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.

'Skyfall' (2012, Sam Mendes) - Title Sequence Analysis (#1)

NOTES:

• Slow, fluid-like pace is present; depicted through use of dissolve and black fade effects via editing. Said effects enable connotations of surrealism to be provoked from spectators - particularly the former, which are conventional within fantasy genre films. 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' (2015) for instance.
• Concept of sequence is fluid-ness; everything in the sequence happens from underwater to augment this representation. 
• Sound helps 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 of chiaroscuro lighting and ocean-deep blue coloring, enables connotations like: depression, death, loss, depth and isolation to be evoked - all link directly the eponymous protagonist.
• Key themes, messages and values are established; key settings are shown engulfed in shadows, ones he has to travel to in the disequilibrium to denouement stages of the narrative. Alludes the settings are crucial to the plot and the protagonist: the church graveyard for instance. Upon transitioning to this setting, we 'travel' through extensive mist, connoting - I believe - the protagonist's own sub-conscious desire to forget the place. In actuality, it foreshadows M's (Judi Dench) death. Possibly why the protagonist wants to forget the place - if belief is true.
• Iconography communicates the genre with relative ease; weapons, shadows, blood splatter, 'femme fatales', suave suits, mirrors.
• Deterioration of the Skyfall house and graveyard; foreshadows the 'house burning' sequence in the early restoration stage of the narrative. Red colouring parallels with this upon change. Conventionally red evokes connotations like: love, warmth, or fidelity. Here the antonyms are evoked; hate, pain and disloyalty.  
• Soundtrack is synchronous with the growth of pace; particularly when it amplifies in correspondence with us 'traveling' through the mist. Panning speed increases mid-motion.
• Whole sequence seems like one entire long-take; very few cuts, panning in every shot, mainly transitions - helps to augment the above representation of fluid-ness.

Title Sequence Research

INSTITUTIONAL AIMS:

• To commend primary contributions made in the development process of a film production.
• To further endorse actors'/actresses' star power and help develop their filmographies - typically done through overlaying text edited in.
• To immediately make attempt at engaging/immersing audience (pre-equilibrium) before the pace of the narrative begins to pick up - commonly done through appealing aesthetics. 
• To instantly acquaint audiences with the genre(s) of a production - typically through strong regard of iconography and mise-en-scene.
• To establish the relevant key themes, messages and values of a production's narrative.

HISTORY:

Prior to the invention of the cinematograph - a motion picture film camera and projector - in the 1890s, simple title cards were used instead to both begin and conclude silent film presentations. Said presentations established to audiences films' titles and the institution(s) involved in the practices of producing and distributing them. In silent cinema, title cards/intertiles were utilised throughout films' narratives to convey dialogue and plot, and it is some of these early short films that we can see the first initial examples of title sequences beginning formation, being literally a sequential series of title cards shown at the start of a film. With arrival of sound, title sequences developed: they became accompanied with musical preludes or overtures. Contemporary title sequences have developed this technical convention and now typically employ leitmotif soundtracks within them.

Slowly, as time has progressed, title sequences have evolved and become more elaborate pieces of films within contemporary cinema. Title design saw a pivotal moment of development particularly during the 1950s consequential to the advent of television - which instigated a decline within the film industry - as it forced the 'big six' Hollywood conglomerates (Warner Bro Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Walt Disney Studios, Columbia Pictures and Universal Studios) to all invest in new methods of making cinema more appealing again in attempt to rejuvenate it and recover a diminishing/dwindling audience.

Spy Genre Research

Having unanimously agreed on this genre for our context, I began research into it.












SYNOPSIS OF THE GENRE: 

Spy genre films - which are often considered sub-genre to thriller and/action - deal with the subjects of fictional espionage and organisational conspiracy. They either depict this realistically (adaptations of John Le Carre) or employ it as a basis for fantasy (the 'James Bond' film franchise: the most genre prominent).

As time has progressed, the genre has become a significant aspect of British cinema, with leading directors like Alfred Hitchcock and Carol Reed even making notable contributions - many of their films are set in the British Secret Service.



CODES & CONVENTIONS:

• Espionage.
• Good organisation devoted to stop the evil one (binary opposition theory; Levi Strauss)
• Exotic and exploratory depictions of culture/settings.
• Suave, sophisticated, well-dressed protagonists.
• 'Temptress' females/femme fatales who serve distraction to the protagonist, typically as a sub-plot.
• Propps' character theory of the 'damsel in distress'.
• Manipulative antagonists (typically heads of illicit organisations) who enact only for personal gain/interest (money, authority or even ownership - connotations attributed to greed).
• Heavy use of gadgets and weaponry.
• Disguises/alter egos
• Theft of documents/files/formula/technology - something good an antagonist can acquire to utilise as a force for evil - typically in malice.
• Henchmen/personal bodyguards.
• Implausible life or death scenarios the protagonist is pitted against and escapes with relative ease from.
• Realistic military themes.
• Chase sequences (foot and vehicular).
• Fight sequences.
• Pyro-techniques/explosions.
• Aristocratic figures.

EMINENT FRANCHISES:

'James Bond' film franchise (1963-2016)

Number of instalments: 24.
Total Revenue Gross at Box Office: $14.7 billion.
Average Gross Per Title: $612.5 million.
Average Gross Per Minute: $518.
Average Gross Per Second: $8.

