Film titles

Film titles are very important for a film, they are the first thing the audience will see so they need to be suitable for the genre of the film. They are important because,

• They give a first impression of the film
• They outline the film makers intentions for the film
• They set up the expectations of the film.

If a films opening titles are very plain and boring then the audience may be put off because a bad impression has been given and now the audience is expecting the film to be boring so are less likely to engage and watch. Opening titles of films have changed drastically over the years, its no longer what can physically done, what with the continuous advances in technology its all down to budget. Big budget films now have credits which are described as works of art. Once again this to make a good impression to the audience, to get them engaged and excited about the film due to the exciting credits. A great example of this is Casino Royale

Although there is alot more creative freedom when it comes to opening credits now there are still a few rules that need to be followed. Legal obligation means that everyone involved in the film needs to be credited and there is a special order they need to be credited and a certain amount of time their name needs to be seen  for. The order of the names is very important as the order determines how important that person is to the film, for example you wouldn't have a small part actor's name come before the main character's.

This films titles are very elaborate, this is a very big budget film so they could go all out on them. There is a running theme throughout of card suits. This also links into the film name so just by seeing the title sequence and knowing the name of the film the audience have a very clear idea about some of the themes in the film. As well as the suits being involved in the titles there are also long strings of things coming out around the characters, this shows connotations of gambling and cards being dangerous and engulfing. The actual titles in this opening are quite small and inconspicuous, this could be because the production company spent so much money on this opening and giving the audience ideas as to what themes would be seen in the film they dont want the written titles to distract. The titles are big and central enough to be noticed and recognised but they won't particually capture the audiences attention.

What works well in a student film?

After watching and analysing student films in the thriller genre I have come to the conclusion that the best thing to do when making a film open is to keep it simple!
The best film I saw was the one where the least happened. The makers kept it simple and focused on introducing the characters, just giving a hint at the narrative and concentrated on making sure the conventions of the genre were met and focused on making the credits accurate and interesting.

I think by keeping things simple as a group we can add more in the post production stages like using the Foley effect, it might be more time consuming but over all it will reduce hum and noise and give the whole piece a higher quality feel. Also spending more time on things like lighting will give the piece a higher quality more professional look. In one of the films a looked at there was camera glare due to lighting on the location. If we look at things using different ratios of natural and unnatural light I think we will be able to get a good balance and will need to spend less time editing it and less time later re filming parts giving us more time to find good editing effects and music to use. I think the use of voice overs worked well to build suspense within the thriller genre and to give an eerie feeling, although if we were to do this I don't think it would be a good idea to have someone over dubbing it as it will be really hard to get it perfect and if its even slightly out it will look unprofessional and messy.

One thing that I didn't think worked well in student films were fight scenes. They always looked messy and very staged. we have to remember we have a very small budget when making these films so shouldn't over aim. The film will look a lot better if its made well but the content is simple than if we try something really outgoing, dont have the budget or resources to make look professional and it ends up looking poor quality. Another thing that we need to make sure we do well when it comes to making our film is casting. Although we only have the people available to us we have to make sure that they are compatent actors and that they fit the part we are casting them for. For example if we are casting the lead male protagonist for a thriller film it is unlikely that the character is going to be short and skinny, to make the genre obvious we would have to go with someone who is tall and well built so they fit the audiences pre conceptions about characterisation.

The fight scene in this film looks quite messy and unproffessional and like they haven't spent much time working it out. To make a sucessful fight scene it would need to be very well planned so everything flows and looks like a natural fight. Also the camera angles used highlights the fact that it is a fake fight as its clear that the hits don't reach, if they had used more shots that were directly behind someone the fight would have looked more realistic.

Student Film Analysis Three (Thriller)

The third film I am analysing is called Impunity

Once again this film has a lot of thriller conventions that make it succesful but it still has some issues that the other films also had.

This film is very continuous, it starts telling a story from the off set and continues with it through the whole opening, this makes it feel more like an opening all together. It introduces the characters and gives us an idea of whats to come. Having the man running down the stairs for a lot of it builds suspense as it makes the audience want to know where he is going and why is it so important, as he didn't wait for the lift. The close up on the bag at the start makes the audience think that it is going to be important so makes them look out for it at the start, it also doesn't show the owner of the bag's face, this could imply that he is going to be the antagonist of the piece as it is a convention of thriller films that the antagonist stays hidden and the protagonist is trying to unmask them. There is some good camera work in this film, ther are a lot of pan and tracking shots used. Sometimes in student films these can be tricky to do well but for the most part in this film they were consistant in speed and were steady.

