Title Sequence Coursework - Todorov's Narrative Theory

The genre we have chosen for our title sequence idea is Action-Thriller. My partner and I have chosen this genre because we found it easy to elaborate on and create our plot for our narrative. I will put our narrative in Todorov's narrative theory. 

Our film idea is about four girls who commit bank robberies and a detective that is consumed by solving the case. The duel narrative shows how the detective has been working on this case for 3 years and has become obsessed. He has lost everyone close to him because he has spent so many hours trying to figure out who these girls are and which bank they will rob next. He becomes detached from his wife and daughter; he becomes more isolated as he becomes obsessed with the case. The other narrative will show the four girls making well thought out plans to rob the next banks. They all develop the different skill they each hold and make sure during robberies they have their distinguished red coats and painted masks on. Throughout the film they overcome any problems they have with their wit and they always ensure they are one step ahead of the police.

The Equilibrium

The detective is shown to have a happy life. He has a nice home and a loving wife. Also a daughter, that lives away for university, but calls now and then. The detective loves what he does for a living and enjoys solving cases. One day, the detective goes into work and has been assigned to a new case. The case is of four unidentified girls, robbing banks, stealing thousands of dollars from banks across the city.

The four girls will be shown robbing their first bank and it going successfully. The audience will see how the four girls are so closely connected that it’s almost like they have made a new little family together. They have certain ways of doing everything, to prevent themselves from getting caught; from techniques of hiding and spending the money to having a different plan for each bank, which is personalized to the banks security plan.

The Disruption

The detective has been trying to solve the case for nearly 3 years, whilst the girls carry on stealing money. They have started to target banks just out of the city and no one is still unable to catch them. Over the 3 years, the detective becomes more obsessive with the case and becomes more and more detached from his wife; the wife decides to leave him and the daughter stops contacting him. His life starts to crumble around him. The deputy chief has taken him off the case and given him time of work to “pull his life together”, but the detective disregards the command from the deputy and continues to investigate the four girls. The detective finally figures out where the girls are going to rob next. He grabs his gun and rushes to the bank. He catches one and has her at gunpoint. As she goes to take her mask off, the detective shoots because he thinks she’s reaching for a gun. The bullet hits her as she uncovers her face. The mask and the bag full of money drop to the floor. The detective lowers his gun, as he see’s her face. He is surprised to see his daughter’s face appear from underneath the mask.

The four girl’s disruption would be the obsessive detective always on their case and trying to run from this, whilst still enjoying the rush of robbing banks. As the film goes on the audience will also look more and more into the four girl’s past and how they got to where they are now. They finally decide to rob the last bank before they flee the country, but the plan becomes disrupted when the detective turns up and they have to get away without getting caught. However, one girl doesn’t make it out. She finds herself in a situation where the detective, her father, is holding her at gunpoint. She moves to take the mask off, to reveal herself to him, but as she does, he shoots. She see’s her face drop and she falls to the floor. She see’s red and blue lights as she becomes unconscious.

The Resolution

The daughter was taken to hospital and was put in to a coma. She awakens to her father by her side and the police outside the door. She makes a full confection to him, but not giving the other three girls up, and understands when she gets better; she will have to go to jail. As time went on the detective sorted out his life and had made a new loving relationship with his daughter, whilst she was in jail.

Title Sequence Coursework - Brianstorm

I made a brainstorm to shows all the ideas I have for my coursework. I have elaborated on two main genres that I know I could possibly use for my title sequence. The first genre I developed on was Action Adventure, which I associated with a murder mystery, a police film, a prison life film, a zombie film and a supernatural. The second genre I developed on was Comedy, which I linked to a romance film, a teen film, a family film, spoofs and a cop movie. For each of these sub-genres I came up with examples and some possible ideas that I can choose from. After some time I decided to elaborate on a buddy cop film, an action-thriller film and an action-supernatural. However, if when I expand on these sub-genres and create a narrative for them, I do not want to use them, I will have to go back to the brainstorm. I might have to add to the brainstorm to expand on my ideas, which will help me to uncover more concepts for the film. 

