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Monday 12 September 2016

HW 2b - Analysis Of Titles In Film Openings (DYM)


Timeline of opening

0.00 - 2.22



Timeline of opening


Running Order

In terms of the order in which the titles appear, both Step Up and The Breakfast club follow a similar pattern of institutions behind the film, film title, actors and then crew credit. The difference here is that Step Up credits more actors than The Breakfast Club and does so in the order of main cast followed by supporting and then minor cast where as The Breakfast Club credits the main 7 actors in alphabetical order. The Breakfast Club also includes a title of a quote from David Bowie which is relevant to the film and the themes that it explores.

Placement of Titles

In Step Up, the titles that give institutional information are centralised with the actor and crew credit titles being positioned in the bottom corners. The titles are actually integrated into the scene so that characters are walking in front of them in some cases (these titles are always left up long enough though so that they can be read even when this happens). In The Breakfast Club, the titles are all centralised and this is not a problem as the majority of the opening is simply a black screen with the titles superimposed in yellow/gold lettering. This makes it very easy to see the information and, as there is nothing else on the screen, makes sense. 

Sound

Both film openings feature a non-diegetic song - in Step Up it is simply a track but in The Breakfast Club, as the song was written for the film, it is a musical score. At the beginning of the opening for Step Up, diegetic sound effects can be heard, such as walking, talking and police sirens; this is different to the other opening which doesn't include any diegetic sounds. 
In The Breakfast Club opening, the David Bowie quote shatters and the sound of glass breaking can be heard. This is followed by a male voice over introducing the school, its location and the date. This contrasts with the lack of any form of speech, whether dialogue or voice over, in the opening for Step Up.

Style

The shots used in the opening for Step Up alternate between the ballet dancers in a well lit studio and the hip hop dancers in the street. The shots in the studio have warm lighting with a pink hue which contrasts with the cool lighting and blue hue of the shots in the streets. These differing lighting arrangements play on the contrast between the two groups of dancers and the division between them, which is a key theme highlighted in the film. The titles in this opening are all white which is easily visible in all of the shots regardless of their differing colour schemes. With the exception of the film title, which has each letter swivel in and out, all of the titles simply fade in and out.

The  yellow/gold lettering of the titles in The Breakfast Club opening contrasts with the black background and is similar to the colour of the Universal logo at the very start. The titles simply appear and then fade out and this, along with the fact that the majority of the opening is with a black background, could reflect that films very low budget. The external shot of the school uses natural lighting and the two interior shots we see use fairly naturalistic low key lighting. This is coupled with the fact that the colours aren't very saturated to give a 'real', gritty view of school suggesting that the film isn't a typical 'glossy' teen school drama/comedy.

1 comment:

  1. You have posted two pieces of excellent work on sound and titles comparison. Your use of the timelines are impressive. Sian, your blog is of a very high standard. Well done this half term.

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