There is a lot of noise in this film, this mixed with the high tempo loud music makes it hard to listen to and follow, by using the foley effect the makers could have muted the clips and later added the sound to make it easier to listen to and sound more professional. The credits start off well, the production companies and the main actors names are shown at the right time but then no other credits are given, this is bad as it not only doesn't fit the thriller genre it doesn't fit film openings as a whole. In the car park scene there is a light behind the protagonists head which causes some glare on the camera, this makes it hard to see and understand whats going on. To make things clear they could have rotated the scene slightly so the light wouldn't have caused glare but still maintained the 180 degree rule. They could have also moved the scene, a car park is a connom setting in a thriller film but they could have done it somewhere like a warehouse or alley way and it still would have fit the genre but it might have just made it easier to film and for the audience to understand.

Student Film Analysis Two (Thriller)

The second film im analysising is called Find Me

This film also shows a lot of the conventions associated with thriller films but as it goes on it seems to cross over into a horror film. This film, however feels more like just an opening than the previous one did.

This film has some good editing and camera angles in it. When the girl is running away at the start the editing on her makes her look very ghost like and starts to build suspense and gets the audience to ask questions. The quick cross cuts at the start establish the setting and having the body in the middle seems very out of place in the location, this is a good way to establish the genre as once again it makes the audience question things and it sets up the fast pace, synonomous with thriller films. The flash of the young girl puts the audience on edge and makes them look out for her in the dense wood once she dissappears. The fact that not much is given away in this film is good it leaves the audience wanting more, the cross cuts to different scenes causes confusion (although possibly too much) and confirms thoughts that the whole situation is wrong. The credits are quite good in this film most of them come at the right time in the right order but the font colour is white and in the bright forest where most of them come up its very hard to see them, also the film title comes right at the end of the opening which is a common mistake but a mistake none the less.

At the start of the film there is alot of back ground wind noise this makes the film seem quite ammature, it would have been better to mute all sound from the clip in editing and then added the bird sounds artificially to make it sound cleaner and more high budget. The sudden cuts to different places like the girl in her room and the church dont make much sense in the context it makes it seem quite discontinuous and confusing which isn't something usually found in a thriller film, they are usually continuous as they are telling a story and following a character. This film comes across more like a horror than a thriller in parts. The creepy voice over is less intreauging and hooking but more scary. Also as soon as the opening cuts are over the pace is very slow, this lowers the suspense and makes it seem more like a horror film as in a horror things usually start at equilibrium and get worse whereas thrillers are usually at disequilibrium from the off set.

Student film analysis one (thriller)

The first film I am analysing is called Blackout

I think this film is a good thriller film, it has alot of the conventions you would associate with the thriller genre. I especially thought that the editing and some use of camera angles is really effective when building suspense.

The steady beat of the music gives an intense feel and also gives the sense of someone running from something, the drum beat on the first beat of every bar gives te feeling that somethingis getting closer and increases suspense, the music is also in a minor key, this automatically sets a sombre tense mood. The editing really sets the intense and fast pace. all the cross cuts to different parts of the boys body and seeing him run to different areas creates confusion and draws the audience in. There is good editing on the male antagonist throughout. By the use of high camera angles on him and the balaclava he wears it hides his identity, this is a convention of thriller films, by hiding the identity it makes the audience intreged and want to know why its hidden and who is behind the mask, encouraging them to watch further.The quick cuts throughout gives a sense of time passing. The location of this film is quite good in my opinion, the fact that its set in an average house on a normal middle class street means people are more likely to empathise with the characters, situations and relationships.

Although this film meets alot of the criteria for a thriller film the film itself feels more like a whole short film rather than a film opening like its meant to be. The credits started off well by having the production companies first, the title came on screen at the right point but possibly a little early as ususally it would be shown between 30 and 40 seconds whereas in this film it was at 18 seconds. The rest of the credits such as music and editing came right at the end of the film which is very wrong when it comes to film openings, this also makes it look even more like a whole film. Although most of the camera work is good sometimes the pans are very shakey, this indicates that a tripod wasn't used or wasn't available. It would have been better to reduce the amount of pans used instead of having shakey ones as they aren't all shakey, it makes the whole film look slightly less consistent. As there was so much narrative introduced in the opening (chase and fight scene) it could make the audience feel less involved as its harder to empathise with the characters or get to know them.

Student Film Analysis introduction

The next three films I'm going to analyse are student thriller films from Gurnsey Grammar media and film studies channel on youtube.

I expect to see from the thriller films, Alot of low key lighting and minor keyed music so suspense can be quickly built from the start. Something that could happen is that some student may forget that they are only making an opening and effectivly make a short film. Students need to remember to not give too much of the narrative away and, especially in a thriller film, not kill off a character too early especially if they seem to be the main character because then it will definitely have the feeling of a film opening.

Catch me if you can time line

To get a better idea of how timings work in a film opening I looked at a couple of different openings and created time lines which showed what titles were included and the timings of them so I can better understand the order that titles have to go in and to understand the amount of people that need to be credited and how I'm going to credit them in my film.