Research Task 7Title Research

byAaron Alderman

These are the main institutions that were involved with the films making. They are all shown on screen and have been purposely made the centre of focus, so the audience can tell their significance. It is clear that MTV Films were heavily involved, as they have two separate shots mentioning them, the first of which being a short animation at the very beginning.Fox Searchlight Pictures are America distributors, indicating that the movie is set in USA. The text is very interesting to read as it is centred on a plate, written in different sauces which are in contrasting colours to the plate (so it’s easy to read). This suggests a film that isn’t serious, but fun.

Non-diegetic sounds begin to play as we are shown a person taking out their wallet and proceeding to open it, and take out a card.The first card is a ‘UFO Abduction Insurance’ card, signifying that the film is of a comedic genre full of light-hearted humour. It also features the name ‘Jon Heder’ who is obviously important to the story considering his name is featured first out of all of the actors.The second card pulled out features a picture of the main character, also his name and film title ‘Napoleon Dynamite’. Several other things of note are also mentioned such as the time period, which we can see how the movie is set in 2004-2005. This is accompanied by the name of the high school that the student attends – Preston High which is located in Idaho.

The next shots are very similar to the first shots of the film institutions, as they are focused on plates of food with the text written in a sauce.These however feature only names of people we can assume are involved in the film – but it isn’t clear what specific role they actually had (stars, co-stars, designers for example).The nachos indicate that there will be a Mexican character in the narrative as they are a common food originating from Mexico. The meals are very small, the type of lunch you’d expect from a school canteen.

The typography here is used very creatively and would spark an interest in the audience, as it is much more inviting to read than plain text across the screen. The use of objects such as food packets to reveal the editor of the film make for a much more interesting opening credit sequence. They also give the impression that the film is fun and doesn’t take itself too seriously, providing a light atmosphere. The fonts used are engaging to read but most importantly let the audience observe with ease.A lipstick container is used to show off the production designer and is rotated to reveal his name. This is a simple action and technique, but also it livens up the sequence.

The last names mentioned in the opening sequence are the producers, writers and finally the director. These are last because they want these names to stick in the mind of the audience, so if the film impresses they may want to see more of their films. Also this is because these roles within the films production are considered the most important, so they are placed purposely last to get the recognition they deserve.The typography is still very easy to read as well as used creatively to capture the audiences attention. The writer’s names are written on pencils, which signifies irony and a snippet of comedy.The title sequence ends abruptly as the burger is closed by the person behind the screen.