Our AS media presentation on the purpose of an OTS

1. THE PURPOSE OF AN
OTS
Joey Carabini, Charlie Smith, Tom Glasgow, Simeron Singh

2. ESTABLISH THEME/GENRE
 The OTS should include mise-en-scene and sound which is
relevant to the genre of the film. For example, a horror OTS should
include screaming coupled with images of violence and gore, whereas
a comedy would include light-hearted images along with jokes and
laughing.

3. INTRODUCE THE CHARACTERS
 This is not as common in a symbolic OTS but most OTS’s will
include the characters who play critical roles in the film.
 The personalities of these characters are usually shown in the OTS
to establish what their role in the plot will be, but are sometimes left
in order to create a narrative enigma.
 It has become popular in modern cinema to create misleading
characters as this allows for a dramatic plot twist later in the film, e.g.
Snape in Harry Potter.

4. ESTABLISH SETTING
 Symbolic and non-symbolic OTS’s will do this in different ways.
 A symbolic OTS will create the atmosphere of the setting without
actually showing it, e.g. the mental hospital in American Horror Story.
 A non-symbolic OTS will show the setting of the main events in
detail, e.g. Juno showing the town in which the main characters live.

5. CREDITS
 The OTS must display the names of the cast and staff who helped
produce the film and may include their job titles.
 Different OTS’s may do this in different ways and most will try to
incorporate the text into the themes of the film and make it relevant.
 An example of this would be The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, in
which the credits are written in dark black ink; linking them to the ink
in her iconic tattoo.

6. NAME OF THE FILM
 This is simply text which displays the title of the film, usually in
large, eye-catching font.
 Similarly to the credits, this text is often incorporated into the
themes of the film to have a greater impact on the audience.