Research : The Importance Of Opening Titles

Opening titles are a method by which films or television programs present their title, key production and cast members, or both, utilizing conceptual visuals and sound; It typically includes the text of the opening credits, and helps establish the setting and tone of the program. It may consist of live action, animation, music, still images, and/or graphics.

For this task i watched the opening credits to 'Se7en' and analysed every frame to give myself an idea of how opening credits are structured, by doing this i was able to analyse the main elements to opening titles for example, the actor/actresses names usually appear right at the start and the producers name usually appears last.
Elements of sound
Both diagetic and non-diagetic sound is used in the opening titles; if you were to close your eyes and listen to the opening you may already feel like you are watching the film as the mood created was a sinister one. The use of non diagetic motor vehicles sounds accompanied with diegetic sound of characters turning pages really sets the mood for the movie. 




Next was to analyse the typography,I looked at the effect of using different fonts and sizes for titles/names,  i was also able to see effects used, for example, faded or enlarged text. Most images are repeated and extreme close ups are the most common shot used within the opening titles. The lack of brightness also gives an indication of the mood within the film, a dark evil atmosphere.

Time      Title                                             

0.04   -   NEW LINE CINEMA PRESENTS 

0.06   -   AN Arnold Kopelson PRODUCTION

0.10   -   A FILM BY David Fincher

0.13   -   Brad Pitt

0.18   -   Morgan Freeman  

0.24   -   SE7EN

0.30   -   Gwyneth Paltrow

0.33   -   Richard Roundtree

0.39   -   R.Lee Ermey

0.42   -   John C.McGinley

0.46   -   Julie Araskog Mark Boone Junior

0.54   -   John Cassini Reginald E.Cathey Peter Crombie 

0.57   -   Hawthorn James Michael Massee Leland Orser

1.04   -   Richard Partnow Richard Schiff Parnala Tyson

1.11   -   CASTING BY Billy Hopkins Suzanne Smith Kerry Borden

1.17   -   MUSIC BY Howard Shore

1.22   -   COSTUMES DESIGNED BY Michael Kaplan

1.24   -   EDITED BY Richard Francis-Bruce 

1.26   -   PRODUCTION DESIGNED BY Arthur Max

1.35   -   DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY Darius Khondji

1.40   -   CO-PRODUCERS Stephen Brown Nana Greenwald Sanford Panitch 

1.44   -   CO-EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS Lynn Harris Richard Saperstein 

1.50   -   EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS Gianni Nunnari Dan Kolsurd Anne Kopelson

1.53   -   WRITTEN BY Andrew Kevin Walker

1.59   -   PRODUCED BY Arnold Kopelson Phyllis Carlyle 

2.04   -   DIRECTED BY David Fincher 

 TYPOGRAPHY

• The style of the font that has been used is quite rough/ messy and looks as though it has been scratched on. 
• The names of the people/production companies involved in the film begin with capital letters and end in lowercase.
• Key roles such as producers, editors, directors and writers all appear in block capitals.
• The writing is small, however role titles are slightly bigger/bolder than the actual names.
• The text is white and is usually on a black background or the darkest part of the screen, which makes it stand out. 
• Titles show up slightly off centre or near the corners of the screen. 

VISUAL ELEMENTS

The imagery that appears during the opening titles is as follows:

• Pages turning of an old book 
• Drawing/study of deformed hands collaged into a book
• razor blades
• The turning of cogs/other mechanical devices 
• Writing into an old scrapbook
• Red photo
• Cutting up of camera film
• arranging photographs
• Crossing out text
• Scribbling over photograph 
• Close up of dirty finger nails
• threading a needle 
• threading pages of a book
• Cutting out words from an article 

This is a video of the history of title design to show how it has changed through time: