A genre is mainly recognised by the use of its codes and conventions.
The features used are associated with a genre's style and the content used may be, for example, a particular setting, different character types, various technical codes including lighting or music. In some cases you may also find that some media texts blur genre.
These are used so that audiences are able to recognise these features and therefore expect certain things to happen within the production. An example of this is the most common feature that at the end of a romantic comedy film the two main characters will realise they are in love.
The film I have chosen to analyse is Rush hour 3 simply
because it is my favorite film. . The title sequence of this particular film is
one of my favorite title sequences that I have seen and one that has inspired
my ideas for my opening title sequence for the teen drama.
Firstly my opening title sequence begins with the two main
characters that star in this production which in this case is ‘Chris Tucker’
and ‘Jackie Chan’, behind this we see the
titles with the moving images and the typeface is a bold white font. However, the title of the film appears in a
bright red font which automatically draws our attention back to the titles
rather than the action that is taking place behind. The use of the two main
actors appearing first within the title sequence allows the audience to get
straight into the action with the characters.
Additionally, sound is used with in the background to
emphasise the opening of the film and also uses similar music that is used
within the previous rush hours. We are first introduced to one of the starring
characters, James karter (Chris Tucker) whose actions are typically parallel to
the genre of this production and therefore follows our expectations; the use of
this character is successful because already 18 seconds into the film he is
able to make us laugh. New music is played and the 5 characters follow on from
the main title. Moving images are used throughout the intro of this film. This demonstrates
and allows the audience to establish the genre and tone of the film. The titles
then show the castings, followed by the visual effects, supervisors then the
music, costume designer. The matching
music and moving images helped to clarify the sort of film.
Youth Drama -
Focuses on the social dilemma faced by the main,
which is often a male character.
Youth dramas are seen to be most
popular wuth teen audiences rather than High school drama because youth
dramas are seen as more of an authentic representaton.
Youths feel they
can easily relate to youth dramas.
Characters often rebelllious or are
in conflict with others.
They focus on the difficullties.
Examples of Youth Dramas are Anuvahood and Green Street Hooligans
High School Drama - These became popular in 1970s, 80s and 90s
with lots of variation within the sub-genre. It focuses on the
socialisation of teens and young adults by institutions such as school,
college and at home. Frequently but not always, celebrate the idea of
being or having fun. High school drama in opposite to youth drama often
are girl centred but might focus on a male lead role. They tend to focus
on changes, makeovers or conflict within different groups at school.
Genre: Is defined as a category or type. It helps us understand what the film is
going to be about or how it looks like.
Producers are able to market
films on the basis of what they feel best with that will attract the audience through similary interests. The audience then choose which genre they like best or whats grossing on the market to choose from.
Different types of genres range from horror, comedy, action, drama Drama
Project X - This is my favourite movie which I have chosen to analyse, the title sequence starts of 'with introducing the production company through an sold white font which is aligned to the left and appears on the right when changing credits. 'New Line Cinema'. As well as the written by and the directors this is then moved to the actors. Also sound is used to highlight, of footsteps and omnious music this is also shown through moving images at the background of different scenary through different types of colours from negatives to bright. This is then leads onto the rest of the credits from costume, to music and art producer.
This
type consists of titles appearing over motion in the background. An
example of this can be the title sequence of Layali as there is red and blue title fonts which is aboe the moving images in the background, this can be seen, as there is title images alignged from the left to the right hand of the screen above the moving background as the characters are coming into scene.
Titles - Animation or Motion
Digital technology is the key factor and is editing which is used to attract the characters this does not involve any real footage and has to be created. For example, from the movie requiem for a dream, we see Saras eyes being zoomed into and played with through the use of excess drug use, of course this is done through the use of computers and animation as well as motion.
Titles - Black screen
This is normally used with white text due to the high contrast between
the two colours, making the titles stand out. Type of text is used to
drop hints about the film's time, genre or main characters. For example, a white title against the black screen could portay a sense of horror. As it is not a vibrant colour which could indicate a start to the movie as being slow and make the audience more into the movie as they get to feel the sense of genre through the title against the black screen.
Titles on still images
The images and text put together through the font show the audience a sense of film genre as it is a few secound images to represent both the characters and scene. For example, from Hairspray the audience see the characters presented in the form of still images.
