My Case Study Presentation and Groundhog Day Task

In this lesson I presented my PowerPoint on Danny Yount (pre title sequence designer to the rest of the class so that they had an insight on what work he has produced. what this PowerPoint consisted of was my case study which had in it a background of how he came to be working as a pre title sequence designer, a catalogue of his work, two pre title sequences that he has made and that I have analysed and finally a quote from than man himself about his work. Once I had finished presenting my PowerPoint I watched a few of the other students PowerPoint’s on different designers and we then carried on our work on the film Groundhog Day from last week.

In my opinion I think my PowerPoint went well and that the case study I had done on Danny Yount was very professional and had all the right information needed. I watched a few other peoples case studies on different designers and when watching this I made little notes in my head of what title sequences I was watching so that if ever I could remember a good idea that I had saw in a pre title sequence but I know I had seen it somewhere before, then I know that I would have seen someone do a case study on it. Some of the title sequences that I saw in this lesson include; The Pink Panther 1, The Pink Panther 2 and The Final Destination. These were the ones that interested me most as they were the ones that stuck in my head the most. The Pink Panther 1 and 2 stuck in my head mostly because of the music it used, it was very catchy and stays with you for a very long time. The Final Destination pre title sequence stuck with me for a while as I liked the way it had used the x-ray theme to communicate to the audience the breaking of bones and it also gives it that added effect when someone gets hurt. The two pre title sequences that I analysed were Six Feet Under and Iron Man, I chose these two titles sequences that Danny Yount made as I found them to be the most interesting and they were the ones that won the most awards out of the rest of the pre title sequences that Danny Yount has designed. I made bullet point notes on these two sequences and then used the short notes that I had made on the two to talk to the class and communicate to them what I had saw through my own eyes.

After we had seen a few Presentations on peoples case studies we then carried on the work from Lesson 2 which was to come up with a new concept for the pre title sequence of Groundhog Day so that we could present it to the class when we had finished. As I already explained for our idea the male character who knows he is experiencing Groundhog Day has fallen in love with another character and he keeps bumping into this character in funny ways, but in every way she doesn’t know who he is because if this Groundhog day and every time they bump into each other he asks her out. We had to communicate this idea to the class through using typology and a shot from our pre title sequence. So we went on Google to find a picture to use for our pre title sequence shot and then we went on dafont and found a font to use to put over the picture we were going to use. We only just managed to complete this task before the end of the lesson and so we shall present out idea in next weeks lesson.

Shauns Hw And My Own Research

Shaun’s Hw and My Own Research has helped me with my own ideas for my pre title sequence as it has given me a chance to divulge more into the pre title sequences world and see what is out there for me too look at. Shaun’s how was to analyse the pre title sequence of Zombieland and for My Own Research I looked at the 28 Days Later and Edward Scissorhands pre title sequence. I chose these two sequences as they both looked interesting in the way that they’ve been made and to me when watching the film, they communicated a lot to me through their title sequences. There not of the same genre but I decided that I want to get a feel for all genres possible before I make the decision of what genre I’d like to do for my pre title sequence.

Shaun’s Hw didn’t really help me with my own ideas as such, but it did help me with looking into greater detail at pre title sequences and finding more hidden meanings that indicate to the audience what this film maybe about. It helped me with this as it seemed to make me pay more close attention than usual and when I did I noticed so many more things such as I was able to tell one of the settings for the film and I was also able to grasp what the director and pre title sequence designer has tried to do with regards to communicating the film idea to the audience. I never noticed quite what the title designer was trying to do, but when I saw the intertextual reference I linked it straight back to the lighting which didn’t suggest zombie horror and I knew straight away it was a spoof. I guess I could say that doing this piece of Hw has helped me with ideas regarding my pre title sequence as now I know what a spoof of a zombie horror looks like and if I was to do a spoof of a film, I would know what to do. Also with reference to my analytical skills when looking at a pre title sequence, I now feel they have dramatically improved as I am able to pick up on stuff such as the intertextual reference and such other things which allow my skills and knowledge at making a pre title sequence to develop as well as now I know just what to do when making title sequences for specific genres.

