Title Research: Dr. No(1962)

How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences of the film?

There were 32 titles in the opening sequence of "Dr. No."

What images are prioritized in the opening sequence?

The opening sequence mostly consisted of flashing lights and dancing silhouettes near the end. The sequence begins with the iconic James Bond intro(Where he shoots the camera).

What connotations do the images carry?

The flashing and colorful lights made it seem like the audience was in store for a more light-hearted film. The film itself most likely deviates from this assumption; however, that's what the intro sequence seemed like: a light-hearted film.

How is the genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset?

Excluding the beginning of the film, the opening rivals most of what I've seen on these websites. While some of the intros definitely had color, none of them had as much as this one did. The beginning was the only part that felt in place, due to it being so iconic.

How does the film establish an enigma from the outset?

There really isn't anything to gain here from the opening, there's flashing lights and people dancing. The only thing we can guess on is that the man from the beginning is important in some way.

What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience?

The iconic James Bond intro is really the only way I'd see this appealing to the target audience. That's not to say that everything else would drive them away, but it is the only part that's comfortable.

How has technology been used effectively?

Again, most of the opening is in some way animation and an effective use of the tools at hand.

Website used: Watch the Titles
https://www.watchthetitles.com/titlesequence/dr.no/

Title Research: Kiss Kiss Bang Bang(2005)

How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences of the film?

The opening sequence of "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" contained 21 titles.

What images are prioritized in the opening sequence?

The opening sequence show images of crimes being committed;images relating to a, or multiple females; and shots of the book that the movie was inspired by.

What connotations do the images carry?

These images give a loose outline of what the movie is going to be about. Although, it's a bit confusing at first. It makes the audience curious about what's being shown and has them wondering about it.

How is the genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset?

The opening has plenty of shots of possible victims, protagonists, and villains. Alongside the image of a pair of lips leaving a kiss print, the opening fits snugly into the mystery genre.

How does the film establish an enigma from the outset?

In the opening, we see shots of someone breaking out of prison, someone else being pushed off a balcony at a party, and a third person holding a pistol all in different shots. From these shots, one can put together an outline of what to expect from this movie. Also, there are times where we would see a pair of lips leaving a print. To me, this suggests that a female is the antagonist or some other important role.

What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience?

As said before, the opening sequence fits snugly into the mystery genre, especially the detective story portion of it. So seeing familiar imagery in the opening would make the audience who are into mystery films feel right at home.

How has technology been used effectively?

The opening sequence is made up of 2D animation involving silhouettes as the main subjects. It's done very well, I'd say it's an effective use.

Website used: Art of the Title
https://www.artofthetitle.com/title/kiss-kiss-bang-bang/

Title Research: Hostage(2005)

How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences of the film?

The opening sequence of "Hostage" contained 31 titles.

What images are prioritized in the opening sequence?

The opening sequence shows different shots of a city while there is heavy police activity. There are police cars blocking off a crime scene, police snipers in position, police teams preparing to search a house, etc.

What connotations do the images carry?

The images give off the feeling that there's some operation taking place that the reader doesn't know about. An operation that may relate to the title of the film, Hostage, but will definitely be revealed during the movie.

How is the genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset?

The visuals of the police operation taking place fits in with the genre by fitting in with the general view on mystery. When thinking about a mystery film, it's not uncommon to think of a detective or policeman trying to solve a case. So the shots of the police force in the middle of an operation are familiar in the genre.

How does the film establish an enigma from the outset?

The footage of the police force piques the interest of the audience. What are they going up against? Why did they need to block off the street? Is this gonna happen in the movie?

What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience?

As said before, the police aren't a rare occurrence in mystery films. So those who come into the theater to see one, won't be put off by finding out in the beginning sequence that the protagonists are a part of the police.

How has technology been used effectively?

The opening sequence is entirely made up of CGI (computer generated imagery), so a pretty good use of technology.

Website used: Watch the Titles
https://www.watchthetitles.com/titlesequence/hostage/

Title Research: The Usual Suspects(1995)

How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences of the film?

The opening sequence of "The Usual Suspects" contained 25 titles.

What images are prioritized in the opening sequence?

