Title research Watch the title

Title Research: Watch the Title 

The website above is called Watch the Title. It has the opening sequences to a bunch of films. The shortened films on the website allow me focus on only the opening sequences. I will only be focusing on the titles for these blogs. For example how the come in, how they leave, the font, and size. In future blogs I will be watching openings from this website and dissecting them. Some things I learned from this website are some things such as about how many titles should be displayed in a opening sequence and other good information. We have already decided our genre. So now we can focus on movies inside of our genre. As a reminder we chose the crime-action genre. This research will help us decide on certain things for our opening. Overall this website should help us for our final project. 

Title research: artofthetitle

Art of The Title

Art of the title is one of the two websites we used for title research for our final project. Art of the title features a handful of mainstream movie titles which we can watch and analyze. This will help us understand common patterns in modern crime box- office- hits. 

What we have learned
In many crime movie title sequences,  their is a heavy use of extreme close up, slow pan shots. We can you this to our advantage. Because our title sequence will have a very low budget, we want to keep things as cheap as possible. If we use extreme close ups, we can make something seem like more than it actually is. Another technique I picked up on is the use shots that are simply pictures to look like some sort of investigation evidence. This is a simple way to add more time to our title sequence. This will also give the audience a chance to take everything they are seeing in. Another thing I noticed was how the titles were coming onto the screen. In some movies, the titles were on whatever was in the shot in others, the titles would be graphically rendered into the movie. Even the way the titles move into the shot has to be perfect. For instance, on a movie ( not apart our genre) called Underwater the titles come in from above and descend to the bottom. This represents divers desending to the ocean floor.

Crime in action genre research

Action

Camera Angles- Action movies offer a variety of camera angles. Some of the most popular include high and low angles.
Camera Movements- Some of the most common camera movements are pan and tilt.
Camera Shots- Handheld is a very common shot in action movies. This hot causes an almost uneasy feeling, it makes it seem like something exciting is happening.
Mise En Scene
    Costume- The costumes of action films really depend on the sub-genres. For example, a superhero movie such as Iron man has full metal suits, while a movie like Hobbs & Shaw would have more everyday clothing.
    Lighting- The lighting is usually dimmer. This is used to show a sign of danger.
    Actor- The actors/ characters consist of the protagonist who is usually strong and confident who is trying to accomplish some goal. They are usually athletic because in action movies they perform quite a few stunts.
   Make-Up/ hair- Usually in action film, special effects make-up is used to show cuts or bruises. For example, in Rocky, it was used quite a bit.
    Props- Props can include a variety of things such as knives, bombs, gloves, and boxing gloves.
    Settings- Setting also depends on the movie. There is no specific place.
Editing in Genre- They use fast cutting to make scenes more exciting. The movie overall is very fast paced.
Common Sound- Action movies' non diagetic sound usually is music to intensify the scene. Diagetic sound would include things like gunshots, bombs, or other sounds.
Elements I like- I like the fast pace of the movie. I also like that  action movies also tend to have a lot of high intensity scenes.
Elements I Dislike- Sometimes the attempt to make an action pact movie lessens the quality of the plot. They also tend to over pack the action. It's hard to find that nice balance between action and plot.
Examples Of Action Movies:

Baby driver 2017

Baby Driver (2017)

Camera Angles- The movie the majority of the time was straight angles but, you can see ow and high angles that really enhance the scene. You immediately see low angles for all of the crew members during the initial heist. this gives a sense of empowerment.
Camera Movements- The movie uses a lot of tracking shots. These shots were used throughout the movie for different types of scenes such as a car chase or as simple as the main character getting a cup of coffee.
Camera Shots- The movie contained a wide range of different shots. Within the first sequence, you see an establishing shot, close up, extreme close up, medium close up, and a wide shot.
Mise En Scene:
     Costume- The movie is filmed in regular clothes. The only thing really sticking out is the main character's use of sunglasses. They give him the appearance of being shady.
     Lighting- The movie has many sunlit scenes which provide a very bright look. Even when the scene is inside it seems well lit.
     Actor- The protagonist in this film is a very young guy, while the antagonists are very old.
     Make Up/Hair- The movie had very basic makeup. Some special effects make up was used for bruises and cuts.
     Props- The movie was a crime movie filled with car chases so, there were cars, guns, and much more.
     Setting- It took place in a very populated city. There were highways and large buildings.
Common Sound-  The music depends on how the main character 'Baby' is feeling. If he is more anxious, the music speeds up and vice versa.
Common Editing- The editing is not like a common movie. It is heavily based on the soundtrack. You can see in multiple scenes of the movie the shots changing with the beats and matching with songs.
Elements of Genre- The movie fits the crime genre because crimes were most definitely committed. As for action, there were scenes filled with adrenaline filling car chases and other action-packed events.
Elements I Like- I really liked the editing and sound. There were a lot of songs throughout the movie where the editing was based around. The way the scenes cut with the beat were very satisfying to watch.
Elements I Dislike- Some parts were too unrealistic. I understand it is a movie and it would not be thrilling scenes but, som scenes just went a little too far.

