Title Sequence Clip Review

             My initial impressions of the impact of the opening sequences of films was that they were all very strong in a way or another. The audience's attention was captured by these scenes whether it was from being left in suspense wanting to know happens next or out of pure excitement for the rest the plot to unfold. The opening scene of Jaws seems normal then suddenly, the girl is thrashing around in the water until she is eventually dragged under (Speilberg, Sargent, Alves, Szwarc 1975). Then the water becomes so calm it looks as if it was glass. This scene leaves the audience in suspense, wanting to know what really happen to the girl and what took her under the surface. These opening sequences set the tone for the film right from the beginning. There was a lot of foreshadowing for what was about to come.  The movie Scream does a very good job of this with the title sequence alone. The audience can hear nondiegetic sounds such as, a phone ringing, and a woman screaming. The title also pulsates like a heartbeat would if someone was frightened or had a lot of adrenaline. Later, in the opening scene a young lady is home alone and her phone rings, she soon screams as she becomes more frightened from the phone calls she receives (Craven, Bettinelli-Olpin, Gillet 1996). This sense of panic and fright was foreshadowed moments before with the title of the movie. 

The audience gets a sneak peek into who some of the main characters are through the title sequence. For instance, in Pulp Fiction directed by Quentin Tarantino the demeanor of the man and the language he uses tells the audience a great deal about the type of person he is (1994). At first glance the couple looks presumably normal, especially the women. However, as the man continues to talk the audience can see he has strong views on foreigners. This is ironic because if you listen to his voice carefully you can hear he has what seems to be an English accent. The women’s whole demeanor changes once the man starts talking about robbing the coffee shop. She becomes, as what most would describe it as, kind of crazy about the subject. This is how the audience gets an understanding about not only who the characters are but also their relationship to each other. The film could also plainly inform the audience who each character is like was done in Trainspotting with the use of text along the bottom portion of the scene (Boyle, 1996). This is another way the audience becomes familiar with the characters. 

The opening scene also gives the audience some background on the setting. This includes when and where this film takes place. The opening scene in the movie Dazed and Confused tells the audience the time frame and even exactly where and the context in which this movie is based around. The time and location are written in text at the bottom of the scene (Linklater, 1994). The activities and the age of the characters and extras in the opening scene provides the context about this movie. By allowing the audience to know exactly what time period the movie is taking place, they can make inferences to what was going on in the world at that time. This helps the audience have a complete understanding of the context around the film. 

After reading the article First Frame: titles in the digital realm by Miles Merril and watching a variety of opening scenes I feel that although in the end the opening scenes are well done on many levels, there are also a lot of different aspects that go into making a effective title sequence. If one can perfect all aspects, the end product will be spectacular, however I am not sure I would be able to do so. The film gives one the opportunity to experiment with text and visuals however, I also have no previous experience with creating titles for films (Merril, 2004).  If the film title does not turn out just so, it will give the audience the wrong expectations as demonstrated in the article (Merril, 2004). For these reasons I am leaning more towards the magazine currently.