In terms of imagery, the film doesn't really go for anything exciting. It shows a body of water and pans across it while showing its credits. There's nothing but the water and the music.

What connotations do the images carry?

The lack of visual content makes the opening sequence mysterious in a way. Some may see it as bland and boring, while others could read it as another part of the mystery. What, if any, significance does this body of water hold?

How is the genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset?

This type of opening, the type where nothing is shown, gives nothing away. It holds the movie's secrets until it's time to give them away. Sort of like solving a mystery, you start off with nothing then gradually build up to the final revelation.

How does the film establish an enigma from the outset?

As mentioned before, some audience members may be trying to figure out what the significance of the water was. However, this isn't really something that'll pop out to everyone as important.

What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience?

The opening doesn't cater to any audience, it provides a single reel of footage and nothing else. To me, it seems like the advertising and cast is what appealed to the audiences of this film. The opening sequence serves to draw in the crowd that have already been enticed by the rest of the material.

How has technology been used effectively?

The simplistic design of this sequence doesn't take much technology to pull off. While I can imagine that there were aspects for stabilization, at its core, the sequence is just footage of a body of water at night. Nothing special, really.

Website used: Art of the Title
https://www.artofthetitle.com/title/the-usual-suspects/

Watch the Titles Website

      The website above, watchthetitles.com, is similar to artofthetitle.com. It gives access to the opening scenes of movies and television shows. Although this website has a lot more other forms of media. Along side movies and television shows, there's also video games, event titles, interviews, student projects, and an event named 'french fridays.' Using this website is a lot more user friendly compared to Art of the Title. There's a list of categories on the opening page, so it's easy to pick what form of media you want to see the opening of and scroll from there. Skimming through the website, the list of movies are a little lackluster. Looking closely, there are a total of 108 movies with more stashed away in a 'watch more' section. Which sounds good, that amount of movies goes against my initial thought. However, there's still the concern of how many of those movies fit into the mystery genre. I don't plan on using a single website for my research, but it's still comforting to know that there is a good chance that there's more than four mystery films in this catalog. I am confident that I'll be able to pick out two movies to research from this website, then two more from artofthetitle.com. I plan to use this website first, due to how much easier it is to see all the movies in one place. a feature I wished these websites had, was somewhere to see the genre of the film without searching it up or reading the description. Other than that, there are no other qualms with the websites.

Art of the Title Website

      The website shown above, artofthetitle.com, gives access to the title sequences from different media. There are movies and television shows on the same website, allowing for one to see the differences in their titles. The movies and shows span across a wide range of genres, which results in a variation of title designs. While watching the openings, I am meant to look for the number of titles, images prioritized and their connotations, use of technology, and any form of foreshadowing in the imagery. In class, we went over an opening sequence and got more insight into the task we will have to complete. We were told that the title 'directed by:' will be the last before the movie starts. Also to remember that this should be applied in the opening sequence that we make. When looking at the opening sequence in class, I noticed that the imagery could be showing the plans of a project leading the major event. This and the examples given by our teacher, the James Bond opening and titles coming of hearts for a romantic film, gives me the impression that the imagery in the openings I watch will be explicit. For my genre, the mystery genre, I expect there to be some detective paraphernalia. Items such as magnifying glasses, footprints, handcuffs, or a wood pipe. Although, I won't be caught off guard if there was something specifically relating to the movie at hand. Some movies can give away their big twist in the opening sequence, although it's not easy to tell when it's done before watching the movie and coming back. Art of the Title has a small hurdle to jump through, that hurdle is the home screen. When first loading into the website, it advertises a top 10 list and doesn't have any clear way to go to its full catalog. It's only a small hurdle as there is a drop down menu that can take you to the catalog of film openings.

Genre Research: Spider-Man: Far From Home

      Spider-Man: Far From Home uses both high and low angles to show off Spider-Man's agility. The movie takes place in Europe, so the set is built to reflect this. There are lots of cutaways to show the action and keep it as the focus. The action scenes require the camera to follow the subject quickly, which is done well. The quick movements don't get too jarring to watch throughout. The movie is packed with diegetic sound, as buildings are destroyed and shots go off. The action scenes are definitely something to marvel at, they are well made and fun to watch. Again, there is nothing to complain about. It's a good movie.