What I have learnt from my own research is that to do a zombie horror, would require a lot of make up and good sound effects as that and the editing is what makes a good Zombie horror. However something I have learnt is to do a drama such as Edward Scissorhands would be very interesting in the fact that it gives many hints to the audience as to what could exist in the film, but it doesn’t give any suggestions at all as to what the story line maybe as just when you think you have the narrative all mapped out in your head, an on screen image is shown to you in the title sequence that you just don’t know where it fits in and it tends to blow you away. So far in My Own Research and looking at other pre title sequences I haven’t found a title sequence just as vague as this one as it gives very little detail as to what the narrative maybe about and as the audience it makes you ask so many questions in your head that you want to know the answer to and that’s only just in the pre title sequence.

Even though the Zombieland pre title sequence analysis may not have helped me in the way I wanted it to, it has still made my skills progress in the analysing part of title sequences and how much you need to concentrate when watch a title sequence as you can miss a lot within the blink of an eye and this is what the reviewing on the Zombieland pre title sequence has done for me. However when looking at my own research I feel that the two sequences I have analysed have back the information that I already know and has given me new information on how to best go about making a pre title sequence for a specific genre type.

28 Days Later And Edward Scissorhands Pre Title Sequence Analysis

• Straight from the start the sound indicates to the audience that the film with have a light touch at the beginning but can rapidly change at any point and catch you off guard. This communicates to the audience that the even when there is light music playing, it does not necessarily mean that they are safe.
• The typography used is very plain white lettering that to me does not have any effect or meaning apart from it is in capitals which could suggest laboratory writing of some kind.
• The first sign of visuals that we are shown is of a monkey with what look to be mind testing cables coming out of its head, this suggests to the audience that they are monitoring something within the monkeys mind.
• The monkey is tied down which suggests to the audience that there is a valid reason for not letting him walk around and be free. The monkey is also being forced to watch what looks to be vandalism to on many screens which could be the reason that he is tied down as there could be some hint between these two things.
• The light sound track at the beginning of this sequence soon changes when we are shown the title of the movie, this suggests that the title is bad or is feared in some kind of way.
• The typography for the title changes slightly as when the heave music kicks in over the light music, a burst of red goes through the title of the film. This could suggest that there will be blood involved within this film, it also could indicate that something is being injected with blood or just injected with a toxin of some kind. This could be linked back to the monkey in the previous scene who is tied up. The injection of the colour red into the title suggests that there will be blood involved within this film and that this is an aspect for which the audience can expect.
• From this point onwards the typography of the titles are now splattered with blood stains throughout the rest of this pre title sequence, this could suggest to the audience that throughout this 28 days that passes, there is a lot of blood shed within that period of time.
• The visuals start to communicate more to the audience towards the end of the title sequence as we are shown through CCTV cameras the violence and fighting going between people which suggests to the audience that this is expected to happen in the film.
• Once again the visuals are used to communicate meaning to the audience as we see a man walking alone along empty streets in London. Anyone who has been to London or knows of this city will know that London is never that empty so this suggests to the audience that there is something wrong and that something isn’t right. It also communicates to the audience a little of what they are to expect within the film as a man walks alone with no one to be seen. This creates an enigma amongst the audience which is, ‘where are all of the people who are supposed to be here?’
• The blood stains on the typography look like the ones as if someone has been brutally killed and then dragged across a white flaw. This suggests to the audience that there will be killing involved within this film.
• The music used throughout the second half of this sequence is a very hardcore piece of music with heavy drums and electric guitar.
• Towards the end of the pre title sequence we are shown a monkey going wild in a see through cage. This could be the monkey from earlier as he is the audience now establish why he was chained up. But as you can see in the monkey’s eyes, something isn’t right as it tries to brake itself free out of its cage.

