Title Sequence Clips Review

My initial opinion about opening scene/credits was that it had significant importance to the film. Though I knew the opening scene it had importance I never payed close attention to the detail. Now that I have watched multiple clips from various movie of only the opening scene, I see the effect it has on the viewers' interest. I noticed that when watching the opening credits of movies that were fast pace and immediately jumped into the plot, I was more intrigued by such as, “Pulp Fiction”, “Jaws”, “Scream”, and “Saturday Night Fever”. These films each began with a full-blown scene including dialogue and action. When a movie begins with a slow start and ends with a load of action, I tend to be conflicted on whether the overall movie was good or not. A better start to a movie in my opinion is an intriguing scene followed by credits followed by a seemingly  normal start, it gives the viewer a sense of foreshadowing and excitement for what's to come and more likely to pay attention throughout the movie.  

An important aspect of the title sequence is the editing and font of the letters. It can set up the mood for the film along with the music. This has been an important aspect of film for quite some time, “TV has been using digital effects and computer graphics with programs like Paint Box since the 1980s.”, (First frames: titles in the digital realm, Merril). The film “Gold Finger” is one of the first examples of digital editing in the title sequence; including the signature opening of the view from the barrel showing a man being shot. Typography may be something many people do not particularly care about but much thought and effort go into it, “In its simplest form we watch a list of cast, crew and title followed by audiovisual narrative, then more reading as credits roll. Typography in film is usually an anonymous informative head and tail included in a post-production 'to-do' list.”, (Merril). 

Although some title sequences do not include people or scenes in them those that do usually don’t include much dialogue but don’t seem to need it anyways. “Dazed and Confused” is one of the films that starts off with people and landscape there are some murmurs and noises but no real conversations. I felt that even without dialogue I already learned a lot about what was going to happen, the scenery the age group and the activities set me up for the film and what was to expect. Other films choose a completely different approach and include voiceovers or full conversations in their credits such as, “Choose Life”.  When the credits start in “Choose Life” there is action to begin with which is certainly intriguing from the start. There is also a voiceover playing, which between the action, music, introduction to characters, and title sequence I found hard to pay attention to. I believe that a film shouldn't start off with so much at once but rather unravel as the film begins. 

I am not sure that I would like to choose the movie for the portfolio project, but I’m definitely considering it.