Task 7

Title sequence analysis

Submarine:

This opening sequence follows a usual pattern of showing the ident first (promoting film 4 and the UK film council). The first shot of the film is then shown which is a panning shot of a bedroom, which is evidently a teenagers bedroom due to the size, etc. The next few shots alternate between the credits, which all fit to a box shape, on a blue background, and the panning shot across the bedroom, which gives a calm simple feel to the film. The font type is also quite simple but looks quite nice the way some words are spread out over a whole line of text like 'wales'. on the second part of the panning shot we start to hear seagulls (diegetic) in the background which instantly gives the audience a clear idea of the location that the film will be set in. We are introduced to the main character Oliver in the third part of the panning shot across the bedroom, after more titles have appeared against a blue background. Almost as soon as we see him we hear a voice over (most likely in his head) of his voice, which has a welsh accent which also adds to the idea of location. Whilst we hear his voice over, we see a shot of him looking out of the bedroom window. I like this opening sequence because it sets up the rest of the film nicely and you really get an idea of what kind of person Oliver is going to be and what the film will be like. 

Stray Dog:
We start this film not in the conventional way, with the directors name instead of the ident. This is due to the fact that it is an independent film rather than one which has had lots of funding behind it. The film starts with the first shot which is a wolf mask on grass, then a the directors name as said before, simultaneously to the music (by Charles Manson). We then cut to a shot of a bookshelf with more titles directly over them. The titles are not blended to fit in with the background which i think works well as they are meant to be the main focus at the start. In time with the music, another title/another shot, this time of a lamp is shown. I think these simple shots at the beginning are very effective as it has more of a focus on the colours and general feel to the film that has been achieved through lighting and editing. Again after this shot we cut to another shot of some green lights moving over a dark background with a title on top of them, to segway into the next shot with the music speeding up. After a last title against a background which features a picture hanging on a wall, it cuuts to the next shot and the main character is introduced. He walks towards the camera, which appears to be in a garden at night. The audience is given the setting of a house and some emotion from the character as he gets very close to the camera and we can see he is upset. He is in fancy dress which adds, with the feature of the green lights and the mask on the grass, that it's a party he is at. The shot of him walking towards the camera is effective as it starts very blurry then as he gets very close it becomes focused but only on his face so the audience can tell he is the main character. Then the last shot of the title sequence comes in which is the title 'Stray Dog' on a dark background. I like this title sequence because at first you would assume all the titles were white but you can see they are close to white but off white and the end title with 'Stray Dog' has a background that is a nice shade of dark brown and i like how this attention to colours and how the opening sequence should look has gone into such detail.