Researching titles & credits

Researching titles & credits:

Reservoir Dogs

• ·         Begins with radio talking
• ·         Song begins to play
• ·         People leaving a café then fades to black
• ·         6 seconds of black then the directors name appears in time with the drum beat
• ·         Orange font, basic,
• ·         On second drum beat the radio stops and the screen is then cut to the people from the café walking down the street in slow motion
• ·         As it brings up the actors names we see a close up of each actor
• ·         The text used is the same as the orange font
• ·         There is then a long shot and a group shot of the people from the back.
• ·         The title of the film then rises from the bottom of the frame and moves to the top of the frame above the group.
• ·         A sudden cut to black is used, and some other actors are introduced along with other people who work on the film
• ·         Same font as before

The Usual Suspects

• ·         Begins with orchestral music playing
• ·         Black background
• ·         On the first note of the melody the production company name appears in a simple white font
• ·         The names of the production companies are in bold whilst every other word is not
• ·         There is then a smooth transition into a panning shot of a lake
• ·         As the panning continues the director is introduced then the title of the film
• ·         After the title the actors names are then introduced
• ·         Each name fades in and out

The Untouchables

• ·         The opening credits begin with an orchestral drum bang
• ·         At the same time the production company name appears
• ·         The camera is then panned across a floor with lines of shadow
• ·         Every time the text passes two shadows it fades away on the second shadow and reappears on the other side as a different line of text
• ·         The text is white and the font is simple but not Bold
• ·         At 48 seconds in the cameras panning direction is changed and the actors names are shown alongside their character name E.G. Robert De Niro as Al Capone
• ·         The camera is then tilted upwards to reveal the name of the film
• ·         The text is what is casting the shadows
• ·         The title then begins to get smaller as the screen starts to darken
• ·         The credits continue but show the names of the crew

Summary:

• ·         Films appear to use simple bold text with black background
• ·         The opening credits seem to move in time with the music
• ·         The music at the beginning sets up the films atmosphere
• ·         Text normally appears to the edges of the frame if used during a scene
• ·         The title needs to stand out from the rest of the text
• ·         Names have more emphasis placed on them then other words
• ·         The opening credits don’t always follow the same pattern.