Title Sequence Clip Review

    During my life, I have seen countless movies, but I never thought twice about the opening credits and never once did I think about the artist behind them and the time and effort that is put into these opening scenes. Once I started studying and analyzing open credit scenes from movies in my class, I started to appreciate the time, effort, and skill put into the opening scenes of movies and their importance. I never even knew there was a job dedicated to title designing and opening movie scenes until I read about Saul Bass and Kyle Cooper, both well-known title designers who created several different opening credit scenes for award-winning movies. 

    While studying different movie scenes in class, a couple of them caught my eye and stood out to me. One of those was the opening credits from the movie SCREAM. The scene opens with the title changing from white to red while a huge scream is let out, which intrigues the audience, making them want more. The young teenage girl is home alone, and the phone rings. At first, it seemed to be just the wrong number, but then she kept getting called by the same strange man repeatedly. He first claimed that all he wanted to do was talk and then take her out on a date, and as a teenage girl, she was just stringing him along and flirting with him, telling him she didn't have a boyfriend even though she did.. She hung up, and he called again, and the girl said she was going to watch a scary movie. Under the man's breathe, he said, "I want to know what I'm looking at," and then he said he never said that which made the girl question him. She hung up, and he was not very happy about it. Every time he called again, he became more aggressive, which intrigues the audience even more. Who is the man on the phone? What does he want? Is this just some dumb prank, or is he trying to hurt her? He then began to scream and scare the girl on the phone, but she thought it was just a prank. He then says, "I want to see what you're what your insides look like." This scared the girl, and she hung up again. A second later, she hears a knock on the door and is terrified. The man calls again, and the girl tells him he needs to stop and that she has a boyfriend on the football team, and he's on his way, so he might as well leave. The creepy man on the phone knows the girl's boyfriend's name, and before the audience can get anymore, the clip ends. This film's start is so intriguing that if you watch the start, you must watch the rest to see what happens to the girl and who the man on the phone was. Was he was obsessed with her? How long was he watching her? Opening scenes like that are the best because they get you so invested in watching the rest of the film. 

    Another opening movie scene that caught my eye was from the Lion King. A classic childhood film that I've watched countless times. However, I never paid attention to the detail and skill that went behind the opening scene. It starts with a classic Disney castle and opening music scene that is the start of every Disney movie. The sunrises and all the animals make their way to the cliff's bottom to see the newborn baby lion. It's full of color, and the "Circle of Life" is playing in the background. The aging baboon walks through the other animals making his way to the cliff where the leader lion is waiting for him to bless his son. The aging baboon represents old age in the movie. The baby lion ritual occurs and is similar to a Baptism. Watching this opening scene gives the audience an idea of the movie's future events and how the baby lion will eventually grow up and take over the role of his father. Jaws opening movie is another one that caught my eye and leaves the audience intrigued and wanting to watch the entire movie. It starts with suspenseful music playing in the background while the camera moves through the water while the opening credits are played. The credits' lettering is a little softer than I expected, and I would think the title "Jaws" would be in a sharper font considering what the movie is about. I'm not sure why the title designer thought that was the most appropriate lettering. Still, I know that many different new title artists experiment with many different visuals and texts through many different methods. I'm not sure the designers thought process, but making the title text a little sharper and larger is something I would change. After the credits are done, it shows many teenagers drinking, smoking, and laughing around a bonfire late at night. An intoxicated teenage girl decides to swim, so she runs to the water and strips while another intoxicated boy follows her. When the girl jumps in the water to take a swim, the suspenseful music starts playing again. This gets the audience up on their toes and curious about what will happen next. All of a sudden, the girl is pulled down, screaming while being bitten by a shark until she is completely pulled under, and there is total silence. The end left the audience in shock and now ready to see why this happened and why the shark ate her alive. 

    What About Bob? presented by Touchstone Pictures is a comedy. Its opening scene starts with a fish swimming back and forth across the screen while the credits are playing. The lettering of the credits is very simple, consistent, and a nice royal blue color. Gil, the fish, is the best friend of the main character. The man gets ready for work and says good morning and goodbye to Bob the fish, but as he leaves the house, he keeps second-guessing himself and eventually turns back around after having the courage to go out of his front door. This gives the audience the impression that the man is a hypochondriac, which means he is scared to leave his house. This movie's opening scene helps the audience infer what will happen later in the plot, which most likely will involve the fish, somehow helping the man leave his house. The last film that got my attention was Pulp Fiction.  It starts out with a normal looking couple sitting in a coffee shop eating breakfast. Right away I noticed there's lots of cursing coming from the main characters. They are talking about easy places to rob. The man in the booth is vulgar to everyone around him, and you can tell he's the type of guy with an I don't care kind of attitude. The couple decides to rob the coffee shop they are in. So, they stand up and yell to get the entire restaurant's attention with guns in their hands. Then very upbeat music starts to play while the credits are showing. The title sequence is very colorful and vibrate. This opening scene gets the audience going, energized, and ready to see how far this couple can wreak havoc and commit crime after crime. Understanding the effort and work it takes to produce the opening scene and credits will help you appreciate more of how movies are developed and produced.