Title Sequence Clip Review

     Opening sequences leave a big impression in developing the interest of audiences. Opening scenes prepare the audience for what is to come. Opening scenes also show the mood of the film, so the text format needs to match the genre. Most of the time, the audience is able to meet the main character in the opening scene. The audience then gets a better understanding of who the protagonist is.

    First of all, in opening scenes the audience is prepared for what the rest of the film will be about. A film's introduction clip will determine what the audience will think about throughout the rest of the movie. For example, the opening scene for Dazed and Confused was a bunch of teenagers who smoked pot outside of school. This prepares the audience by showing that the film will be about teenagers and their reckless decision making. Another example where the opening scene shows what the audience should expect is Jaws. Jaws showed a group of teens hanging out on the beach. When two members decide to go swimming, one of them gets attacked by something in the water. This leads the audience to expect that a shark is in the water and that the group of friends will have to escape from it.

    Secondly, opening scenes show the mood and genre of the film. Both the text and the introduction help define these factors. For instance, in the film Goldfinger, the introduction showed shots taken from inside of a gun. Then the next scene shows a spy and a minor antagonist fight until the minor antagonist dies from battle. This opening scene shows that the genre of the film is going to be action. According to the article, "First frames: titles in the digital realm", "The typography and total visual style created in the opening sequence can establish the mood and image system not only for the film you are about to watch, but the poster, DVD/video packaging, web site, and all promotion and branding graphics." In other words, the format of the text in the intro also plays an important role in telling the mood of the story.

    Finally, opening scenes provide the audience an understanding of the main character. Sometimes in an opening scene, the main character is shown, and the audience can meet him/her and see what he/she is like. The article, "First frames: titles in the digital realm" states, "The best film typography isn't superfluous or incongruous, but fundamentally helps to tell the story." Basically, titles are supposed to benefit the story and mean something. For example,  in Saturday Night Fever the character we meet is wearing a nice suit and walking with a purpose. It isn't until the end of the intro scene in which the audience saw that he works at a hardware store. Also, the title of the film was showed in bright red lights, like a neon sign. The format of the title looks like a sign for a disco, so this shows that the protagonist most likely can dance. Another example where the audience meets the protagonist in the introduction is The Lion King. Towards the end of the opening scene the audience sees a lion cub getting held up in front of all the animals in the land. This tells the audience that the main character is the lion cub. Also, the title of the film is The Lion King, so that gives a hint to the audience that the lion cub is going to be king or is going to fight to be king.

    In conclusion, opening scenes are fundamental to the film. The introduction provides the audience with the plot, mood, and protagonist of the film. I would also like to add that I am leaning more towards film for my final project. I believe that a film would be more fun to do than a magazine article.