Genre Research: IT: Chapter 2

         Toward the end, IT: Chapter 2 uses low angle shots to show off its tense dialogue scenes (namely the ritual scene). It takes place mostly in the town of Derry, a small town. So the setting gives impact to everything that's happened in the movie. The editing involved reaction shots in the beginning of the film. Ambient sound was used to sell that Derry was a real place and it worked. I liked how well the second movie tied to the first one and gave resolution to the events in the first film. There wasn't anything I had a big problem with, it was a pretty good film altogether.

Genre Research: John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum

     
      John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum shows off its action with eye level shots, so that everything's in view. It has a lot of different settings, from the streets of the city to out in the desert. The lighting and mood changes often but stays tense as the audience wonders how John is gonna get out of this scrap. There are a lot of shot/reverse shots, normally used to show off the different ways John takes out his adversaries. The score jumps up whenever the action does and stays consistent with it. I definitely enjoyed the action scenes, they were well choreographed despite being a bit unbelievable. There really wasn't much that I disliked, the action scenes can get a bit unrealistic at times but that never gets in the way.

Genre Research: Insidious

      Insidious, the first of its series, starts off with low angles to show off its characters. It takes place at the residence of our two main characters Josh and Renai Lambert, so the setting is just a normal home. There are scenes where shot/reverse shots are used to show the audience what one of the characters is telling the others about. The movie produces a dark mood, most noticeably with the lighting. Usually, the intense scenes happen in a darker setting. As the movie wants to tell a story about its characters, it has dialogue to give exposition or to build these characters. The movie was good at building tension, as it is easy to do with the horror genre. However, I didn't like how some scenes were flooded with dialogue.

Genre Research: Selected Genre

      I've decided to go with the mystery film genre. I've decided to go with this genre as my pitch already fits it. So I'll be doing a mystery film about someone discovering that he's being watched. I did have pitches that fit into the other genres, but I liked this one the most. The other pitches would also be difficult to act out, due to my working alone. In the end, the mystery film had the most allure out of the three. Which is why I chose it.

Genre Research: Horror and Action Films

      For this blog, I'll be choosing two more genres and going over their different elements. Just like my power point, but in text form.
      The first genre, horror contains a lot of high angle shots. Usually to show the point of view of the antagonist of the film, if they're looking down at something else. The horror genre also creates a dark, gloomy vibe no matter where it's located. Usually set at night or having some other effect to make the setting seem a little bit more eerie. There are frequently cross cuts to mask violence or to build tension. In horror movies, there is normally a singular antagonist with a set of protagonists to be killed off. Two examples of horror movies are: IT: Chapter 2 and Insidious. There's multiple examples of non-diegetic sound, a very famous one being Jason's theme from the Halloween series. I admire the ability the genre has to easily create tension in it's scenes. I don't like being scared, so I don't watch them.
      The second genre, action contains lots of eye level angles. Usually to show the protagonist's face.The action genre creates a normal environment usually, one that seems similar to one that we go through day to day. Then fill that environment with not so ordinary scenarios. Just like horror films, action films normally include a lot of cross cuts. This time, used to convey the action scenes. Normally, the protagonist has a goal to achieve and goes through tons of enemies to do so. Two examples of actions films are John Wick and Transformers. Action films normally contain a score that picks up whenever the action builds up. I enjoy the action scenes in these films whenever they're made well. I don't enjoy when these scenes draw out the run time.

Genre Research: Powerpoint

      At the beginning of the year, I was assigned to make a power point on a genre of my choosing. I decided to choose the mystery/detective film genre. The power point went over the different conventions of the mystery genre. Conventions such as what camera angles are used the most, the miss en scene, types of sound, and common editing. After going through the common elements, I was told to discuss what elements of the genre I liked and disliked. Throughout the power point, I inserted different examples of what was being talked about on the slide. For example, on the camera movements slide, I added a gif to represent of the movements being used. The slide for sound was difficult to get around, I planned to have a video inserted into the power point so that the sound could play. Evidently, something went awry and I settled for including frames from the video. The end product resulted in a very flawed power point that looks cool from afar.

