TITLE SEQUENCE ANALYSIS

BY JON BLACK

SPIDER-MAN

No Text.

Production company (funder)

Other corporation responsible for funding and artistic guidance regarding the source material.

Film Title- “Spider-Man”.

Main Character actor- Tobey Maguire.

Main Cast member (antagonist) – Willem Dafoe.

Main Cast member– Kirsten Dunst.

Main Cast member– James Franco

Main Cast member– Cliff Robertson.

Main Cast member– Rosemary Harris.

Main Cast member- J.K. Simmons

Main Cast members- Gerry Becker and Bill Nunn

Main Cast member- Jack Betts, Stanley Anderson and Ron Perkins.

Casting Directors- Francine Maisler and Lyn Kressel.

Co-Producer- Grant Curtis.

Music composer/creator- Danny Elfman.

Costume Designer- James Acheson

Visual Effects Designer- John Dykstra

Editor- Bob Murawski Arthur Coburn

Production Designer- Neil Spisak

Director of Photography- Don Burgess

Executive Producers- Avi Arad, Stan Lee

Producers- Laura Ziskin, Ian Bryce

Original Content Creators- Stan Lee, Steve Ditko.

Screenplay writer- David Koepp

Director- Sam Raimi

In looking at the roles mentioned in the opening titles of Spider-man I will likely follow with using a similar style in my own product.

The actors are prioritised over the other roles as they are what the viewer sees and has paid to see, so the main cast are all shown before moving on to other important roles like Producers, Screenplay writers, Editors and the director.

Marvel is mentioned a lot, as this film is an adaptation of an original comic book series and therefore the corporation is mentioned at the start and later on it says “based on the original marvel comic book” to clarify that this is adapted from this source material.

As my project will be fresh there isn’t a need for this, however referencing influences subconsciously through particular shots in the genre I have chosen may invoke curiosity in the casual viewer and gain attention for them to watch on.

THE INCREDIBLE HULK

Marvel Studios- the corporation that funds the film and created the source material.

Mentions both corporations responsible for production and distribution.

Marvel studios mentioned again to establish it’s involvement with the project.

Valhalla- also produced the film with Marvel.

Main cast member- Edward Norton.

Film Title- “The Incredible Hulk”.

Main cast member- Liv Tyler.

Main cast member- Tim Roth.

Main cast member- William Hurt.

Main cast member- Tim Blake Nelson.

Main cast member- Ty Burrell.

Main cast member- Christina Cabot.

Casting director- Laray Mayfield.

Music composed/created by Craig Armstrong.

Music Supervisor- Dave Jordan.

Visual effects (VFX) supervisor- Kurt Williams.

Associate Producer- Stephen Broussard.

Film Editors- John Wright, Rick Shaine, Vincent Tabaillon.

Production Designer- Kirk M. Petruccelli.

Photography Director- Peter Menzies Jr.

Executive Producers- Stan Lee, Davis Maisel, Jim Van Wyck

Producers- Avi Arad, Gale Anne Hurd, Kevin Feige

Screenplay/ Screen story writer- Zak Penn.

Director- Louis Leterrier.

In looking at the roles mentioned in the opening titles of The Incredible Hulk I saw a different pattern in who is mentioned to that of Spider-man’s title sequence. The cast is mentioned but not to the same extent, as other crew members like the director of photography and the Visual Effects Designers are mentioned for more of the duration of the title sequence than the actors.

This shows that the film is heavily grounded in quality visuals as it mentions the Visual effects, editing, production design and the director of photography. The creators of the film’s music score are also mentioned, which shows the director values this role and is showing the audience that the film’s score is to be noted.

The visuals themselves on the title sequence are exciting and reflect what to expect from the film. Many close shots of X-Rays, tissue sampling and blood under the microscope all imply the film is going to make this adaptation of the Hulk grounded in some biological reality, which is now a subgenre brought about by film series such as the Dark Knight trilogy that present the stories through gritty realism. Though Marvel is often more light with it’s products, the grounding in some scientific explanation makes the film more believable despite being a Comic Book film.

In my product I may use this realism and focus more on crew members rather than the cast as they are as important (in my opinion) to the film as the actors.

DIVERGENT

Summit Entertainment- Production company.

Red Wagon Entertainment- Production company.

Director- Neil Burger

Film Title- “Divergent”.

Divergent is interesting as the title sequence only acknowledges the production companies and the film title. This may be down to creative choices as the director (Neil Burger) may have saw title sequences as inconsequential to the film and to only promote the production companies and himself (the director) as corporate branding or promotion.

The title sequence itself, though short, does represent the tone of the film accurately as the 3D graphics look like computer simulations, and these play a great part in the film- and are recognisable to the film franchise.

The film title is interesting as the flares make the title appear twice, faded in the foreground and more clear in the background and I think this is done to create an effect of futuristic grandeur and menace, both (again) being features of the film. The Divergent universe is shown as fairly large, and the menace of the erudite people (antagonists) is technology which is shown in this sequence.

I think I will use this style of opening in the sense that I will only use the titles that are necessary (not overloading with unneccessary information) though it will certainly be more diverse than mentioning the production companies and director. The futuristic style I could adopt, as I am considering using images of technology in my project.