In-conclusion, the pre title sequence of 28 days later has been made to communicate the fact that the film is a epidemic horror and that the audience are to expect fast paced editing and a lot of blood used during this film, also the audience are to expect scenes within the film that will catch them off guard and make them jump. All of these things have been communicated to the audience through the sound, visuals and typography. The sound has communicated the fact that there will be scenes that catch the audience off guard as the light music in the begin soon changes when we are shown the title as the light music is cut straight to heavy drums and electric guitar music. The visuals throughout this scene have contribute to the communication to the audience by the way it has shown the violence through CCTV as well as the monkey shot at the beginning and end of the scene, this creates a sense of fear amongst the audience as now they don’t know what to expect as they’ve seen the look in the monkey’s eyes and if this has spread to humans, then what are they going to be like. Finally the typography through the second half of this scene has been used to communicate to the audience that there will be plenty of blood used in this film and that is one of the main things that the audience will see.

• First shot is of the film company, the films companies usual logo has been edited in some way to show that it is snowing this could communicate to the audience that there will be a time when its snowing in the film and that it might play a key part.
• Typography straight from the start is long, white, capital lettering. The long part of the lettering with its sharp edges look significant to me and could be significant to the audience as well as it could suggest that this film may be raggedy in some way.
•  The visuals communicate meaning to the audience in some of the first shots by the way the door is opened for us, this indicates to the audience that this is a very important door in the film. It may not be the door itself but the building it belongs to perhaps.
• Behind this door we are shown pure darkness and then the film title shows in original typography. The film title is ‘Edward Scissorhands’ this may sound like a name to the audience which could indicate that this man or boy or child could live behind this door and could live in the dark.
• The typography once again creates meaning for the audience as this time it has a transition used on it to make it move in a certain way. The title of the film looks like its making a crocodile’s mouth movement or even more significant a scissor movement to suggest to the audience that within this film there will be some sort of reference to the scissors that will be linked with the man or boy called Edward.
• As the scene progresses we are shown more of what is behind the door and the audience are then able to establish a setting that may feature within the film. The inside of the building is old and dusty which shows that not many people go there and that the last time a person was there, wasn’t any time soon.
• As the visuals move us up the steps of this building the audience is shown a dark room that we cannot see the inside of. This can communicate to the audience that low key lighting may be used in the film and it will mostly be used when in this setting.
• The visuals once again create meaning for the audience as we are shown what seems to be the making of a robot, but what is even more significant is the fact we get shown scissors which have been a key symbol that keeps cropping up throughout this pre title sequence that the audience can now establish is something important to the film.
• As the title sequence goes on we are shown more and more of these robots being made, which indicates to the audience that this setting may have once been a factory.
• Another key symbol has been used in this pre title sequence towards then end as we are shown what look to be a pair of artificial hands. The title designer would not have just thrown this in there if it did not mean anything to the film, so this communicates to the audience that the artificial pair of hands shown in the title sequence are a key signifier when it comes to this film.
• Just at the end of the title sequence we are shown a character and snow begins to fall once again just like it did at the beginning, the final shot is of a building on a hill. I think that all of these visuals can be linked together, as you could interpret this by saying that the snow over the character we are shown could suggest that he made this snow happen or has something to do with it, you could also say that house on the hill is linked with the door at the beginning of this pre title sequence and that we as the audience have been shown the inside of this house.
• The soundtrack used in this pre title sequence is very light music, the sort of music that you would associate with a church around Christmas time, the sort of thing that would be sung by a choir if you was to go in there. This communicates to the audience that the film will have a very light touch about it with regards to the narrative but also that it may be set around Christmas time at one point in the film.

In-conclusion the whole meaning that the pre title designer has tried to get across to the audience is that a link between the house, the man at the end of the sequence, the scissors and the snow will all be established within the film and that all of the audiences questions that they have will be answered, but in time. A lot of key symbols have been used throughout this sequence to get the audience involved with asking questions such as ‘why has the scissors just been randomly put there? What significance does that have?’ these are the questions that the pre title designer wanted the audience to have as then he knows that he has had an effect on what we expect the movie to be like. The audience know that there will be a house/castle setting used as they have seen it in the title sequence and the audience expect to see low key lighting used within that house, but what the audience can’t work out is what is the link between all the things above and how do they piece together.