Joker 2019

Joker (2019)

Camera Angles- The movie had many angles but, one I particularly liked was a high dutch angle during the scene in which the joker was getting mugged. Some other angles you can see in the movie are low and eye level.
Camera Movements- There were no crazy movements as there was in Baby Driver. Everything was more subtle and straight forward. Some of the biggest scenes in the movie had no camera movement at all.
Camera Shots- The shots that were utilized in this movie were definitely close up and medium shots. The main character's emotions were very important in understanding the movie. These shots helped.
Mis En Scene:
Costume-The costumes played an important role in the main character. You can see as the costume changes throughout the movie so does the character's personality.
Lighting- In the movie sometimes you see things like colored circles come across the screen, this created a dreamlike view. Also, some scenes were darker than others. This helped portray the emotion of the main character.
Actor- The actor in the movie really made the main character seem like something was off since the begging. As the movie progressed you saw him go crazy.
Make-up/ Hair- The main character was a clown. So, there was clown make-up and green hair. Special effects make-up was used for things like gunshot wounds.
Props- There were many props such as guns, signs, and other basic items.
Setting- The movie takes place in a populated city named "Gotham".
Common Sound- You hear diegetic sounds like cars, trains, and gunshots but, there is also a score and incidental music that helps add depth to the scene.
Common Editing- Cross dissolves were used to show the passing of time but, the majority of the movie were jump cuts.
Elements of the Genre- The movie committed a crime and had some action-packed scenes. For example, when the Joker held the riot I would call that an action-packed scene.
Elements I like-  I really like the plot. It is different from other movies I watched because it was the backstory of a character I already know, which is very interesting to see.
Elements I Dislike- I dislike that the movie felt me wanting more. There was no ending.


This blog I will be dissecting two more genres.

Crime
Camera Angles- Low angles are used in this genre to make people seem more powerful. High angles are also used to make people seem small or weak.
Camera Movements- Crime films contain a plethora of camera movements some include; tilt, pan, and zoom.
Camera Shots- Shot like over the shoulder, establishing, and medium shots are common.
Mise En Scene-     Costume-  Costumes in crime movies tend to differentiate based on the narrative of the movie. For example, if the movie focused on those investigating the crime costumes are more likely to consist of detective outfits and suits. While, if it follows the narrative of the criminal, outfits will be different.
     Lighting-Low lighting is used in the crime genre to create a shady atmosphere. It makes the scene seem suspicious.
     Actor- The actors can be a variety of types of people. It usually consists of one main character versus the police.
     Make-Up/ Hair- Special effects make up can be used for cuts, bruises or gunshots. this gives scenes a much more realistic feeling.
     Props- Very similar to an action film, props such as guns, bombs, and crowbars are used during the crime scene.
     Settings-Most of the time crime films are in busy towns or cities. More populated places cost more, therefore, they are more worth stealing/ doing another crime.
Editing in Genre- For the intense scenes in a crime movie, such as when the crime is being committed, the editing tends to be faster. These types of cuts make the film more exciting and thrilling.
Common Sound- Fast-paced music is used to make the scene seem faster and action-packed. This will usually happen in confrontation or when the crime is being committed.
Elements I like- I like the action and suspense. I also like that it is a broad genre and so many sub-genre fit underneath.
Elements I Dislike- Sometimes crime films can be very predictable.
Examples: