'Agent-X' (2016) Pitch

This is the pitch I designed for my group's British film production 'Agent-X' (2016).
We presented this to our media class on the 9th February, 2016 to promote the necessary funding.

BLOG

1. Research + Planning description
2. Spy Genre Research
3. Title Sequence Research (in general)
4. Title Sequence Research (in particular)
5. Artist research (Saul Bass + 4 others) - enlist their auteurs, how they inspired me (list them)
7. Photos of Title Sequence concepts.
8. Pitch uploaded.
9. Audience Profile uploaded.
10. Cinematography conventions/styles/auteur research.
11. Soundtrack convention research
12. Storyboard photos (how we used 'my' research, and inspiration and employed it when creating)
13. Location Scouting (London photos - justify why we wanted iconic landmarks, whether we wanted the setting after/wanted to change it - inspiration?)
14. Location Scouting (more - 2 weeks later - same reasons)




1. Filming 1 week on from #13 - results were good etc
2. Filming 9 days on from #14 - results were brilliant.
3. Having the footage integrated - editing being done by Gangshyam (2 weeks)
4. First exhibition - rest of my group being irritated to do more; me not.
5. Feedback sheets we received.
6. How we built off response (still trying to follow my artist research)
7. Disagreements particularly with editing styles.
8. Production log
9.

Daniel Kleinman - Title Sequence Producer Research (#2)

'I'm very privileged to have played part in British film and contribute to an amazing heritage of British cinema' - Daniel Kleinman (2012).

Born: December 23rd, 1955.
Nationality: British.

Having graduated from Hornsley Art School, his career began in the 80's as an illustrator, collaborating with music video directors. Since then, he has directed more than 100 videos for artists - Madonna and Prince for instance.



His most famous title sequence work has been for the 'James Bond' film franchise: he produced all the title sequences from 'GoldenEye' (1995, Campbell) to 'Casino Royale' (2007, Campbell) and only recently agreed to make a brief return with his title sequence for 'Spectre' (2015, Mendes).

Whilst his auteur is intriguing; he has only produced title sequences for the said franchise, nevertheless, I have taken inspiration from the 'exploratory' element of his sequences. How he alludes to narrative and subtly employs intertextuality. I think he is a particularly great title sequence producer to study from an appreciative/historical perspective.

Karin Fong - Title Sequence Producer Research (#1)

'I feel like I was a graphic designer all my life but didn't know it till I was finally in college' - Karin Fong (2008).

Born: April 1st, 1971, Los Angeles California.

Nationality: American.

Having grown up in LA and attained an art degree from Yale, she began to rise to prominence within title design. She joined the west-coast studio of R/GA (R/Greenberg Associates) and went on to become a founding member and partner at Imaginary Forces, an advertising/marketing/title design institution.

Over the years, Karin's title sequences have spanned the mediums of film and television, her most notable pieces being included in: 'Boardwalk Empire', (2014) 'Terminator: Salvation', (2009) and 'Rubicon' (2016).

Her work has attained her an Emmy for title design.

It can be exhibited at Cooper Hewitt National Design Musuem, Pasadena Musuem of California Art, The Wexner Centre, Artists' Space and the Walker Art Centre.

Personally - after having watched her title sequences - I find her auteur very appealing; I have taken inspiration particularly from how she employs stars' names in shots via unconventional styling. I think this type of styling should be encouraged more in contemporary title sequences.

'Se7en' (David Fincher, 1995) Title Sequence Analysis (#4)

NOTES:

• Very graphical/gritty; the dirty finger-nails, the needles, the blacked out images of peoples' faces, the rust on the scissors.
• Quick, consecutive close-up shots; employed to engage spectators and create curiosity into what they are seeing. Quick glimpses of gritty imagery help to communicate the genre relatively easy - thriller.
• Eerieness; the gritty imagery alone connotes this but low-key lighting helps to compound it. Conventionally low-key lighting is used to depict tense or dark atmospheres.
• Strong use of editing; all text is somewhat distorted and untidily looking, paralleling with the eerie non-diegetic sound effects. It enhances the eeriness. 
• Sound works strongly in conjunction with editing; nearly every cut is made synchronous with disturbing sound effects - the buzzing effect in the shot where Morgan Freeman's name emerges for instance.
• Strong contrast colouring; only white for the titles and black for mostly everything else.
• Has a retro-like sense; the on-screen lighting buzzes create the sense of everything being watched through a television.
• Instability through cinematography; nearly every shot is a close-up and is distorted - just like the overlaying titles - everything is depicted as abnormaly.

'Django Unchained' (2012, Quentin Tarantino) Title Sequence Analysis (#3)

NOTES:

• All one slow, long-take: particularly focused on editing.
• Font design is iconic of genre; particular styling of serifs.
• Soundtrack synchronous with the pace and on-screen titles; 'Django' being said and the title, 'django', emerging center-frame in white.
• Strong use of western genre iconography; cowboys hats, horses, mountain lines, the font styling, colt pythons, saloon shutters, sheriff badges.
• Very graphical; only seen motion is the text and shot transitions.
• Strong colouring pallet; red and black mainly for imagery and white for the titles.
• Tarantino's auteur is relatively easy to identify; the font styling and the transitions.
• Titles having symbolic meanings; Tarantino's name being superimposed on to the image of a sheriff badge - which essentially means most important, creating a link between a sheriff's importance and his role within production of the film.
• Inspiration; loved how the soundtrack lyrics are employed with onscreen text - I have taken note of this particular auteur.

'Spectre' (2015, Sam Mendes) Title Sequence Analysis (#2)

NOTES:

• Sam Mendes (auteur); just like the 'Skyfall' (2012) title sequence, a slow fluid-like pace is present - again, very few cuts employed and lots of shot transitions.
• Intertextuality; the protagonist's love interest, Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) and antagonist, Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen) from the 'Casino Royale' (2007) instalment, plus, his 'mothering' figure, M, (Judi Dench) and antagonist, Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem) from the 'Skyfall' (2012) instalment.
• Sound, again, helping to shape the slow pace; no other auditory codes besides the synchronous, orchestral soundtrack is employed. Essentially, this title sequence is a music video, however, the overlaying white texts make it distinguishable as a title sequence.
• Negatively themed; strong use, again, of chiaroscuro lighting, enables connotations like: death, depression, loss, blame and isolation to be evoked - all linking directly to the eponymous protagonist.
• Iconography communicates the genre with relative ease again; weapons, shadows, 'femme fatales', suave suits, mirrors. 
• Attempt at deviating from Mendes' auteur; the sequence having a particular focus on performance - something remotely focused on in the prior instalment's title sequence.
• Elements of deterioration again; the glass shattering with Silva - above antagonist - on it.
• Soundtrack parallels with visuals; particularly with lines like 'could you break my fall?', where we witness the protagonist and a engulfed-in-shadows woman falling down the frame.
• Particular focus on an octopus; depicted as something overarching the protagonist and overshadowing him, we see it slowly constraining Vesper Lynd's arms and legs for instance in the intimate shot of her with the protagonist, serving to remind spectators of her death and subsequently connoting it being the causation of it. Ultimately, the octopus serves metaphor of the damage the illicit organisation, 'spectre', has done to the protagonist's life. The wide-angle/tracking shot of it shooting cephalopod ink - like bullets - and it ricocheting across the frame connotes that it is still continuing to damage his life in particular - if belief is correct - or lives in general, most likely the former.
• Significance in props to narrative; starting through 'traveling' into an octopus logo on a ring and ending through exiting it.