Zombieland - Pre Title Sequence Analysis

• Straight from the start, hardcore music is used to suggest this is going to be an explosive film with plenty of action.
• Pure red block capitals with slightest hints of grey for the lining around the outside is use for the typography of this title sequence, the red in this title suggests there will be plenty of blood used in this film.
• Also the size of the writing suggests the amount of blood used in this film as it’s not small writing its big block capitals that stand out and this suggests to the audience that there will be plenty of blood and gore.
• For the visuals straight away you can see a man being thrown off a set of stairs in what looks to be a prison. I can tell that this is a prison through the costume and props used. The costume used for both characters in this opening shot is one is dressed in the traditional colour of what a prisoner would look like and then you have the guard in his uniform. Also you can tell this is a prison through the barbed wire on the fences and the watch tower in the shot, this suggests that one of the settings in this film maybe a prison.
• When looking at the typography, throughout the scene the titles seem to move with shot as in it seems like they are there whilst what is happening within the shot. As the first shot we see is a man being thrown or could be jumping over the edge and as he falls he knocks the typography away and then we are shown the next shot.
• Once again visuals are used in this title sequence to indicate to the audience that it maybe belongs to the horror genre, however the lighting suggests differently as there is a lot of high key lighting used throughout this pre title sequence and this aren’t the usual codes and conventions of the horror genre. This gives the audience a little taster of what is expected to come in the film.
• Throughout this scene there are nothing but slow motion shots used to show the visuals on this title sequence, this maybe so that we can concentrate more on the facial expressions of the characters then unlike traditional zombie horrors where they seem to flash by without the audience being able to establish what they just saw and the details of it.
• The audience are given some hint as to just how quick someone can become a zombie within this film as we are shown a shot of a wedding day and the wife to be has turned into a zombie, as she would have been normal when she got up to the isle, so the change from human to zombie must have been instantaneous.  
• When showing the title of the film in the title sequence there is a human who you can see hasn’t been infected yet but uses a crowbar to smash through glass and when this happens, the titles (name of the film) go with the flow and is also smash in two just like the glass, this is showing the fight back of the people who haven’t turned into zombies yet and are willing to fight them to the death.
• As you keep watching this pre title sequence the pattern that keeps on going on in my head is this urge to laugh at how some of the zombies are chasing the uninfected. Also with reference to some of the points I have made above such as the lighting not being like the traditional lighting that you would find in the codes and conventions of the horror genre, I think that this is a spoof of a zombie horror film as it looks to me as if they are trying to make the audience laugh by the way the uninfected are being chased down by the zombies, I think they are trying to communicate this to the audience before the pre title sequence has finished, so that the audience know what kind of things to expect in the film.
• The moment when I knew that this is a spoof of a zombie horror, is when the next to naked girls is chasing the man, when watching this I couldn’t help but laugh as the woman chased after the guy. I could tell as I never usually laugh at horror films as I’m always on the edge of my seat but here however I could not help but laugh at this shot, also indicates to the audience what is expected to come in this film.
• An intertextual reference as been used towards the end of this title sequence as in one shot there is a guy in a suit with what looks to be an AK47. This is an intertextual reference to the film Scarface, the scene that reminds me of this is were he says ‘say hello to my little friend’ if this is what the director has tried to accomplish in this scene, then he has done this well as he has made the props a costume more modern day compared to the costume and props used in Scarface in this scene. This indicates to the audience that there maybe more intertextual references towards other films throughout this film.
• Finally the typography is used to great effect in this pre title sequence as it always seems to blend in with what is happening within the frame (action wise). Also when ever something his thrown or is heading towards one of the titles, it disperses like it is part of the frame and I think this is very effective and doesn’t make the titles look odd just sitting in the corners of the screen.