Most recent director: Sam Mendes.

Institutional involvement: Columbia Pictures,
EON Productions, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures.

Daniel Craig (who plays the eponymous protagonist) found great success from this franchise; his performances attracted critical acclaim and attained him numerous academy awards. The '2007 Best Actor' award from Empire Awards for his debut in 'James Bond: Casino Royale' (2007) for instance. Testament to Craig's acting since the said debut; the franchise has only become increasingly fruitful/profitable amongst foreign audiences. Whilst this was happening remotely when Pierce Brosnan played the Bond prior, Craig ultimately served catalyst for the franchise's current success.

What intrigued me particularly about Craig was how he brought dispute as to whether a 'female gaze' theory existed contrary to Laura Mulvey's already-famous 'male gaze' theory. The iconic 'beach sequence' in his debut installment was the causation of this. In this sequence he is seen through a tracking/mid-shot slowly emerging from the sea, half-naked with his mesomorph figure on full display: purposely enabling female voyeurism.

Link to sequence:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaOZjjmjd7w

Link to Franchise Website:
http://www.007.com/




'Bourne' film franchise (2002-2016)                                     
Number of instalments: 5.
Total Revenue Gross at Box Office: $1.2 billion.
Average Gross Per Title: $306 million.
Average Gross Per Minute: $78.
Average Gross Per Second: $1.3.

Most recent director: Paul Greengrass.

Institutional involvement: Universal Pictures, Relatively Media, Captivate Entertainment, Barrandov Studios.

Matt Damon (who plays the eponymous protagonist) found great success from this franchise - just like Craig did in 'James Bond'. Damon's performance in this role is what he is most known for.

'The Bourne Identity' (2002) - the first instalment - saw Nick Powell attain the '2002 Most Outstanding Achievement in Fight Chereography' award from 'American Choreography Awards'.

Link to latest instalment's social media promotion:
https://www.facebook.com/TheBourneSeriesUK/?brand_redir=270106119696186



TEXTUAL ICONOGRAPHY/ENDORSEMENT:



Naomie Harris 
endorsing the new 'Sony Xperia Z5'.

Jeremy Renner endorsing upcoming exhibitions of 
'The Bourne Legacy' (2012).

Renner playing the black ops agent Aaron Cross in the 

said text.

Coca Cola endorsing the present exhibitions of 'James Bond: Skyfall' (2012) via print media.

Research and Planning:

Here I will be exhibiting all my research and planning relevant to my group's
Title Sequence assignment.

Continuity Sequence

This is my produced continuity sequence:

I was instructed - during lesson - by my 2 media teachers to create this via group work (up to 4 people max)

My group in particular comprised of 4 members: me, James Covill, Thomas Sibley and Gangshyam Shiyani.



PRE-PRODUCTION:

• As a group, we unanimously decided that we were all going to use the exact same footage to produce our sequences, however; come post-production, all edit it differently to one another. We planned this so that all our sequences could be distinguished with ease upon completion.
• To ensure we knew exactly what footage we wanted, we drew out a sequential shot-by-shot storyboard: it outlined all the technical, visual and auditory codes that we wanted to employ. We successfully created our storyboard within the same double-period (2 hours) that we had in which the assignment was given.
• We planned to shoot our footage in the classroom E20 - in the media department - after school.

PRODUCTION:

• Having been assigned the role of cinematographer, I went to acquire 2 Canon DSLR cameras (what we wanted) from the school's media department. Despite only 1 being necessary, we felt that having 2 would help to facilitate creating 'continuity' across our sequences as we could capture our planned shots synchronously from numerous angles at once, enabling more breadth shot selection come post-production - making distinguishing easier. Unfortunately, only one camera was left available to borrow, nevertheless, shooting still managed to go well. 
• I filmed our footage at 3:00pm - after school - on the 24th November 2015. Whilst conducting filming, the rest of my group enacted their assigned technical roles: Thomas and Gangshyam had both opted to be the two actors within our sequences. They depicted the two key characters seen. James, however; similarly to me, felt more tech-inclined and best at asset on support. He ensured that we had gathered all the necessary props in the lead-up to shooting and that the setting was also configured exactly as we had planned.  

POST-PRODUCTION:

• Personally, I discovered that editing was not my forte and that it actually was the most tedious stage in the process of producing my sequence: from this task I have learnt that I am not particularly fond of it. I naturally found editing irritating; it consumed three of my media lessons and, even after being completed, still managed to vex me somewhat. I felt urge to make further alterations to my sequence literally the same day, which I consequently gave in to. I ended up doing this twice throughout the week.
• It was tedious because we consistently disputed which shots we each going to employ and exactly how sequentially within our sequences. We wanted to avoid similarities being heeded across them.

OCR Media Studies Specification

Preliminary exercise: Continuity task involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue.       This task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule. Main task: the titles and opening of a new fiction film, to last a maximum of two minutes. All video and audio material must be original, produced by the candidate(s),with the exception of music or audio effects from a copyright-free source. Both preliminary and main tasks may be done individually or as a group. Maximum four members to a group.