Title Sequence Clip review

           I have seen my fair share of movies during my life. I spend most of my time watching movies either on TV with my parents or alone on Netflix. Before watching these clips of the opening sequences of films, I never put too much thought into them, just that they were cool. Sometimes if I'm not fully engrossed into the movie, I try to think about elements such as foreshadow but not as much symbolism and others. 

I believe that the opening scene can have a big impact on the audience as well as the rest of the film. As said by Miles Merril, the author of  First frames: titles in the digital realm, “The typography and visual style created in the opening sequence can establish the mood and image system not only for the film you are about to watch, but for the poster, DVD/video packaging, web site, and all promotion and branding graphics”. If a movie has a bad or boring beginning, it’s just going to make you stop watching and chose a different movie especially if you're watching Netflix with hundreds of other movies to choose from. “The danger with Cooper's projects is, of course, his two pieces of luxurious bread sometimes have more taste than the filling”. Sometimes the beginning is good and enticing, it will keep you intrigued and interested in the rest of the movie. So, some could say that the beginning of a movie is almost the most important scene of the entire movie. Even if the rest of the movie is not as good as the intro, you keep watching in hope it will get better because the intro gave you such hope.  

This past week we watched a couple of movie intros in class. We started with 2001 a Space odyssey. The intro started out in space with the sun coming over the earth and dramatic music playing in the background. This gave me enough curiosity to keep watching the movie and It made me want to see more. The 2nd part was just as dramatic and interesting. It showed an ape figuring out that he can use a bone as a hammer like item and it shows him destroying other bones while flashing to a scene with an animal dying. The title sequence of this movie was simple yet intriguing.  

We then watched the opening scene of Scream which is one of my favorite horror movies. The title sequence starts off with the title “SCREAM” in a white font but then turns read as you hear a woman scream which can symbolize the blood of the woman who was just killed. It starts off with someone calling the home phone of a poor girl who is home alone, The guy continues to call the girl and asks her what her favorite horror movie is and she says “You know, the guy who wears a white mask” while she pulls a knife out of the knife block. This is foreshadowing to scream due to the fact that he also dawns a white mask and uses a knife has his weapon.  

We watched the opening scene of Raging Bull. It was a black and white scene of a boxer warming up in the ring in slow motion with classical music in the background. The classical music strangely fit what was going on the screen. All the text on the screen is in the color white except the title which is red which could symbolize anger or blood. In the background you can see camera flashes, this reveals to the audience that this is going to be a big fight and a lot of people are watching. Personally, I thought this was the coolest opening scene because while not much was going on, there was a whole bunch of information in what was there.  

The fourth movie I will talk about is Jaws. It starts out playing suspenseful music and not even a minute into the film you are already stressed. I have a big fear of the ocean and what lies beneath its waters so this intro for me creates almost anxiety because of the music and the unknown depths of what is hiding in the ocean. The way the camera was going through the sea grass in the water and the way the music kept getting more and more intense it seemed like something was about to pop up and scare you and considering the movie is named “Jaws” It can't be anything good. After that intro when the two teenagers are going to go for a swim in the water you get a bad feeling about what is about to happen. That feeling is confirmed when the camera changes to underneath water and the girl and that music begins to play again, foreshadowing that this creature is about to strike.  

The final movie I will talk about is Apocalypse Now. This trailer showed the struggles of PTSD when coming back from war. The main character was laying on a bed when the ceiling fan reminded him of a helicopter and explosions. I enjoyed the music they chose, and it strangely fit behind the explosions and flashbacks. We can see him lying in bed sweating but I'm not sure if that was due to heat or stress. We can also see him sleeping with a gun which means he has developed some type of trust issues and he is scared from coming back from the war.