The concept for the buddy cop film is about a agent in the FBI. His partner and him are two of the best agents in the city. One day, a fast car hits the agent and he gets amnesia, but he forgets to tell anyone. When he gets out of hospital, his partner takes him to work and everyone welcomes him back. The agent has no idea what is happening, but just goes with it. The detective is put on various cases and he fails hilariously. The agent finds the safe, after many tries of opening it, it opens, and he finds the briefcase; but has no idea what is inside. Towards the end he accidently solves a big drug case, as he realised he was a corrupted cop before. He remembers the passcode for the briefcase and he rushes home to open it. He finds piles of money inside. If I used this idea for my coursework, I would want my title sequence to show the agent cracking a big case and working with his partner to arresting people. Afterward it would show him picking up a briefcase and taking it home and locking it away in a safe.

My action-thriller concept is a duel narrative, the first being about a group of girls who rob banks around the city, and the second being about an obsessive detective tries to find out who they are. They do their best to try to avoid being caught and always are one step ahead of the police. The detective becomes so obsessive over the case, he loses everything close to him and even gets chucked off the case, but this doesn’t stop him. The girls form a little family as they bond over their shared interest of the thrill of robbing banks. The detective carries on investigation into the bank robberies, with hope he will finally catch them. He finally figures out where the girls are going to rob next and rushes there. The detective catches one of them and has her a gunpoint. He arrests her and she confesses to everything. If I used this idea for my coursework, I would want my title sequence to be shown with cross cutting from the girls getting ready to rob the next bank to the detective trying to figure out where they that is. Soon after the detective would discover where they were going to be. He would rush there to find the girls long gone and the bank robbed. 

The final concept I came up with was the action supernatural idea. The film would begin with two boys(BOY 1and BOY 2) and a girl, living in glass cubicales. All three have powers. BOY 2 becomes strong and breaks out of his cubicale. He breaks the girl out as well because shes his love for her, but her love was for BOY 1. She tell him to go back to save BOY 1 but he says no. He grips her hand and pulls her to the exit, to escape. She frees her hand and runs back to save BOY 1. The other boy runs off in anger and frustration. BOY 1 and the girl finally get out and get the school shut down. Then BOY 1 and the girl will be shown as a happy couple with a baby on its way. BOY 1 leaves wife to go to work, but when he comes home he find the wife gone and the house wrecked. He figured out who is responsible and when she is being held. BOY 2 is holding her at the old school grounds. BOY 1 knows it's a trap to fight with him, but wants to save his wife so takes the chance. BOY 1 shows up and there is a big battle, with there powers and physical violence. BOY 1 pins BOY 2 to the floor and stands over him. He pulls out the gun and BOY 2 laughs because he knows they are unable to kill. BOY 1 pushes the trigger and we see a flashback of him being experimented on until he can kill. It goes back to BOY 2 dying and then BOY 1 takes the wife home. The  wife goes into labour and BOY 1 hopes the baby had not generically been given the powers. The wife dies in labour, but the baby survives. A few years after, at the cemetery we see BOY 1 standing next to a young girl in front of a gravestone. The young girl shows that she had powers as her father looks down on her. The title sequence for the film would be children in a special school where they are trained and thought. The special school would be in the middle of nowhere and the building would be old and surrounded by a tall brick wall with wire at the top. The children in this school are different, they have no parents or nice toys; they just train. At a certain age, 16/18, they would get tested on their abilities, those who failed who be sent off to a different place, that has been rumored to torture them. Those who did pass were put into glass cubicles where they stayed until they were taken out to be experimented on. Some died from all the torturing pain the experiments were, but some grew stronger as the experiments has given them powers. 

Title Sequence Coursework - Analysis 2

Zombieland

In the Zombieland title sequence there are many indicators that display the film is set in America. For example we are shown a prison that clearly has American features, like the orange jumpsuits. Also we are shown the American currency, which are dollars, and we are also shown American firemen and their trucks. In addition, we are shown cars and highways, which are also connoted, as American.

There are many contrasting themes that are portrayed in the Zombieland title sequence. Such as we can see the film could be a comedy as we see the zombie bride killing her groom. However, the title sequence also shoes conventions of the genre horror. We get this as we are shown gory seems with zombies covered in blood and one throwing up blood. The title sequence clearly states that, in the film, the zombie population will become superior and will kill everyone. I get this because we see all class of society being overturned, such as: businessmen, the homeless, commoners and also criminals. 