I have chosen to analyse the title sequence from the movie 21 Jump Street and Kung Foo Panda
Title Sequence: 21 Jump Street
opens with the credits of who played a role to the movie, from the actors such as Jonah Hill to the director Chris Miller. This went in the name of the directors appear followed by the names of the writers and
producers with the cast appearing just before the title screen with the most
notable actors first. The typography of the title 21 Jump Street is a bold font and has the colours of red and blue in order to show a sense of authoirty through the colours which portayed Police sirens, this lead onto the film as it showed a sense of genre to the movie as being action based. Moreover being placed in the middle of the screen, the typography is aligned on the middle of a black background in order to make the typo uniquely stand out for the audience and signify the movie.
Title Sequece: Kung Foo Panda, the title sequence starts with an animation of moving typography. DreamWorks, is preseted after a few scenes of the characters and scenary.
The sound links well to the title sequence, and is an oriental Chinese
type theme.
The title sequence then moves on in a flash transition to
introduce the title of the movie in big bold letters, (the music plays
alongside this as it changes to a higher pitch sound to introduce the
title) This all takes place as an overlay on top of a sunset type scene,
and then as the title is used as an overlay above this scene, it moves
into the actual setting. The title of the movie then fades away and
action begins, narrative is used to tell accompanying the music and a
backstory is told to give the audience an idea of what to expect in the
current movie. The backstory is told in a 2D animated perspective, the
title sequence then ends and moves on swiftly into the actual movie
which is told in a 3D animated perspective.
A title sequence is the method used by films to preset their title,
key production and cast members.
A title sequence is also used to set
the audience up with what the film is going to be about, and gives the
audience key information without having to shoot a whole scene of the
film. Without the title sequence the audience wouldnt feel lost to as what the film may be about, and which is used to set a genre for the audience,
for example with Dawn of the Dead, the audience felt lost and confused to as where the zombies came from, the title sequence played a significant role as it was used to filled in the
lost information, so the audience had a better understanding of the movie.
My favourite film and one I have chosen to analyse is Bad Boys. The title sequence in this film is one of the best title sequences I have seen and one that is most memorable and you will surely not be bored of it. Its starts of firstly by the production company "Colombia Pictures" behind this we see moving images and the typeface is a bold white font. Then it is followed by the two main actors, the big stars. Martin Lawrence and Will Smith. That's all is shows for a while and the audience gets straight into the action with the characters. Sound is used in the background to emphasise the opening and keep us aware that it's just the beginning. Once a bit of the action has come to an end it kicks in with another title sequence. The film title appears in black bold font in capital letters with a border around it. The typeface is almost rubbed out to show the grittiness of the boys and they are really "bad". New music is played and the 11 actors are followed. It is still within moving images and at one point thee is still image with a landscape of Miami being shown in the back. This helps to demonstrate to the audience and allow the audience to establish the genre and tone of the film. The titles then show the castings by then who done the music then followed by the 2 music supervisors then the costume designer: film editor, production designer and finishes of with the director of photography. The matching music and moving images helped to clarify the sort of film.
Titles on a black screen - simple background: basic and usually a white typeface e.g Psycho
Titles on still images - Text incorporated with still image to highlight genre of the film.
Titles over moving images - Incorporated credit titles with moving images behind the titles, usually no dialogue but sound. e.g Rear Window
Titles using animation or motion - Titles with animation behind it and tells a mini story for the film and sets the tone of the film e.g. Casino Royale.
My favourite title sequence would have to be titles using animation and motion as I don't really pay attention to title sequences but with animations it can be entertaining and able for it to be memorable.
In my findings I found that the credits and the number of titles depended on the film. Whether it was High School Drama or Youth Drama it didn't matter. However it's fair to say that High School Dramas have more credits than Youth Dramas. The Youth Drama This is England had particularly the most amount of titles and this due to the fact that during the title sequence there was footage of real life happenings to show the audience the background story and what the film is about and I guess you need a lot of production to do so. In the High School dramas "the social network" and "Entre les murs (The Class)", they both had the production of the film come first. "the social network ahd more titles because i think its a more well known movie and it had important actors while "the class" had less titles because it wasn't "hollywood". In the Youth Dramas there was a contrast within them also. In "Boyz N The Hood" there was only 2 titles which was the production "colombia pictures" and the film title. This could be due to the fact the fil was made a long time ago.
