Friday, January 31, 2020

Title Research: Crime/Action

This film is Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.
How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film?
-19 titles are shown in the first 4 minutes of the movie.
What images are prioritized in the opening sequence?
-Images that are prioritized in the opening sequence would be Austin Powers and freeze frames of him jumping up and dancing and stuff.
What connotations do the images carry?
-Connotations of him would be everyone loving him and you are supposed to think that it is pretty dumb of everyone for thinking that because there isn’t that much that's special about him.
How is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset?
-The genre of this movie is humorous and the way they reinforce this is by using technical and symbolic codes like having over the top cliches, funny bits, and funny freeze frames.
How does the film establish an enigma from the outset?
-The film uses enigmas in the outset with subtle jokes and the font of the titles.
What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience?
-In the outset, strategies the film uses to ensure that it appeals to the target audience is by having hilarity going on constantly through the beginning.
How has technology been used effectively?
Technology that has been used were camera angles like wide shots, medium shots, long shots, and establishing shots to help convey the jokes they are putting in; transitions like running from people, funny disguises, and leading a parade for comedic timing; editing like cross cuts, freeze frames, and a sound track to fit everything together.

Title Research: Action

This film is Godzilla: Final Wars
How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film?
-a total of 16 title cards are put in the first minute and 32 seconds of the opening
What images a prioritized in the opening sequence?
-this opening uses images from past Godzilla movies to make the tone of the movie nostalgic but also thrilling.
What connotations do the images carry?
-these images of past Godzilla movies and in universe past events carry a very nostalgic feel for viewers who have grown up with Godzilla and the destruction can get everyone excited.
How is genre  reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset?
- the titles of the people who worked on the movie are coated in fire, a power of Godzilla that is most commonly known by the masses. the machinery that usually goes in to Godzilla movies is present here as well.
How does the film establish an enigma from the outset?
this film does quite the contrary, with this title card establishing what everyone wants out of  a Godzilla movie, action, and giant monsters fighting it out.
What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience?
- a montage of past godzilla destruction scenes and title cards coated in fire make sure that the audience knows there in for some classic Godzilla destruction.
How has technology been used effectively?
-cutting back and forth through older Godzilla movies and coating the title cards in real life fire make this opening candy for the eyes and much more futuristic that past movies openings.

Title Research: Romance/Comedy

This film is Laws of Attraction. Title Research: How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film? 17 What images are prioritized in the opening sequence? images of a city scape and letters fading in and out in a stylish manner. What connotations do the images carry? these images show the viewer that the movie will have to do majorly with the city and that the main character is a female due to the voice over How is genre  reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset? the light and fluffy music and bright colors give the viewer an impression of romance. this is solidified through the main characters voice over How does the film establish an enigma from the outset? the film leaves major plot points in mystery, like the main love interest and the characters face to hopefully keep the viewer guessing and wanting more, profiting. What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience? most viewers of a romance movie are not expecting a hard rock song over blood red visuals, so light colors and soft music are perfect for most everyone wanting a lighthearted romance. How has technology been used effectively? 2d animation was used to captivate and smoothly transition title cards

Title Research: Thriller


   Here is an opening sequence from the movie "The Game" (1997) that I found on https://www.artofthetitle.com/title/the-game/ . It is a mystery/drama film.
1. Only 4 titles are displayed during this opening sequence. There are no actors, directors, or any person's name in the introduction. This is because the director states that he doesn't believe in decorative titles.
2. Images that are prioritized are a man that is wearing a white suit, and young children, and more specifically, a young boy, who we can assume to be the protagonist.
3. These images give a sense of nostalgia as well as a feeling of discomfort and uneasiness due to the effects on the film.
4. The genre is reinforced through this because of the puzzle pieces at the very beginning for the 4 titles, which represent a mystery that needs to be solved. The other thing is that we don't know about anyone or anything yet, or why those people are gathered, so that's also very mysterious.
5. It establishes an enigma because we don't know these characters at all, and then at the very end, it cuts to what seems like present day, and he has just splashed his face with water, so we can assume he is having some sort of flashback or dream. It makes as want to know about this character.
6. Some strategies the intro uses is to keep mysterious to not give too much away to the audience, and the use of music to make it even more mysterious.
7. A very cool effect is used  in this opening sequence. They edited the film to make it look like very old footage. It makes it very mysterious. They also used kind of a graphic match in that at the end, they were showing a little boy, and then they quickly cut to a man who is now in present day, and it allows to assume he is the boy.

Title Research: Watch the Titles


 My AICE media teacher assigned us to research two different media websites, one being watchthetitles.com. When I first opened the website, I was greeted with a page that looked like this: 






I was not sure what to expect, but after further research on the website, this is what I found:

This website is "A project dedicated to the art of title design." Instead of enjoying the design of the actual movie, this website wants you to appreciate the design and thought that goes into the title. You see some examples of movie titles at the main website screen. 

After I research and saw the basics of the home page, I started to explore the website a little more. I started by clicking on the tab that says "title sequences." Once I clicked this, I saw a number of different title scenes from popular movies, some of which I recognized. From this page, you can click on a title sequence from a movie that you want to watch. This helped me understand the actual meaning of a "title sequence." After going through the title sequence tab, I clicked on the next one, which is "Designers". I already knew what to expect when clicking on this slide. This tab shows you a list of title designers. Once you click on one of their names, it tells you about what movie titles they have designed, what company they work for, and a quote from them. Finally, the last tab says "studios." This slide shows a list of studios. Once you click on one of the studio names, it tells you which title was made at that studio. It also tells you a brief description of the studio and what happens there.

Title Research: Art of the Title

My AICE media teacher assigned us to research two different media websites, one being artofthetitle.com. When I first opened the website, I was greeted with a page that looked like this:






Since I already researched the other website first, I knew somewhat what to expect. At first, I did not know exactly what a “title sequence” was, so I looked up the actual media definition. A title sequence (also called an opening sequence or intro) is the method by which films or television programmes present their title and key production and cast members, utilizing conceptual visuals and sound. As I researched and explored the website, I found two tabs on the top. The first one was titled “title sequences.” Once I clicked on it, I found headings saying “Top title sequences of 2019” and others. There were also headings of title sequences from popular movies, as well as title sequences from classic movies. 

I then clicked on the other heading named “designers + studios.” This reveals a massive list of names of title sequence designers, as well as studios where the title sequences are made. IF you click on specific names/studios, it will show a picture of that person/studio and a brief description of who they are, and what they did in the media industry. This website is definitely a great learning experience for anyone that is interested in media. Before going into the website, I had little knowledge of what a title sequence was and their importance. 

Sunday, January 26, 2020

Genre PowerPoint Revisited







We need to research genres for our final project and since we already did a PowerPoint on this genre, we will use it. The genre was western and we did this genre because we randomly drew it out of a hat. We had done this presentation at the beginning of the year before we had done any filming. We will not be using this genre in our final project because it doesn't seem to fit our pitch. The presentation was to give examples of lighting,camera angles, movements, Mis-en-scene, and the elements of the genre. Westerns use lots of natural sunlight, lots of camera movements, and almost all camera angles. Westerns also have a dessert setting, wild west props, and violence.





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