The iconography proves that the genre of the film will be comedy/horror as we see an overweight businessman running away from a zombie, who is shown to be a stripper. In the title sequence we see a lot of blood and gore, which are conventions of horror. The use of the colours red and black also signifies the genre horror as red is normally associated with danger and blood, whilst black is associated with darkness and mystery. 

We also see the comical aspect of the film when we are shown an overweight man running away from what seems like a zombie coach on an American football field. This would be amusing to the audience because the words ‘RULE #1 CARDIO’ are shown on the screen, suggesting the first rule of not being eaten by a zombie is cardio, which not something overweight people are associated with.

From watching the title sequence we can see the film will be funny, but gruesome and ghastly. We can suggest this because what we understood about the themes of the film. The themes will give the audience expectation on what they are about to watch. Although we cannot clearly see what the narrative is going to be, which leaves the audience wondering what is going to happen. This engages them in the film and leaves them wanting to watch the rest of the film. 

In the title sequence we are not shown any main character, we just see the chaos that is happening that prepares us for the rest of the film. However we are introduced to the zombies, which is shown clearly that they are the antagonists of the film. 

The whole Zombieland title sequence are shown in slow motion, which makes is funny, showing the comical side of the film. On the other hand, it counters acts with the gruesome images shown, which changes the perspective of it. This changes the way it is presented as 'funny'. The non-diegetic track that is being played over the title sequence is parallel to the events happening in the title sequence. The pace of the track corresponds with the pace of the cuts and works well together. 

In the background of the title sequence the non-diegetic track is a metallic version of the American national anthem is being played. This suggests that there is danger looming in America. We can assume this, as the normal American anthem would just connote the nation, and with the metallic element it suggests something is wrong, which creates a sense of mystery and suspense for the audience.

Title Sequence Coursework - Analysis 1

Seven

As the opening sequence of the title sequence does not include any long shots for us to recognize a certain type of setting. Although from the fast cuts we still see that the setting is indoors – could be someone’s warehouse. We can assume this because the props that the person is using, does not look like they belong in someone’s home or office. However, we are not shown this, which leaves the audience assuming it is a warehouse, therefore creating tension for the audience.

The title sequence of Seven clearly shows the themes, of the film, are mystery and suspense. We see this because the low-key lighting definitely shows the mysterious information in the sequence. The soundtrack of the title sequence is eerie, which shows the suspense, as it makes the audience feel tense and suspicious.

The close-up shot of the drawing of the hands creates a sense of mystery to the title sequence. This is because we do not see whom the hands belong to or what they have to do with the storyline. This is the first shot the audience is shown and this sets the mod of the film and creates tension and suspense.

One of the last shots n the title sequence is a picture of the words ‘No Key’, which again leaves the audience clueless and having no idea what the meaning of this is. This creates mystery and suspense because they want to find out what it means.

The low-key lighting is presents like a spotlight as its only light we are shown and it’s like the investigation light they use to intimidate the suspect. This suggests that this person is investigation someone and criminal activity will be involved.

The iconography of the title sequence clearly shows the person not waning anyone to know his identity. We see this as we see the person scrapping their fingerprint off, which holds their identity. This shows them preventing being caught for the crimes, they have committed.

We see the narrative of the film will be an investigation case as we see the person investigating in whom they will kill next. The investigation case will be on the murder that is killing these certain type of people. We can assume this as we see the person crossing out the words ‘homosexual’ and ‘transsexual’. This shows them trying to eliminate any kinds of people that go against God. We know it is about God as we see the person cutting out the word ‘GOD’ from the dollar bill at the end.

We are unable to see the identity of the character, as they do not want to be shown. We are only able to see the hands of the character, which are scrapping their fingerprints off. From this, we can assume that the person is trying to hide their identity and preventing themself from getting caught.

In the sequence only close-up or extreme close-ups are being used. This is so the identity of the person and their location is not shown in order to create tension and mystery.

The typography, on the title sequence, looks like someone’s handwriting. This fits in with the idea that someone is investigating and making a file. The text is the center of attention because it appears in white on a black background, making it stand out.

Throughout the sequence there are cuts and cross fading to the next shot. Cross fading shows the clips linking together and creates a discomforting feeling.

The first shot of the title sequence is the production company's name. The typography and the colouring of the shot set the tone and atmosphere of the film; as the colours are black and white, this creates a sense of mystery and danger looming.