TASK ONE: Famous Opening Sequences

Ferris Bueller's Day Off


Typography
In the opening title sequence it tells us that Paramount Pictures presents a John Hughes film and there are many credits shown;

• Alan Ruck
• Mia Sara
• Music score by Ira Newborn
• Casting by Janet Hirshenson and Jane Jenkins
• Costume designer; Marilyn Vance
• Edited by Paul Hirsch
• Production designer John Wicorso
• Directer of photography Tak Fujimoto
• Executive producer Michael Chinich
• Produced by John Hughes and Tom Jacobson
• Written and directed by John Hughes

Font

The font in blue and names are written in capital letters which isn't too distracting for the audience and it gives us the idea that it is a fun film as the words are curved and not too much of a harsh font. The order of the credits shows the importance of each character or producer. For example, it said a John Hughes film at the beginning and at the centre of the screen so that the audience see it clearly and don't get distracted from anything else.

Audience

From the opening sequence we can tell that the audience is aimed at teenangers as most of the characters are teens themselves. The opening scene shows the main character Ferris, having a conversation with his parents saying that he is too 'ill' to go to school. It means that the audience can relate to the characters in the film as most of them also go to school and most of the time try their best to get out of it.

Opinion

I like this opening for 'Ferris Buellers Day Off' because the whole film isn't ruined by it, we are still left in wonder from this and makes us want to know more and continue watching.


Juno

Typography

In the opening title sequence of 'Juno", many credits are shown. These are;

• Fox Searchlight Pictures presents a Mandate Pictures, Mr.Mudd production
• A Jason Reitman film
• The name of the film
• Ellen Page
• Michael Cera
• Jennifer Gardner
• Jason Bateman
• Allison Janney
• J.K Simmons
• Olivia Thirlby
• Casting by Mindy Marin and Kara Lipson
• Costume designer Monique Prudhomme
• Music by Mateo Messina
• Songs by Kimya Dawson
• Music supervisors Peter Afterman and Margaret Yen
• Co-producers Jim Miller, Kelli Konop and Brad Van Arragon
• Film editor Dana E Clauberman
• Production designer Steve Saklad
• Director of photography Eric Steelberg
• Executive producers Joe Drake, Nathan Kahane and Daniel Dubiekcki
• Produced by Lianne Halfon, John Malkovich, Mason Novick and Russell Smith
• Written by Diablo Cody
• Directed by Jason Reitman

Font

The font of the credits is very bold and fun. It is not too harsh and as it it big and colourful, it suggests that the film is going to be fun and creative. Again, the order of the credits show the importance of each person during the making of the film. For example, Ellen Page is the first credit shown (of people) which tells us that she is the main character in the film. 

Audience

From the opening sequence, we can tell that the film is aimed at teens because of the upbeat song choice and as the main character herself is also a teen. She is also drinking 'Sunny D' from the bottle itself which shows us more that she is a teenager and suggests she maybe doesn't have as much class as most people wouldn't count that as having 'manners' as such - teenagers are more likely to do things like this, attracting them more towards the film and makes it more relatable for them.

Music

The music in the opening title sequence in 'Juno' is very upbeat and more high pitched than others. This suggests that the film will be happy and fun otherwise it would have a more dull, low pitched song playing first. The music in opening title sequences in different sorts of films is one of the most important as it gives us a brief encounter or idea of what the film might be about and what atmosphere it has. As said before, we can tell this film will be more fun as the music sounds joyful. Not only the music, but the weather and atmosphere in the opening scene can also give us ideas. The atmosphere in 'Juno' seems to be fun and the weather is sunny and hot which seems nice and relaxing for the audience.

My opinion

The 'Juno' opening title sequence is one of my favourites because it is unique and makes the audience feel happy and want to continue watching.