And The Winner Is...

      Out of the last 3 pitches presented in the last blog, I've decided to get rid of one of the proposed plots. The one I've decided to get rid of is the action movie. Although I really liked the idea, I don't see how I'd be able to pull it off without group members. One would think that acting would be the same without group members, as the main antagonists are supposed to be clones of the protagonists. But having group members would help by giving me body doubles to use for the clones. Getting rid of this idea leaves me with the horror and mystery films. Both of which have their ups and downs.
      The horror film would be fun to film, the idea I have in mind has me frantically trying to keep a door closed against a monster that isn't there. But then I would think of what to do next, I can think of a few ideas of what to do while staying inside of the requirements of this project. Scenes including my character breaking down or finding a way to keep the door shut would pad out the run time. Hopefully enough to make it possible to go with this idea, but there is a problem with the starting scene that could ruin this pitch altogether. Filming at home presents the issue of filming in a way that doesn't disturb anyone. If I open the movie with me loudly opening and slamming the door closed repeatedly, doing so for multiple takes, someone would take notice and possibly reprimand me. However, I could warn anyone currently in the house of what I'm doing and the noise it'll make. Alternatively, there may be a way I could act out the scene without making any noticeable noise at all.
      The mystery film would be interesting to set up. I'd come up with different places to put the camera that would provide a more believable set of angles. Then I could work to add an effect that would make it look like the footage was being watched on a surveillance monitor. I'm excited to mess around with the possibilities of this plot; the different camera angles, the acting in scenes, and the preparation all give me a challenge and opportunity to make a decent video. Out of the two pitches, this is the one that has my mind racing the most. I have tons of idea on how to expand this and the only limitations I have are my creativity.
      Out of the two pitches presented, I think it's obvious that I'm going with the mystery film. It has so many different paths I could take with it. There's enough ideas on what to do that I could shoot past 2 minutes. This is good, as I won't have to worry about stretching out the video to reach the maximum time. One of the ideas I have, requires me to prerecord some footage to watch. Which is interesting as I'll have to think of how to make that believable as well. I could have the person watching tune into the feed to discover the protagonist investigating one of his cameras. Or I could bring the camera back to reveal who it is surveying the main character. To me, it was clear which plot I was going to decide on for this project.

Start of the Final Task

      Hello again, I'm meant to introduce myself once more in this paragraph. Although, there isn't a lot of things I could say to deviate from the original blog. I'm still the same, quiet person I was from before. This is shown by how I've been working alone all school year. Just like before, I stick to myself and tend to get my work done on my own. I don't feel the need to go back and reread my first introduction blog, as I know what I said. I'm confident that me saying that I'm introverted is just redundant to say. It also wouldn't be a surprise that I'm working on my own once more on this final project. It'll present a challenge, but I'm sure I'll be able to pull it off. Coming up with solutions to the always present issue of working alone has been pretty enjoyable and I look forward to doing so once more.
      Over the year, I've grown in film making substantially. Before making my first video, I was only familiar with editing. The other skills, filming and blogging, I've come into contact briefly before. Having to work on my own has sped up my growth in these areas as well. Specifically, filming was the hardest part of the process. I had to find out a way to start and stop the takes naturally. Which was an easy problem to fix, then there was getting the right camera angles. This would be made easy if there was a camera person who could adjust the camera while I was in frame, but having me as the camera person made it so I had to adjust as I went. As stated before, I found it enjoyable to find solutions to the different problems that would arise and I look forward to being able to do so again. This time should be a lot easier, as I've been through this twice before.
      A pitch is when a movie idea is described quickly in attempt to get it made. A pitch is supposed to be quick, normally just one sentence of 25 words, so that questions can be asked and answered. I've three pitch ideas for my final task. My first pitch is a horror film, where someone being chased by some unknown monster or person is trapped in their room and has to find a way to escape. The second pitch is an mystery film, where cameras are set up in a room to spy on someone and one is found by that person. Now the question is, who set it up? The third pitch is an action film, where clones have been made of one person and they begin to rebel against the original.

Me and my group member

My group member and I hard at work