In-conclusion, in my opinion the pre title designer is looking to communicate to the audience that this film will include plenty of blood, as well as humour and the title designer has done this through the use of visuals, typography and sound. The designer has done this through the visuals by the way he or she has used shots of funny ways in which the victims are chased by the zombies, also things such as the intertextual reference on Scarface also left me with tears in my eyes about this film as I couldn’t stop laughing, all of this and other visual examples have communicated to the audience that this is a spoof of a zombie horror film and that this is a taster of what is to come within this film. We can clearly see that his is a spoof film through the untraditional lighting used for the horror genre and also by the way the victims are chased by the zombies. The designer has communicated the fact that there will be a lot of blood in this film by not only the visuals but also the typography as thick, red, big, capital letter is used to suggest this to the audience. Finally sound has been used throughout this title sequence to suggest and communicate to the audience that there will be plenty of action and fighting and intense scenes during this film as the music is up beat and fast, almost like rock music but in an American sort of style.

Lesson 3, Saul Bass Case Study And My Own Case Study

Lesson 3 and my own case study has helped me with ideas regarding my pre title sequence as they have given me new thoughts in which to play about with in my mind. What we did in lesson 3 was analysed the Dawn of the Dead pre title sequence and then looked at a case study on Saul Bass. I then planned my own case study for a title designer of my choice and then made the case study in PowerPoint. My case study was on the title designer Danny Yount, I chose this designer as his work interested the most out of all the pre title designers I saw on the website ‘watch the titles.com’.

These things that I have done above have helped me with constructing my own ideas for my pre title sequence as they have given me many thoughts as to what to incorporate in my pre title sequence and how to go about doing it. The first piece thing that has helped me is what I did in lesson 3. It has helped me as we looked at yet another pre title sequence to boost my ideas for how to go about making my own pre title sequence and also gave me many options with what genre to do for my title sequence. The pre title sequence that we analysing was Dawn of the Dead, when anaylsing this title sequence I found enigmas in it straight from the start. An Enigma is a question that is communicated to the audience in any means necessary that stays with the audience until that question is answered within the film. Dawn of the dead helped me with my own ideas for my pre title sequence as it helped me see how to go about making a zombie horror title sequence. It also gave me ideas for if I was to do a horror genre title sequence, then I would know what sort of sound to use, such as the sound track used in Dawn of the Dead which is quite a psychological one that doesn’t match with what is happening on screen, the name for this sort of sound is contrapuntal sound. Also this title sequence has given me ideas on what sort of editing to use if I was to do a horror genre title sequence. The editing I would use would be slow paced editing at first and then I’d surprise the audience with fast paced editing to get them on the edge of their chair and prepare them for what is to come.

The second thing that has helped me with ideas for my title sequence is the case study that I took notes on for Saul Bass. The Saul Bass case study has helped me with my own ideas as it has given me an understanding of where title sequences first began and how I could go about doing my title sequence from different angels instead of using main technology to create my pre title sequence. Also looking at the case study has helped me with my work as it has allowed me to see title sequences from when they first become popular and how this man (Saul Bass) has contributed to the overall uniqueness of pre title sequences themselves.

The case study that I independently done was on Danny Yount, as I explained before I chose him randomly on a website (watch the titles.com) and looked at some of his work which appealed to me so I decided to do it on him. This helped me with my own ideas as once again I was able to watch many pre title sequences and analyse them in depth to get more thoughts on how to best to go about doing my own pre title sequence. Also when making my PowerPoint I was able to present it to the class which then boosted my confidence in presenting things and also talking about pre title sequences to a group of people.  

Saul Bass (Case Study)

Saul Bass (May 8, 1920 – April 25, 1996) was a Jewish-American, graphic designer and filmmaker, best known for his design on animated motion picture title sequences.

Born 1920 in Bronx, ditrcit of New York.
Studied at the art students league in New York under Gyorgy hopes, a Hungarain graphic designer.
After apprenticships in Manhattan with design films, he worked as a free lance graphic designer or 'commercial artist' as the were called.

