Zara Yaffe

Film Opening Title Sequence Evaluation

My opening title sequence once finished and fully completed, looked almost exactly how I had originally imagined it in my storyboard and pre-production. I enjoyed all aspects to making my sequence and should hope this reflects on the quality of my work. I took time on my work in all places and hope that the past four months were worth it with the quality and standard of my work, hoping for it to be near professional standard.

I feel as though my filming was not bad, although it wasn’t phenomenal. I feel like my camera work with the blood scenes was difficult from the very start of even having the idea of it and this really showed in my edited and completed film opening title sequence. I feel like the cameras weren’t of a good enough quality to be able to capture the video shots I wanted and needed to get the standard I wanted. In my initial ideas, I wanted the clearest shots possible, almost like a real movie, although I realised that I wasn’t capable of this when filming due to the cameras lacking in quality in comparison to real movie cameras. The resolution was too low for the shots to be as clear as I had anticipated and so, in my final edit, the scenes were slightly blurred. This may also be due to the size of the screen I was using to edit the footage on in comparison to the camera screen, which is significantly smaller and unclear footage is not as easy to see on this smaller screen. This filming obstacle may negatively affect my grade which I would not want, although it could not particularly be helped due to the nature of my idea. The blurriness of this footage was unintentional but does make my final edit look far more unprofessional than I had originally envisioned. This was a real weakness in the shooting and use of cameras of this footage.

The editing which I have done to my footage was mainly just colour correction. This was to enhance the redness of the food colouring as it turns orange when put in the water. It made the background whiter than before, the orangey red colour much redder, and faded the glass away that I had filmed so that it looks like just blood floating and dripping. The colours of this edit, in my opinion, are a success. They are contrasting and eye-catching and, in comparison with my music, are positive parts of my film opening title sequence. I feel that the colour correction was key to making these scenes the best they could be, as otherwise the colours may be blended and not so extravagant and fluorescent. I feel that this was a major part of the final edit of my film opening title sequence and was very successful in catching the viewer’s attention.

Zara Yaffe

My camera work with the scenes in the alley way, I feel, was a success and that they were the main bit of my opening title sequence. The alley way scenes were an important part to my title sequence as they were the only bits with people in them, rather than objects. The filming I did was good and I feel that in my finished edit, they look like an almost professional standard which I am happy about. The shots were clear and done in daylight, which can be seen in my final edit. They show Declan clearly, even his face which was not always close to the camera, and connect his character to the viewers when he looks straight into their eyes. These only had to be shot once as they were so well done, in my opinion, and worked really well in comparison and contrast to the other two types of scenes. The tracking of the camera worked well in these shots and came across successfully as the viewers get a real feel and hint of the stalking that I am trying to portray.

The editing in this scene was, too, done fairly well. I feel that this was also a great part of my film opening title sequence. There was colour correction done so that it looks more like daylight, which was not difficult to do, and also there was a shadow-like figure put behind him which was following him. I feel that this came across well in my fim opening title sequence and looks almost professional. The shadow looks like him in some shots, but like the ‘stalker’ in other shots. I would like to think that this thrills the viewer, as this is the main aim of my title sequence as it is a thriller.

Zara Yaffe

Finally, my last scene type is a clock scene. This, in my opinion, is a real weakness to my film opening title sequence. The footage was not very good and this really came across in my title sequence, even though I tried to pick out the best bits. Due to this, my grade will be pulled down which I obviously do not want. The footage was shaky because the camera was so high up that I could not reach. The shaky-ness in my footage would probably put the viewers off watching it as it almost makes you dizzy or unfocused when watching as the camera is jolting. The actual footage is fairly clear though and wasn’t too low in resolution which did make it look slightly more professional. This was on my storyboard exactly how it is in my title sequence and so reflects my original idea. The camera work was not too impressive but was, although, good enough to use in my opening title sequence. Some people when watching it may read some connotations through the jolting of my camera, possibly to enhance the thriller genre, and might actually enjoy it or possibly understand it more and want to watch the real ‘film’.

The editing of my clock scenes was, too, not too great. I colour corrected these shots and also changed the gradient of them too. It comes across as very fuzzy and contrasts a lot to the other scenes which were very clear and understandable. There is no real reason for this and it probably does come across very badly when watching my work, which I did not hope for in any part of my sequence when doing pre-production. I do think that the colours in these scenes look good though, even if they are slightly blurred or fuzzy. This could possibly look like it’s coming from the view of the actor in question, as though it’s perhaps supposed to look hazy.

Zara Yaffe

I do not think there is much to say about my actual credits. They were done in a clock type of font. This was due to the change in my idea where I was going to have a stalker looking at this actor in my opening title sequence, like I did, but have it more exposed to the viewer where they’d catch on immediately unlike what I did do where they had to catch hints from certain parts. I was going to have it computer-based where the ‘stalker’ follows the tracks of the actor. I changed my mind of that idea but kept this typeface so that the viewer can try to pick up subtle hints that I have given them. This typeface was therefore not understandably picked at first glance but, once looked into in further detail, was understandable. They were on the screen for exactly 2 seconds each, at which they stretched. They were each placed at different areas on the screen so that I could direct the viewer and what they look at. This was to keep the audience’s attention and from watching other people watching this, I think this technique successfully did this. The title credits did not fade in or out, they just came on and then went off. I like this and think it came across well as they flashed in and out and then vanished as though something may keep disappearing in my ‘film’.

Overall, I feel that my opening title sequence came across well to my viewers and should hope that they enjoyed watching it after the hard work I had put in to produce it.