Analysis of 9 shots from art of the title sequence

Art Of The Title Sequence:

Sherlock Holmes

Opening sequence:

The sequence begins with a shot of a man with an old fashioned camera which straight away advertises that the film is going to be old fashioned. The shot of the men changes with the camera flash into an old fashioned black and white image, then into a newspaper layout with the image printed onto it. The film title is then introduced in the same style font. It tells the audience that the film is going to be set in victorian times. We are the shown a shot of a street name and it zooms out into an establishing shot of the street, to introduce to us the scenery and the area. It allows the audience to relate instantly to the characters within the film by seeing their lifestyles. The camera then shows a tracking shot of a horse cart, then moves into a panning shot of the building, then into an establishing shot of a character looking out of a window. This allows the audience to assume this will be one of the main characters.

Ending sequence:

The ending sequence for Sherlock Holmes, is a lot more active and detailed than the opening sequence. In the ending sequence the titles are hand written in fountain pen style. This highlights the style of the film and its victorian setting. The titles conclude the film by advertising the names of the actors and who they played next the the face of their character. The shots are of moving images, that fade into a freeze frame of the image printed on to old fashioned brown paper, with an overall lack colour. This alongside the titles highlights the films victorian style. The shots are fast moving and exciting which matches the intense music used to conclude the film. This all leads to the audience feeling satisfied with what they have just seen and wanting more.

Suspence in Marathon Man

Marathon Man!

There are many different suspenseful moments in Marathon Man but here are a few of them...

The first scence that we see that is suspenseful is when the two men are in different cars racing against eachother, the music then becomes louder and more dramatic, the camera also gets closer to the cars. This moment of the film creates suspense as the audience don't know whats about to happen next although they know that something bad is going to happen.

Another suspenseful moment in Marathon Man is when we hear a tick tock sound this carries connotations of something is about to happen or someone is running out of time. We then see a close up of a doll in a buggy... then the explosion goes off!

Theres a moment when the main character is in the white house, and he has got the gun in his hand the woman is scared, its dark and they think theres someone in the house. The accompainment makes it seem tense. Then the glass breaks and a car pulls up outside the house in the country side. The music that the audience hear gives that whole scence a funny feeling... is someone going to die? whats going to happen next? In the end the main man shoots one of the officers, the other officer shoots the other officer, and then the last officer shoots Elsa.

News and Current Affairs

"COLD KILLER WHO NEARLY GOT AWAY"

This headline was about a man who hung himself in his prison cell. He was in prison for beating his wife to death in 1974. He then reported her as missing and police begun a search for her. It wasnt till 1997 that he was convicted for the murder.

I believe this storyline could be used as it is a good basis for a Thriller film.

Haiti Earthquake

On tuesday 12th January 2010 at 16:53 and Earthquake hit Haiti; the poorest country in the western hemisphere. Thousand were left injured or killed, many were left trapped for days. Schools, hospitals, prisons and homes have been left collapsed. Now the country are relying on the Foreign Aid to feed them and keep them living. This earthquake is reportedly one of the worst to hit our region for 200years.

I feel this could make a good basis for a thriller film as it involves real activities that the audience will already know about and it will be their chance to see a remade version and see the experience for themselves.

I found both these stories in the Sun newspaper.

How is suspence created in the film you watched in class?

Marathon Man

Marathon Man is a thriller film set in New York, which uses a lot of suspence to excite and involve its audience.

examples of suspence used in the film:

The man is in the bath. His house is silent apart from the slight sound of water moving about. The silence creates tention as it makes the audience really concentrate as they know something is going to happen and are curious to know what. The lights in the flat then begin to turn off. They go off in a sequence leading closer to the bathroom each time. The darkness coming closer represents that something bad is coming near. the man in the bath then jumps out the bath and shuts the door. The audience continue to ask themself "whats going to happen next". Whoever else is in the house begins to try break down the door. The panic on the man passes on to the audience as they still want to know whats going to happen. The scene then becomes more active as the man smashes the window and shouts for "help". It excites the audience and keeps the suspence but leads to the audiences anxiety to grow even more. "Will someone hear him?... Who are the people in the house?... Will he get help in time?..". Then we see the man try to escape as the door is broken off but does not get away.

The suspence used for this scene excites the audience and makes it a lot more enjoyable to watch. It lets the audience connect with the character and the storyline.

Photo word activity

As a group, our activity was to take 4 photos that represent certain moods and feelings. We had to be creative and try to use ideas that arent "typical".

This task is to help us to gain imaginative ideas for our thriller opening.

Hanging
This image is quite basic. It shows the image off feet hanging from a table.

City

This image evokes the mood of a city. The building in the background, the sign with directions, the motor vehicles and the bicycles. These object all highlight things that happen in the city on a daily basis.

Through

This image is a reflection of someone legs on a window aswell as the outside image that we can see through the window. I feel the image evokes the word through bacause it is showing an image through another image. This plays with the viewers mind.

Calm

This image shows a lone plane in the sky, with no obstacles or clouds in its way. I feel that this image evokes the the feeling of calm because of its neutral colours and the overal picture could be described as empty.

Photo Words Activity

Hang

This is a picture of someones feet hanging off a table. This image represents the word hang because their feet are off the table and hanging.


Twist



This picture is showing a picture of a twisted scarf, this image represents the word twist as it is twisted up.

City

This is a picture of a sign giving directions and some bicycles. the sign, the bus and the big buildings in the background show city like feautures and things that happen in the city everyday.