The Breakfast Club

Typography
In the opening title sequence the credits tell us that;

• It's a Universal film
• An A&M Films Channel production
• A John Hughes film
• The title of the film
• Emilio Estevez
• Paul Gleason
• Anthony Michael Hall
• John Kapelos
• Judd Nelson
• Molly Ringwald
• Ally Sheedy
• Casting by Jackie Burch
• Costume designer Marilyn Vance
• Production supervisor Richard Hashimoto
• Executive producers Gil Friesen and Andrew Meyer
• Music composed and supervised by Keith Forsey
• Edited by Dede Allen
• Production designer John W.Corso
• Director of photography Thomas Del Ruth
• Co produced by Michelle Manning
• Produced by Ned Tanen and John Hughes
• Written and directed by Joh Hughes

The opening title sequence has no film or anything happening whilst the credits are on screen. This makes the audience focus more on the directors and actors etc, as it must be the most important thing to see. For 'The Breakfast Club''s film opening, rather than ordering the credits of actors' names in most important going first, they have ordered their names alphabetically. This is different to other films so makes it more unique and interesting to see something new.

Font

The font is yellow and a nice font which again, isn't too harsh. The ends of each letter are curved which tells us that the film won't be scary as if it was, the font is more likely to be bigger on the screen and have pointier edges on each letter and word. The colouring of the font makes it seem more relaxed instead of having a bold colour like dark blue, the writing seems more relaxing to the audience to see.

Songs

Just like the font colouring, the music in the background of the opening title sequence is quite slow and relaxing. It is not too upbeat and helps the audience relax and prepare for the film to begin. It helps us to have a brief idea what the film will be like and what type of film it is.

Audience

The whole opening title sequence is just words and credits up until the end. A quote is shown by David Bowie and then the screen seems to shatter into glass and we end up looking at a high school. This suggests to us that the film is targeted at teenagers as the main characters and scene must be in a high school for it to be the first main image that we see. 

Opinion

I really like the opening sequence as it is different to other films as it only has the credits on the screen and no background image. I also like how they are shown alphabetically and not of importance like others.

Napoleon Dynamite

Typography

Credits are shown during the opening title sequence and they are;

• MTV Film
• Fox Searchlight Pictures
• Paramount Pictures present
• Starring Jon Heder as Napoleon Dynamite
• Jon Gries
• Aaron Ruell
• Efron Ramirez
• Tina Majorino with Diedrich Bader
• Casting by Tony Weitz
• Music by John Swehart
• Jeremy Coon
• Production by Cory Lorenzen
• Director of photography by Mimm Powel
• Executive producer Jony Weitz
• Produced by Jeremy Coon, Chris Wyatt and Sean Covel
• Written by Jared Hess and Jekusha Hess
• Directed by Jared Hess

This opening title sequence is very good as it shows a variety of things when showing credits. It shows food and items which is a interesting and fun idea. It gave me lots of ideas of what to include in my opening title sequence and made me want to continue watching the film because it seems fun. The ordering of credits shows the first name of an actor who seems to be the main character. This shows that they aren't ordered alphabetically but of importance like most films i have seen. This also gave me information on what to include in my short film.

Camera

Throughout the video, there is constant colour and brightness and the camera angle is mostly from birds eye view, from above. This is interesting because having the same camera angle throughout makes it clear that the items and food which are shown in the video are making it most interesting on its own, not the camera angle itself. 

Audience

From watching the opening of the film, it looks like it targets young adults like teenagers because of the images shown and the items which the credits are shown on. It's a fun idea and the music supports this encounter; it is upbeat and joyful which shows again that the film will be happy and not scary or sad and makes us want to continue to watch. It could even attract younger people up to 13 as it does look fun and people that age seem to like food more than adults might and the colours attract you to watch it.

My opinion

In my opinion, this opening title sequences is one of my favourites because it has a very fun idea and makes me want to continue to watch it. It also has given me many ideas on what to include in my short film. 

