2. The titles start with a black and white city eventually fading, from a birds eye view
shot, into a white “Sin City” title. The white title contrasts to the binary opposite
black background. This is because black and white, the use of lighting and darkness,
are conventions commonly used in a noir film. The light and dark also connote a
struggle between good and evil or a city surrounded by darkness and hatred.
The title then turns red which connotes danger or bloodshed. This could be a
foretelling of what the audience is about to endure throughout the film. It also sticks
out among the black and white tones previously used an adds another layer of
danger and is one of the only colours used in the film itself. The authors name is
presented at the top to connote that this is based on a comic book. This is backed up
by the font style which is commonly seen in comic books. Comic books can be
especially gory and gritty, so this connotes that this film may share those traits as its
based on a comic book.
Each character is introduced in a black and white drawn format, this is behind bold
capitalized red text. This connotes that each character has shades of black and white
or good and evil, which further supports the title “Sin City” which signifies a city of
people with good and bad traits, anti heroes. The text in red connotes taht they will
be performing an act of violence or be involved in the bloodshed in some way which
makes the character important to the audience. The red text also moves over the
characters introduced and highlights them in red. This connotes that each character
has a bad point about them, even the heroes.
The music used throughout builds up as each character is introduced. This connotes
that tension is being built up before the film starts. This gets the audience excited for
what happens next and entices them into the film. Their are also hints of saxophone
in the music which strongly links the opening titles to classic noir films which where
created when blues music was popular which utilised saxophones.
This title sequence has shown me that I could use a contrasts of colour to convey
my messages my short film. When introducing a character I could make them
appear, perhaps with shades of white and black, conventions of noir films, to show
their colourful history of good and bad. I could add dashes of red to my intro,
especially the text, to connote the villains from the heroes or those linked to
violence. It also has a strong connection blood so its possible that I could use the
red to introduce a victim or killer. I could also use music in conjunction with the
titles to further add depth and atmosphere to my titles and create a link to the
past.
3. The titles in memento fade in and out in the centre. This
connotes that they are meant to be perfectly clear to the
audience at all times. This is further backed up by the fact that
all the text has been capitalized and given a neon blue colour
which really emphasises the text to the audience.
The photo in the background gradually fades away over the
course of the credits. This could reflect the narrative of the film
which is about memories lost . This is further reflected in the
titles as they fade in and out which could signify a new memory
being created before it is forgotten, a trait of the main
character of the film.
The fact that the text does not move connotes that the film has
stability. This is backed up by the fact that the colour blue also
has the meaning of stability also. However due to a majority of
the film playing in reverse, this stability could actually be
interpreted as an invert for instability which could be a trait of
the main character due to his inability to create explicit
memories and due to the violent acts within the film which
would not be considered normal in a stable society.
The titles have shown me that using certain colours along with
having still text can really emphasise the words you are trying
to convey to your audience. This means that the titles in my
noir film could be still to clearly put the messages across to
the audience and build up the atmosphere to them. I could
also, instead of a coloured background, have an item of
significance to the narrative of the film. This would allow my
titles to hint and entice the audience with enigma codes as my
titles run.
4. The titles start with the main title fading in on a brown background in the style of
what appears to be an old movie theatre. This connotes that the film tries to
mimic the opening titles to classic films from the 1920’s and 1930’s. Considering
this was the time of popularity for noir films, this film “Chinatown” successfully
duplicates the atmosphere of those old noir films, creating a similar feeling that
accurately turns this film into a neo noir.
Rolling titles are also utilised in a very classic film way, reminding the audience of
old Hollywood films. This signifies that the film will continue to create this
“Classic” atmosphere, using old conventions of noir films to try and replicate the
same atmosphere for a more modern audience in 1974. a more modern title
movement could have been used such as flying titles or 3D text, but this would
have taken away from the overall noir tone that the film wishes to convey.
A very brown and brown stained white font colour is used through the opening
credits. This connotes that the film tries to capture a sepia tone commonly found
in older films such as noir. This effectively entices the audience into the grainy
classical feel of the films atmosphere . The font itself using a mixture of curvy
and block capital text really convinces the audience that this film has a certain
suavity to it while remaining strong. This is reflected by the strong male lead and
the femme fetale commonly seen in noir films.
A saxophone is also used. This gives the opening titles the atmosphere of a
1930’s period piece when blues were popular. This connotes that the music can
also contribute to the atmosphere being conveyed to the audience by linking a
popular instrument or genre of music to a certain era of history.
This opening title sequence has successfully shown me the various techniques I
can incorporate into my own title sequence. This includes the use of fading
transitions and scrolling titles which would give my titles an old feel, almost as
if they are on a film reel which would be very useful for my noir film to give it
an authentic feel. I could also use tinting to my advantage. This is because it
will allow me to set the scene for my film via adjusting the colour of the titles
by applying filters to make it look as if the film is set in a certain part of history
or era. Music would also help connote to my audience the atmosphere for the
film. I could use classical instruments such as a saxophone or piano piece to
successfully create the right mood for the film during the opening titles.
