Research:Analysis of 2 Title Sequences

Art of the Title 

Analysis of Title Sequences

The Avengers

In this title sequence the credits show the names of peoples involvement in film .You see the key production crew  names first, starting with  Director Joss Whedon  and ending with Casting director Sarah Halley Finn . It then continued with the names of the cast members with the likes of Robert Downey Jr(Iron Man), Chris Evans(Captain America), Mark Ruffalo(Hulk), Chris Hemsworth(Thor) and Scarlett Johansson(Black Widow)

Layout
The font used is a bold 'Verdana' type font and the type used represents the base of the high tech world of S.H.I.E.L.D . Throughout the sequence we see the each name appear either in the middle,top, bottom of the screen. As we approach each name,the camera zooms in and focuses on it.

Why I chose this title sequence 
First of all i wanted to pick a film that I had seen but wasn't really familiar or even aware of the title sequence, so i picked avengers. I like this title sequence because it represents the tone of the film. Its Shield orientated which is really exciting . I also like this title sequence because it gives a clear outline of the actor who played the super hero and since this title sequence is at the end when you see their name alongside you can begin to asses and praise the actor for playing his part well. You begin to have a clear idea as to who the actors will be playing and what their superpower is. for an example when Robert Downey name appears it appears alongside the iron man helmet indicating that Robert Downey Junior will be play.

The Designer
Steve Violvla. He was  striving not to just make this a visual effects sequence, but to engage and capture the audience even after the film. And like the film itself, the title sequence is an ensemble of sorts, too. Each character must be given their due and have a moment with their on-screen credit. 

Steve Violva thought the title sequence was 'interesting' to work through. Some characters didn’t have much to go on without using their actual bodies, and getting each credit on the respective objects proved difficult without making it feel disjointed. Characters such as the Hulk and Black Widow really didn't have many assets to go on.  There was a lot of discussion about whether he wanted to represent anyone else, such as Loki. Ultimately, Marvel and Joss agreed that we should stick to the key members of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Steve said how the hardest part of making the sequence was macro photography, everyone sees everything. He scrutinized every detail, every texture, every glint and flare  because you can see everything! That each thread or particle that’s not right pulls the audience right out of the reality of the sequence. He and the Creative team worked painstakingly hard to make it as engaging, emotional, and realistic as possible. 

Iron Man 3

This title sequence starts of with gripping fast pace music with the Director, Shane Black appearing first, following on to Screen Play writer Drew Pierce and once again Shane Black,then its other key production crew like the producer,executive producer and editors. It then rolled the creits of the main cast,featuring Robert Downey Jr, Gweneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle and Ben Kingsly. It finishes of with saying: ' Marvel Studios Presents, In Association with Paramount Pictures and Dmg Entertainment, A Marvel Studios Production, Iron Man Three.

Layout
The typography was in a comic art form. It was bold yellow and in captial letters. This was very eye-catching. We see the typography  appear almost everywhere on the screen when the credits rolled. They appeared at the top, in the middle , at the bottom and on the side in horizontal and diagonal angles.

Behind the font we see section of the film being played but when the name appears it freezes and the scenes are then converted in to a comic art form. When they introduced names of the costume designer,director of photography, special effects editor they show aspects of their work like the costumes the characters where or the graphics shown in the film. This is also applied when the actors names are shown on the screen it shows the characters they have played.

Why I chose this sequence
I love this title sequence because its exciting, fun and it almost shows how the film has brought to life a comic book. I love the music. Its very engaging and I like the energetic split screens and angled transitions it definitely reminds me of comic books which I love.

The Designer
Danny Yount said he  wanted the animation to be almost overpowering and ridiculous, so he went for the most clichéd move he could possibly think of.I researched why he selected the images he did during the title sequence and i found out he ''pretty much just went through each film and found what I thought were the best scenes. We then categorized them into action scenes and lifestyle scenes. Then, we sub-categorized them editorially into match cut moments, like every time Tony Stark or Iron Man uses a certain trick or every explosion or every time you see beautiful women or cars. After all, it’s entertainment so it has to be pure fun''

When I watched it I wondered why the words where 'Iron Man Three' where used instead of the way it was originally written as 'Iron Man 3' and I found out that Kevin Feige saw it on the web somewhere being used as sort of a South Park-style visual pun and he liked it.Danny said he wanted the animation to be almost overpowering and ridiculous, so I went for the most clichéd move I could possibly think of: the mighty trailer-style camera track through type.


If asked if he could do anything differently he said ''I wanted the colour to feel cheap but they wanted it to be film-accurate so we had to pull back on that. I also wanted more campiness and ’70s style tonally but that would have stepped on the film footage too much.''