Transcript Film OTS Research Task

Sixth Sense Opening Title Sequence
MUSIC:
The music in this piece is nothing too special. The music is very
sparse and eery and gives a very ghostly feel. There is a
constant sound of background wind with instruments added
such as a echoey flute or sparse piano notes. The music begins
to crescendo with high pitched synthetic violins half way
through. Basically, the aim of the music is to create this
minimalist 'creepy' effect.
EDITING AND EFFECTS:
Again the director has chosen to stick with the smooth fading effects
of images in and out of the shot. This slow movement and fading
connotes imagery of ghosts and mystery because traditionally ghosts
are slow or sometime motionless beings. If you look at the image on
the left you can see why I mean about the fading images. All of he
images are also in very soft focus, and black and white. This again
connotes the idea of ghosts and creepiness. These same effects are
also echoed in the text; all in white and fade in and out with the
images.
Sixth Sense Opening Title Sequence
CAMERAWORK:
The camerawork in this sequence isn't really very spectacular
as it is very much of the same just repeated. Almost all of the
shots are wide angle establishing shots in black and white.
The trickery has all been performed in the editing suites. But I
believe these shots and images have been chosen because
of their eery characters especially with the soft focus and
black and white colouring.
SETTING AND LOCATION:
Everyone knows the stereotype of where ghosts live. They're
always in old Victorian houses that have a history behind them
and as seen here the director has used this stereotype to his
advantage.
Psycho Opening Title Sequence
MUSIC ("Prelude; The City; Marion and Sam; Temptation" by Bernard
Hermann):
The music that is featured in the OTS is a familiar type of music often
found in Thriller or Horror type films. It is used to create unease
amongst the audience. The music is quite uptempo and uses majority
minor note (or 'sad' notes) as apposed to major notes ('happy' notes),
this coupled with the piecing violin notes it create a profound impact on
the audience. This OTS really sets up the atmosphere throughout the
scene. From the music alone you can tell it will be full of suspense.
EDITING AND EFFECTS:
The editing used in the opening title sequence are rather revolutionary
for the 1960's. It was designed by a man called Saul Bass who was a
opening title sequence specialist from that era. He made this on a
£21,000 budget. Bass doesn't give his audience a lot to work with but I
believe that he leaves subtitle hints to the film ahead. As you can see
above, all of the shapes used are long, thin rectangles. I feel these,
and the way they enter and exit the scene, connote some form of knife
slash or cut which very much related to the film.
Psycho Opening Title Sequence
CAMERAWORK:
There isn't really camera work as such because it's a rather
basic title sequence, but then again this is what Bass was
famous for.
SETTINGS AND LOCATIONS:
Again, as this is simply a static camera with rolling titles there are no
settings and locations. I feel the reason for this is because Hitchcock didn't
want to give away some of the, now famous, locations within the film. The
lack of obviousness in the OTS I think is itself sinister and keeps the
audience guessing with only the most subtle guesses to the films plot.
Donnie Darko Opening Title Sequence
MUSIC:
The music used is a very soft, eery composition that designed to
create tension for the viewer. It uses very soft and almost
ghostly notes. This is not as prevalent as the ghostly theme of
'The Sixth Sense'. The song then progresses to a piano and soft
harmonising vocals. This connotes to the audience an almost
holy feel. After this, the music takes a darker turn briefly as he
exits shot then there is a cut scene.
EDITING AND EFFECTS:
The there are no such effects in this OTS other than the basic titles
at the start. Although, I feel this is the point of the film. I feel that if it
was laced with special effects and editing trickery it would detract
from the purity of the film.
Donnie Darko Opening Title Sequence
CAMERAWORK:
We have an establishing shot leading on to a shot of a boy
lying in the road. The director has done this to show the
emptiness of where the character is. This theme continues
into another establishing shot in which the character enters
from below.
SETTING AND LOCATION:
The Setting of this OTS give us a sense of space.
Bibliography
http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/psycho/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psycho_(1960_film)