During his 40-year career Bass worked for some of Hollywood's greatest filmmakers, including Alfred Hitchcock, Otto Preminger, Stanley Kubrick and Martin Scorsese. Amongst his most famous title sequences are the animated paper cut-out of a heroin addict's arm for Preminger's The Man with the Golden Arm, the text racing up and down that eventually becomes a high-angle shot of the United Nations building in Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest, and the disjointed text that races together and apart in Psycho (1960).

Bass designed the sixth AT&T Bell System logo, as well as AT&T's "globe" logo after the breakup of the Bell System. He also designed Continental Airlines' 1968 "jetstream" logo which became one of the most recognized airline industry logos of the 1970s. Here are some of Saul bass's work in pre title sequence design;

 

In this lesson we also started our own case study for a pre title sequence designer or our choice. I have decided to choose Danny Yount as the designer that I am going to make a case study on in PowerPoint. The reason I chose Danny Yount is because when looking on ‘watch the title.com’ I saw a list of pre title designers and when clicking randomly on pre title designers and looking at their work, I came across Danny Yount’s work and although there wasn’t much information on him about his background I still went ahead with doing my case study on him as when I looked at some of the pre title sequences he had done, there were very interesting ones there that I wanted to sink my teeth into and get analysing. In this lesson (Lesson 3) I started my case study on Danny Yount in PowerPoint and then completed it in my own time ready to present for next lesson.

Dawn Of The Dead Pre Title Sequence

1Q) How is the genre of the film (zombie) (horror) constructed?

2Q) What do the opening titles show visually? How is narrative enigma created here?

3Q) Why has Kyle Cooper chosen to use news footage?

4Q) Where do these shots position the viewer?

1A)

·    Short cuts to the ‘zombies’ to shows it’s a horror, also make-up and actors performance help construct genre.

·    Also short cuts to people screaming and running. The army shooting down the zombies suggest there out of control and need to be killed in order to stop them tearing other people apart.

·    The beginning establishes this is a horror from the cuts between the interview and the monsters (zombies).

·    People (soldiers and civilians) are being killed and eaten by these zombies and this indicates to the audience that the genre of this film is horror.

·    Also lyrics from the music communicate to the audience that this is a horror of some kind even though the beat and rhythm of the music is very light, the lyrics such as ‘viper’, ‘people screaming, people crying’ and ‘there’s a man running round asking names, to see who is to blame’ these are all things that contribute to the construction of the genre that is horror.

2A)

• Visuals (typography) – titles seem to trickle away like blood, looks a lot like the blood from the victims killed by the zombies.
• A lot killing of civilians by the zombies are shown visually in the opening titles.
• Flashes of the zombies going crazy have been shown throughout the sequence in the visuals.
• Enigmas – is it a virus? Can it be cured? Biggest enigma – are they alive or dead? These are questions that the audience want to be answered that have been asked within the pre title sequence.

3A) He has chosen to use news footage in order to get us updated with what has happened, he also used it to create a sense of realism that we are a civilian within the film and this is currently going on outside the place that you’re in at that moment in time. It also gives a POV from the camera man to show how scary and frightening it is and to show just how savage the zombies are in reality.

4A) The shots position the viewer as if they were a civilian and they were living close to where this is happening. This frightens the audience as they feel like there going to have to run and hide in order to survive the zombie waves of attacks. The shot position can be seen in two ways from either viewer watching the news at home. Another position can be seen from the camera mans view which makes the audience feel like were the ones being torn apart by the savage zombies.

In-conclusion, the main idea of this pre title sequence is to inflict fear into the audience who are watching it where ever they are and to make them feel like they are watching an ordinary news programme and what is happening within the sequence is happening outside their homes right now and that they could be the victim to one of these zombie attacks in a matter of time. The main reason for trying to do this is to give the audience more fear and to make the film feel more realistic as if it was happening at that moment in time. Also plenty of enigmas have been used in this pre title sequence in order to give the audience something to think about and debate in their heads straight away as soon as the sequence starts and these enigmas will stay with the audience throughout till then end of the film till all enigmas are answered and peace has been settled amongst the minds of the audience watching on in anticipation.