Starting to develop ideas

 

Austin Kleon an US-American author is most famous for the quote ‘Steal like an artist’. He means to
combing impressions and ideas of creations to one new product. For example look at peace’s of media that had an influence on you, no matter if movies, books or any other kind of media. What do they have in common? What are the themes that appear through your list? 

 

My list: 

-Juno

-Rocket man

-Star Wars

-Community  

-Tschik 

-Minecraft 

-The smurfs 

-Minions 

-Ytitty 

-Brooklyn 99

 

Many of the media texts on my list feature characters who cope with tragedy through humour. A sense of escapism is in most of the texts. 

 

Another way to start creating ideas is through playing the ‘what if’ game. Simply think of anything for example Toys, what if Toys could talk and have their own life? The result toy Story. Or Dinosaurs, what if we could bring Dinosaurs back? The result Jurassic Park. 

Sources:

https://austinkleon.com

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austin_Kleon

Kyle Cooper

Kyle Cooper is a graphic designer and director of opening title sequins born on Friday the 13^th and is quite ironically most known for his work on horror films like Se7en, which was covered previously on this blog,  or American Horror story series. He has produced a wide range of titel sequences differing instanly. Additionally to his work on horror he did multiple Super Hero movies or Familey comedy movies like Home Alone, cooper is also well known for his work on TV like for the oscars or ESPN and his work in the video game industry like for Resident Evil. Copper co-founded Prolog Films who since their start in 2003 established themselves as a well known team of directors and designers focusing on Title sequences.
 

His style isn't defined by a genre but rather by patterns. His title cards or rather his typography most often feature movement. This can differ from the hectic glitching movement of his horror work or the slow-moving floating work on pictures like Home Alone. 

The opening titel sequence of the  4^th Mission impossible movie ‘Ghost Protocol’ by director was disgend by Kyle Cooper.

The sequence portrays a fuse being light which then passes by different parts of the narrative. The sequence interduces the multipale side carechkteres as well as the pratagonist Ethen hunt (Tom Cruise) allthough the audiance allready know these actors the sequence interduces the tone of the sequence as well as offering some exposition to viewers who havent seen the previous movies. The flashing colours and fast motion in the sequence is hinting an action adventure. The fast wipes highligth this. There is a non diegetic orchestral soundtrack wich is a version of the main theme wich ewokes memorys of the privious movise the soundtrack  througth the sequence connects the diffrent locations and acctions as it is consitent everything. The sound of the ligth fuse is pleonastic, reminding the audiance of the constant passing of time. The sequence is fast pasted and often hides cuts with fast pasted mvment therby intesifing the action. The white opening credit contrast to the mostly darker toned rest of the sequence making them easy to read. The opening titles are part of the sequence the ‘Mission imposible’ is being created through to fuses coming together connceting the titel and symol of the films. The ‘Ghost protocol’ appears like a typical ghost. The sequnce sucsessfuly interduces the genre and main characters of the movie while enableing the viwer to read the opening credits. 

Sources:

https://www.artofthetitle.com/designer/kyle-cooper/

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0178204/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyle_Cooper

War Films Opening titles: Battle of britan

Battle of britan 

The opening title sequence of the 1969 war drama ‘Battle of Brittan’ by director Guy Hamilton  portraits a ‘a to b journey’ of a Nazi Commander being in a air plane then they drive from the landing strip to a Military base. Especially younger male adults seem to be the target audience of this pictures judging by the topic of war, the images of war machineries wich are stereotypically masculine things  and offcourese the historical context of cinema manly being made for men back then.  This being a war film is clearly set up through the mase if military gear and soldiers. Hundert’s of solders are being shown but only a few are actually seem important as emphasised by their status as they for example get driven around in a car. They are also the only characters shown in medium shot enabling the viewer to connect with them in a distant manner. A tilt medium shot implies the power of one of the commander as his movement controls the viewers perspective. The sequence features multiple pans which reveal new locations demonstrating the degree of facilities of the German arme. There is a non diegetic voice over by a radio anker at the begging of the movie offering some exposition. A non diegetic marsh accompanies the scene adding further feeling of precision and setting the mood for the military. There are diegetic snip bits of shouted German frasses emphasizing the strict militance. The scene is slow pasted and  consist of simple cuts  thereby not distracting from the scenery which features true to time uniforms, gear and signs. The credits are kept in a red blue and white layout reminding the audience of the topic of the movie and contrasting itself to the dark colour pallet used for the Germans. Nearly every shot features a swastika highlighting that they are Nazis and thereby implying their evil. The grey fogie sky further adds to the menace feeling. One commanders coat has white spots making him stand out of the crowd and from a long distance, the director hints his high status. The sequence seem at first glance out dated. But initslef it isshot beautifull the long lasting shots allow the viwer to emerge in the envaiorment. The soundtrack is questionable without context it seems as if it was celebrating the German military due to its heroic sound. A more typically evil soundtrack might have undue this effect. On the other hand is the soundtrack maybe the perfect choice as it highligthsd the threat of by the Nazis.

Sources:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064072/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

  

SciFi opening titles: Attack of the Crab Monsters

The opening sequence of the 1957 horror sci-fi movie ‘Attack of the Crab Monsters’ directed by Roger Corman starring Richard Garland, presents a underwater world where gigantic fish like creatures cause destruction. Back than this movie most likley tried to trgeted audiances who wanted be thriled by a scary fictional world. The sequnces features multipale extra ordenary creatures typical for Sci-Fi movies. The camara moves rapiedly through the scenery shaking when initalatey seeing the monstres higligthing their danger and creating a more intense feeling for the audiance. There are no soundeefect but only a epic non diagetic orchesteral soundtrack playing in the background making again ehmpizizsing the danger outgoing from the crab
monsteres. The sequnce paste speeds uo when ever the monsteres are viable and consits of cuts therby not distracting from the graphics. The scene is drawn making it seem childish for today standarts as modernday aduances are used to relaistic 3d animations. While featuting good artwork the sequnce probably lost its effectivnes in the last 75 yeas, alltough it might not have the same effect as back then the scene is still entertaing due to the grphics and music. 

Sources:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050147/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0

 

Thriller Opening Titels: Catch me if you can

In the opening sequence of ‘Catch me if you can’, a 2002 film by director and producer Steven Spielberg, the silhouette of Tom Hanks character Carl Hanratty chases Leonardo DiCaprio´s character Frank Abagnale Junior. The sequnce is animated the colours are light this appeals to a younger audience but the graphics seem to not just appeal to children but also to more adult audiences. The film therefore seems to be aimed at Family’s. The themes of a chase, eskapism and
suspenese hint a Thriller. First we are interuced to DiCaprio’s charchlter hinitng him as the main chareckter. While the audiance is interudced to Tom Hanks chareckter the
power dynamic between them is higligthed as Hanks seems to apeear gigientic while Dicaprio is nearly being overlooked. The sequence is slow pasted and features a lot of digital tracking shots. The sequnce is synchronous to non-diegetic jazz like soundtrack playing through the duration of the entire sequence. The transitions are often semingles is constant movement making the sequence more dynamic and smooth. Parts of the design transform into the titles like for example a peace of the road. The opening title sequence based on Saul Bass handmade design’s is incredibly memorable, intriguing and iconic just like the beautiful soundtrack by Jhon Williams accompanying the scene. The credits are easy to read while looking incredible. The simplistic design and smooth motions build a soothing feeling. Overall creating a fitting sequnce for the rest of the movie. For these reasons the sequence alone has become iconic and has been referenced in different texts like The Simpsons.

Source: 

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0264464/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0

Horror opening titles: Dead silence

  

Dead silence is a mystery horror movie from 2007 directed by James Wan. The opening title  sequenz portrayals a person building a ventriloquist doll. The opening sequenz hints at a story about a ventriloquist 

doll which was/ is going to be corrupted the doll might be posed by an evil spirit. The Target audience for this movie judging by the is likely going to be typical horror fans, people between the age 15 and 25. The scene features key horror film conventions as the director instantly interduces a dark, claustrophobic environment to the viewer creating a feeling of isolation and being trapped. The sequins seem to feature one character who the audience doesn’t meet but gets to know as they know what their objective seems to be which are as a piece of paper reveals to build the perfect doll. Without seeing the character, they seem creepy or even scary as their actions seem unseal and mysterious. This is highlighted by the unsettling dark blue colour grading and the Soundtrack. The scene is shot in close ups. In the end the director zooms into the eye of the doll highlighting the uncanny valley look of the doll as it features a very detailed nearly human eye. But the director already interduced the fact that this is a doll made from wood. The close ups trap the viewer and leave them without any context disturbing the viewer.  The non-diegetic orchestral soundtrack featuring a heavy use of chimes highlights this. There are also sounds of saws in the background. A sound usually associated with imitate danger resulting in discomfort.  The sequence features multiple jump cuts, which in combination with the red glitching titles create a discomposed feeling.  The props seem to be either old nearly vintage or just defected in their appreance. The shot-composition seems messy as the props are allover the place. The hand acts with precision. The end touches for example the wood the doll is mad of in a nosing slightly voyeuristic way indicating an obsession. Dead silence opening title sequence interduces the genre and instantly gives the viewer from the beginning an idea of the story and mood. The titles are clearly readable and help add to the vibe. At the biging  there are a few lines of text wich provid expossion. This seems in partslazy and unoriginal but is integrated in the scene in a organic way. 

Sources:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0455760/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0

Action opening titles: Hot Fuzz

Director Edgar Wright interduce in the opening sequence of his 2007 action comedy Hot Fuzz starring Simon Pegg a police officer and presents the audicance a quick summary of his resume. The target audience seems to be fans of action movies due to the conflicts portrayed in the sequence but also comedy fans could be targeted as certain parts like Father Christmas sta bbing the officer seem comedic. The sequence features multiple physical fights, military like police, as well as multiple explosions thsese are typical images in action movies. The sequence focuses only one character this is highlighted through multiple close ups of his face allowing the audience to connect with him, ‘Nicholas Angel’ is also often set in centre frame emphasizing how significant he is to the story. There is a non diegetic Voice Over narrating the sequences providing context for the audience. The sequence starts out with diegetic sounds of police sirens while the logos of the production companies are being displayed later one there is a signal long lasting shot of Nicholas Angel walking towards the camara and creating suspenes as the audiance dose not know what going on. The past speeds up making everything happening on screen seem even more intese due to the constrast created before. The fast pasted montage indicates a highlevel of percison and dispalys Angels high skill level. The sequines effectively interduces Nicholas angel character and hints its genre. Due to its comedic elements it is clearly memorable. 

 

Sources: 

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0425112/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0