Title sequence analysis - Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet – title sequence (1995)

Genre - Greek tragedy

The genre of this film is constructed through the narrator of the film, who has taken upon the role of a news presenter. The prologue of the play is used as the opening news story being watched from a TV set. This immediately indicates the modern take this film has on the play, however the prologue still remains the same old dialogue.  In a typical news story, there is a picture relating to the topic. In this news story, the picture is a ring broken and underneath reads ‘starcrossed lovers.’ This also sets the genre of the film to be romantic.

The fact that a news report is used also foreshadows criminal activity or danger, as that what the news is usually associated with. The music associates it closely to religion, with loud church choir singing. The figure of Jesus is also shown throughout the title sequence, and in between the Montague and Capulet buildings. This immediately shows there is a direct link towards religion in the feud between both families. Short clips of fighting scenes and what appears to be a war of somewhat are in the title sequence, with the whirring of a helicopter and police sirens overhead. In the title sequence, all of the main characters are introduced, apart from Romeo and Juliet. This may be seen as an enigma of the film. The typography  of the film is also very religion based, with the use of a crucifix as the ‘+’ 


http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/william-shakespeares-romeo-juliet/

'Where Has She Gone' presentation

Film pressssssssssss from Molly Ruby

Pitch Feedback

After receiving this feedback from the pitch of my film, it has become apparent that there are a few things that need to be worked on for this film to become successful.

This includes the budget for the film and the film name. Overall, good feedback was given, generally about the plot of the film and the cast. We also needed to research more on the director for the film as we were unsure on how experienced they are in this genre of film. We also lacked in research for the budget for this type of film as we looked at the cost of a film similar to this but was made a long time ago. We came to the conclusion that the film will cost around £80 million, opposed to £20-25 million. We also decided that our film name was not good enough, and it would not appeal to any type of audience as it is very general and lacks creativity, I also don't think it relates well to the genre of the film .

Where Has She Gone - Film Pitch

Continuity Sequence and evaluation

Evaluation

We had to carry out an exercise to create a continuity sequence where we had to film and edit. We had to include the shots: ''shot reverse shot'' and ''match on action.'' We had to film a character walking up to a door, opening the door and sitting down to have a conversation with another person. We also had to ensure we stuck to the 180 degree rule. Overall, I found this task quite enjoyable to film, as we made it more interesting by involving more drama. However, I feel as though I struggled in editing the continuity sequence together in Final Cut Pro as it required a lot of patience and it had to run together smoothly otherwise it wouldn't be successful. I think my continuity sequence could have been edited better  to make it better overall. 

Art Of The Title - homework

'A great draftsman and visual storyteller, Saul Bass ran the gamut of techniques for his title sequences: montage, live action, cut-out paper animation, typography in motion, to name a few.' I find this interesting because it shows how unique the works of Saul Bass were. There were a number of factors that contributed to his successful title sequences. 

'The idea for using cigarette packaging for the opening sequence was suggested by the film’s director.' Considering the film is called 'Thank You For Smoking' I believe the iconography used in the title sequence is very simple, but it works well.

 'European cinema was deeply influenced by modernism, and aspects of this visual sensibility were brought to the US by filmmakers who were fleeing the Nazis.' I find this interesting because it brings aspects of historical knowledge and understanding into the production of film making. It will also be popular with the public as often non-fiction based films on major historical events sell well.