Researching Opening Credits

In a Film the opening credits are shown at the very beginning and list the most important members of the production.
They are now usually shown as text  on a blank screen or static pictures. They can also appear on top of  action in the film.
Opening credits can be built into a separate sequence of their own called a title sequence.
For Example James Bond, Pink Panther and Sweeney Todd.
There are a variey of  variations to opening credits but they usually follow this basic order.


I looked at a few opening credits examples to understand the order and basic set out of opening credits from studing the credits that appeared in my variety of films I picked up the general order that they all seem to follow.
I looked at; Coraline,  Forest Gump, Fight Club, Edward Scissorhands, Casino Royale, Halloween and Se7en.


NAME OF THE STUDIO/ PRODUCTION COMPANY

This is the name of the studio that is distributing the film. All film openings start with this. 

For Example New Line,Columbia, Lions Gate, Universal.

NAME OF THE PRODUCTION COMPANY
Name of the production company that made the film.Name of the investment groups or companies that financed the film
Generally credited as " A ___________ production"/ "In association with"/ "A  ______ film"


STARRING
Normally the main actor. It could say for example Johnny Depp "in" then followed by the films Title.


FILM'S TITLE
This will simply be the name of the film.


FEATURING
Featured actors the other actors in the film.


CASTING/CASTING BY
Casting director.


MUSIC BY
This will be the composer of music. It could state the Title of the song within the opening credits and who proformed it, who wrote and produced it.


PRODUCTION DESIGN/ PRODUCTION DESIGNER
This would be the production designer.

Within this category you can have the following featured

STUNTS/ STUNT COORDINATOR
CAMERA OPERATOR
SCRIPT SUPERVISOR
PUBLICITY AND MARKETING
PROMOTIONS
SET DESIGN
WARDROBE SUPERVISOR
COSTUMES BY/ COSTUME DESIGNER
HAIRDRESSER
MAKE-UP ARTIST/ SUPERVISOR
SOUND RECORDIST
ELECTRICAL SUPERVISOR
VISUAL EFFECTS DIRECTOR/ VISUAL EFFECTS BY


EDITOR / EDITED BY
This will be the Editor of the film.


DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
This is the Director of photography.


PRODUCER / PRODUCED BY/ EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Producers, co-producers, executive producers, Co executive producers


BASED ON THE BOOK/NOVEL/STORY BY
Whether the film was based on a on a book.


BASED ON THE CHARACTERS BY / BASED ON THE CHARACTERS CREATED BY
If the story features characters from a book.

STORY / STORY BY
The writer of the story.

WRITER(S) /WRITTEN BY
The Screenplay writers.


DIRECTOR / DIRECTED BY
This is the Director of the film they will be the last to been shown in the opening sequence they lead the opening sequence into the beginning of the film this is generally the end of the credits.

Filming

Today we went back to High Broom Woods to film a few proposed shots. We took the camera and tripod with us and set up in our surroundings. We took a bin bag with us also so that when I got into position on the river bed I didn't get too dirty and wet. We worked as a team to set up ensuring the camera was in the right place. We suggested ideas to each other and helped set up the shots. We positioned the bin bag carefully onto the river bed by the edge of the stream. My group helped me get into position and they then shot the scene. I really enjoyed this filming exercise as I feel that we have gained a lot from these filming sessions because we are more confident with the camera and using it with the tripod. We feel more confident now for coming to film the real scene. There won’t be that many changes to what we have practised. The only modifications will be the costume/clothing of Beth, there won’t be the bin bag and we might possibly have a water damaged note in one of Beth's hands to add to the sense of mystery of the story. I feel very confident with how things are progressing, we still have quite a lot to consider but I am feeling confident and excited for our next progression. 

Beth Marwolaeth

Whilst thinking about the production of our film I decided to make a quick layout of keywords that I think are important. I thought this was a really effective way of jotting down things we need to consider in a unusal way that will capture our attention.

Opening Title Influnces

This is inspiration from different credit and the way the move from one to another. This is a really good thing to look at as the credits are going to be quite a major part of our opening sequence.

Animated Story Board

Rough draft

Here is our Animated Story board. This gives us the gist of how our opening sequence will appear and the different shots we will use. This is a really effective way of showing a story board.

This is of our rough story board I'm planning on re-drawing the story board to a better standard as
this was just the quick rough one.


 Here is the developed storyboard with the finer drawings for the story board.

 

Developed draft

Establishing Shots Video - Behind the scenes

On Friday my group and I went to our location (High Broom Woods) to record a behind the scenes video to show where our variety of proposed shot are and how we will film them. We really enjoyed this as we got to grips with using the camera and the practicality of our location. When we were there we decided that when coming to film we would have to wear Wellington boots to give us maximum opportunity in filming angles and film from the riverbed and the river.

Production Company Examples

 

At the start of every film it will open with the production company. We will need to do the same, it doesn't need to be that complicated but nether the less we still need to include a production company. We would need to make our own with a theme and logo with music. I have included some images of different production companies. I have noticed that they all have a subtle theme of neutral colours of blue black and brown. None of them seem to be really wacky and bright. We can take this into consideration when making ours.