
Atmosphere
The atmosphere is oddly upbeat for the asthetics of the opening sequence. The beat of the music creates an almost country feel to the clip which is actually the opposite. This suggests that the guns are too normalised for everyday life and people don't see them how they should which is as a murder weapon which shows the political genre.
Themes
The war ground in suggests the main theme would be war. The bullet suggests destruction and death.
Setting
The many areas in which the bullet is sent to/travels across suggests the film will be set in many different areas. The Factory suggests a lower life quality area, the navel ships suggest that there will be some scenes on a ship and the different county in which the bullet is fired suggests that some foriegn scenes will be used.
Sound
The song being played as an absolutly massive impact on the opening sequence and the feeling it creates. without the song the political aspect of the film would not be shown. The lyrics to the non-diagetic sound contained "stop, whats that sound everybody look whats going down" suggesting that the public need to open their eyes to what is happening in the world especially with guns and "nobodys right if everybodys wrong" showing connitations of the American goverment of being wrong and the public not understanding or realising this giving the film a stronger political side.
Titles
The titles are not intergrated into the film. This makes them stand out. The formal font suggests a formal meaning behind the movie.

Evaluation
This opening sequence is very strong in how it shows you the story and the meaning behind it without revealing much about the characters. It is very well made and the scences flow and really show the audiences the genres of the film through some very clever editing and ideas. The only thing I didn't like about the clip was the fact the titles were not intergrated into the movie which would have made the audience see that they have to really look to find the truth in the film not just be presented with it.  

You can find Lord of War opening sequence below

Analysis of Catch Me If You Can opening sequence

This is my second opening sequence analysis and will help me form an idea of different genre opening sequences to enhance my own knowledge and better the result of my film opening sequence.

Genre

The genre is very obvious through out this clip. The car chase, and the disguises shown through out the opening sequence has strong connotations of an action genre. This is backed up by the film title "catch me if you can" suggesting a very action based movie.

Narrative

The audience can definitely tell whats going to happen in the movie from the opening sequence. The opening sequence starts off with a scene that looks like an airport suggesting someone is getting off a plane and the man behind the line wall suggests that he is watching the plane landing. The clip then goes on to show a chase suggesting a the movie will have a lot of chase scenes. One of the disguises used is a doctors outfit connoting a scene being based in a hospital. The scenery then changes to a office stetting connoting an office scene. The end scene shows the man finally catching up with the other man suggesting an end fighting scene.

Character

The opening scene focuses on two main male characters suggesting the film has two main male characters. one being good and one being bad. The fact that the male being chased disguises as a doctor has connotations of him being the good guy but this is not made clear. The frequent appearances of females suggest the film will have a lot of females but with very small roles.

Themes

With the chase scenes and the amount of females in the opening sequence we can deduce that the main themes in the movie will be spy's, mystery, woman, disguises and chase.

Setting

From the yellow cab shown in my first screenshot we can deduce that the film will be based in America, yellow cabs being symbolic of retro American lifestyle. The opening sequence has connotations of many different settings including hospitals, offices and hotels.

Sound

The sound is very tense and old styled suggesting the film is based around the 1950s. The non-diagetic sound used has a very mysterious feel suggesting the film will be very mysterious.

Titles

The titles are done in a beautiful clever way. They are integrated into the film opening sequence perfectly. There is a very varied placement of titles. The titles flow together very well. The audience can also tell which actors are playing which characters for example in the screenshot bellow Tom Hanks name is shown with an arrow pointing to the character sitting down suggesting that he will be playing that character.

Evaluation This opening sequence was cleverly made and showed the story through animation. This made the film opening sequence flow very well and looked very good. The Titles were very well integrated.
This opening sequence had a lot about the story of the film in. I have never watched the movie but I can deduce some of the main themes of the film from the opening sequence.

This Opening sequence has a lot of features I would like to include our opening sequence, the main one being integrated titles due to how clever and professional the opening sequence looked due to the titles.

You can find the opening sequence of Catch Me if You Can below

Analysis of My Best Friend's Wedding opening sequence

Analysing film opening sequences will help me to understand the different techniques that can be used to convay differnt meanings across. It will help me look at the bad and the good ways film opening sequences can be made.

Genre

By listening to the cheesy almost cringe worthy song, the feeling of comedy is presented to the audience. The females are dressed in bridesmaids dresses with the the main female dressed in a wedding dress giving the audience a romantic feel. Therefore we can deduce the genre of the film is romanic comedy
Narrative

The Main female throws a bouquets of flowers over her shoulders and to the surprise of her friends manages to catch them. This connotes feelings of a failed marriage that turns into a second marriage with the man she truly loves.

Character

The four females in the clip connates there being four main female characters of the film with the storyine revolving around the one wearing the wedding dress. The wedding dress suggests that there will be a main groom in the film.

Atmosphere

The red background suggests a passionate atmosphere and the dancing and singing creates a jolly, happy atmospheric feeling.

Themes

The wedding dresses connotes very strongly themes of marrige in the film. The bride catching the flowers she throws suggests a theme of love and maybe following her heart over her head.

SettingThe style of the wedding dresses, hair and the titles font has connitations of an old vintage setting. The wedding dresses connotes a wedding setting.

Sound

The old fasioned, catchy song had connitations of comedy and a retro feel. The song suggested the film was about how to keep a man happy.

Titles

The titles were in the font of a wedding invitation letter having strong connitations of a wedding film.

The titles were not intergrated.

Evaluation of the film opening sequence:

I found the opening sequence connatated the themes behind the film in a very good way. There was no doubt in my mind about what the film was about. The only thing I didn't like was the non-intergrated titles. They didn't have a negative effect on the audience but didn't make the film seem clever.

You can find the opening sequence of My Best Friends Wedding below