In other words Genre can also be defined as category or type. It helps us understand what the film is going to be about or how it looks like. Producers are able to market films and the audience can determine what film they like. There are different types of Genres ranging from horror; comedy; sci-fi; action; adventure; romance; documentaries; comi-tragedy etc.
Horror
Action/Crime/Thriller
Teen Drama - film based on a certain genre. Mostly about the "coming of age" of teenagers and their behaviours in life.
Youth Drama - Focuses on the social dilemma faced by the main, which is often a male character.Youth dramas are seen to be most popular wuth teen audiences rather than High school drama because youth dramas are seen as more of an authentic representaton. Youths feel they can easily relate to youth dramas. Characters often rebelllious or are in conflict with others. They focus on the difficullties of adolescent experience.
Examples of Youth Dramas are Anuvahood and Kidulthood
Mostly British films on portryaing youths they often do youth dramas.
High School Drama - These became popular in 1970s, 80s and 90s with lots of variation within the sub-genre. It focuses on the socialisation of teens and young adults by institutions such as school, college and at home. Frequently but not always, celebrate the idea of being or having fun. High school drama in opposite to youth drama often are girl centred but might focus on a male lead role. They tend to focus on changes, makeovers or conflict within different groups at school.
An example of a High School Drama is Coach Carter.
In todays lesson we watched different title sequences. One of the title sequences that we analysed was High school musical 2 which is a popular high school teen drama.
The main key plot idea that we gathered from this title sequence was that summer time had finally arrived and school was out. Additionally the storyline is introduced in a chronological order and is very consistent, we know this as throughout the opening title sequence we are not introduced to any flash backs.
All the main characters are introduced at the beginning of the sequence, however the two main characters (Troy and Gabriella) both get the most screen time. Therefore we know that these characters are dominant and we also witness two young peoples romance.
This high school musical film challenges the negative idea and stereotype of teenagers being moody/grumpy as we see that the young people are joyful and active.
Key Plots: Young boy (Santiago) dreams of being a footballer however is living in poverty. He moves out of his country to a barrio section of LA. The title sequence is displayed with moving images Order of storyline: It is in chronological order , it shows the coming of age from being a child to a teenager. Introducing characters: Santiago and his family. Mother and father, siblings and Grandma. Representation: It is a complex representaion because it consists of positive and negative representation. Negative because the family is running away from police and trying to get out the country but positive because its for a good cause and later on we find out it enables Santiago to follow his dreams
I analysed title sequences from The Cabin in the Woods and 21 Jump Street. The Cabin in the Woods The titles in this sequence appears on both animation and moving images. The writing itself was red which connotes danger and is the colour of blood. This is emphasised when the titles appear over moving images as the font itself is smudged as if written in blood. This gives the audience a clear understand of what the genre is and also of what is to come, which will clearly involve blood being shed. http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/the-cabin-in-the-woods/ 21 Jump Street The titles in this sequence were presented over moving images, which were snippets of action and scenes to do with the genre of the film. The size and colour of the font was large and white which had the opposite connotation than cabin in the woods. The action engaged the audience and foreshadows future events. http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/21-jump-street/
I analysed the title sequences from The Cabin In The Woods and 21 Jump Street.
The Cabin in The Woods
The title sequence here consisted of animation to present the genre of the film. The text of the writing was in in red and in form of blood to represent the horror and gory genre.The title was the first thing you see in big capital bold red letters to make sure it strikes the audience. While the actors names and directors came along within the film , so the film was commencing but we still had the credits come up. So it was an example of a title sequence with animation and moving images.
21 Jump Street
The title sequence in 21 jump street was presented with snippets of action footage and images to highlight the different genres of the film.Therefore a different aspect of the film was shown so the audience can gain an insight of what the film is necessarily going to be about.The title sequence was kept at a simple bold font, just plain white writing so it was a contrast to the title sequence of The Cabin in The Woods. I preferred 21 Jump street since it really engaged me even though it was just an opening sequence because normally i wouldn't pay attention to title sequences however i acknowledged it here and I feel it s memorable rather than The Cabin in the Woods.
Summing up, title sequences have become more ideal and intriguing to appeal to audiences. They set the tone and genre of the film for audiences to gain an expectation. It gives a build up to the film as we do not jump straight into the film but title sequences almost allow the audience to imagine first what theuy think then after everything is revealed.
Drama
Horror