Anchorman

Typography
The opening title credits are;

• Dreamworks presents an Apatow production
• Will Ferrell
• Anchorman - The legend of Ron Burgundy (title)
• Christina Applegate
• Paul Rudd
• Steve Carell
• David Koechner
• Chris Parnell
• Kathryn Hahn
• Fred Armisen and Fred Willard
• Casting by Juel Bestrop
• Jeanna McGarthy and Blythe Cappello
• Co producer David Householter
• Music by Alex Warman
• Costume designer Debra McGuire
• Editor Brent White
• Production designer Clayton R. Hartley
• Director of photography Thomas Ackerman
• Executive producers Shauna Robertson and David O Russell
• Produced by Judd Apatow
• Written by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay
• Directed by Adam McKay

The text is white and bold with blue outer lining and the background is mostly black. This makes the audience mostly focus on the writing as it is bold and hard to miss.

Sounds

In the opening title sequence, there is a quiet song in the background. It is fun and upbeat and makes the atmosphere seem joyful and bright. Not only is there music but there is a narrator who mostly explains what is happening in the film and helps us to understand. Having this narrator is good because the speaker is funny and witty and makes us laugh. Because of this, we want to carry on watching the film because it seems funny and worth watching. 

Audience

The song and humour in the opening sequence, we get the idea that the film is for teenagers an young adults as some is hard too understand for anyone younger than that. Having the narrator speak in the background is helpful as we get an idea what is going on and what maybe might happen later on in the film. 

Opinion

I really like this opening title sequence because its funny and the narrative part is unique. It also gives the idea that the film is good for anyone to enjoy and has a variety of different things to it and describes the background very well. 

The Purge

Credits shown are;

• Universal Pictures presents
• A Platinum Dunes/Blumhouse/Why Not production
• Lena Headley
• Adelaide Kane
• Max Burkholder
• Edwin Hodge
• Tony Oller
• Rhys Wakefield
• Arija Bareikis
• Chris Mulkey
• Costume Design by Lisa Norica
• Music by Nathan Whitehead
• Edited by Peter Gvozdas
• Production design by Melanie Paizis-Jones
• Director of photography Jacques Jouffret
• Co producer Jeanette Volturno-Brill
• Produced by Jason Blum
• Produced by Sébastian K. Lemercier
• Produced by Michael Bay, Andrew Form and Brad Fuller
• Written and directed by James Demonaco

Font

The font of credits is very small and a bright white colour which makes it hard for us to see. This suggests that it isn't seen as very important as there are videos playing in the background which makes it seem more important than anything else. The credits also don't seem to be in any specific order. This opening title scene seems very different to others which i have seen. The font is also in quite a sharp font which makes the edges of each letter seem more pointy which adds the more dangerous effect to the film and makes us think that is isn't as joyful as other films are.

Sound

There is music in the background whilst playing the opening scene and credits but it is quite peculiar. The song almost sounds quite relaxing to listen to whereas the videos we are watching are the opposite to relaxing and are quite horrific to watch. This makes the whole thing very different as both things seem to counteract each other and give a very interesting view. 

Narrative

There isn't any speaking during the opening title sequence, there is only soft music which makes us pay more attention to the videos which are playing in the background. From just the videos we can bring together a brief idea about what the film is going to be about and that it isn't going to be the happiest one ever.

Opinion

I find this opening sequence quite difficult to understand as the features seem to be very different to each other and the writing is very hard to read; almost like it was done on purpose so that we as the audience don't read the credits, they want us to watch what is happening in the videos. Although, it is very interesting to watch and different to lots of other films. 

Learning comment: 
From this activity I learnt about different typography and how credits for showing names can be ordered in different ways, whether it being in alphabetical order or an order of importance. I also learnt about audiences and how if you study the films carefully, you can see clues which tell you what sort of audience it is targeted at. Lastly, I learned that the font of every writing on the screen can make a huge difference within the film and tells people what genre it may be or why it has been made like that.