In order to make my opening titles look professional when I edit in my own titles in my Opening Title Sequence, I decided to research into Opening Credits (titles) in order to better my understanding of the institutional conventions of order, length, amount etc… In addition to this I will also be looking at how the design form differentiates and the possibilities for my own titles.

In order to learn more about the conventional format I researched into the conventions and will present my findings in a Question and Answer format:

Q+A of the Conventions Of Titles

Q. Conventionally, how long to Opening Credits tend to be?A. Normally titles last no more that 2 minutes, however have been seen to be anywhere from 2-5

minutes long, however its most conventional, and engaging to keep opening titles around 2 mins.

Q. How many credits tend to appear in Opening TitlesA. Within an opening title sequence, there will normally be around 24 titles

Q. What does the conventional order consist of… Who's names go first?A.- Name of the Studio - Name of the production company - lead cast (Starring)- Title Of Film - Featuring Actors - Music Design - Production Design - (sometimes includes Costume design, set design, visual effects etc…)- Editor - Director of Photography - Producers - Executive producers - Based on the book by - based on true events / characters of - Story By - Writers / Screenwriter - Directed By There are many variations of the order, however this is most conventional.

In order to make sure that the credits are in the correct order, designers will normally plan out the credits with timelines and sketches. I will be using the timeline method later in order to find out the most conventional way that opening credits are used and if I can find any similarities.

I have included an image of a timeline for the credits Juno to the right of this writing. There are different forms of timelines depending on what you are trying to research.

Order, Length, Amount Etc…

THE POWER OF DESIGN Design is very important to opening titles. The opening titles are first of all used to display the names of the studio, production companies, cast members and crew. However if the directors just decided to use the titles for this sole purpose it would be really disengaging and a waste of 2 minutes of their film. This is where credit designers come in. People like Saul Bass and Kyle Cooper design credits in order to introduce the audience into the main themes, characters and story line of the film whilst tastefully using different imagery to link it all together.

For example these screen shots of different titles in title sequences emphasise different film genres, as the designers are purposely trying to link themes, imagery and story all together whilst displaying titles.

From those screen shots you of opening titles, you can see how title designers use colours, imagery and font to introduce the story and genre.

Designing title is often a very experimental and time consuming process for example look at these designs for the titles of Catch Me If You Can.

You can see the early stages of the sketches come to life in the prints of the man. The credits end up looking like this:

You can see how story, themes and genre and characters are all cleverly introduced into this opening title sequence.

Analysing the length of professional Opening Credits: The first film I will be analysing is ‘Catch Me If You Can’. I will be recording the length, amount and order mostly however will additionally be looking at design and technique.

TIMELINE: 00:05 “A Dreamworks Pictures Presents” 00:10 “And A Kemp Company and Splendid Pictures Production” 00:15 “A Parkes/MacDonald Production”

00:19 “A Stevel Spielberg Film”

00:25 “ Leonardo DiCaprio” 00:30 “ Tom Hanks”

00:45 “ Catch Me If You Can” (Film Title)

00:52 “ Christopher Walken” 00:56 “ Martin Sheen” 01:01 “ Natalie Baye” 01:07 ‘Amy McAdams”

01:18 “James Brown, Brian Howe, Frank John Huges”

01:23 “Steve Eastin, Chris Ellis, John Finn”

01: 34 “ Casting By Debra Zane CSA Casting Associate Terri Taylor”

01:38 “ Co Producer Deborah Moos-Hankin”

01:42 “ Based on the book by Frank W. Abagnale With Stan Reding”

01:46 “Titles by Kintzel Deygas”

01:50 “ Music By John Williams”

01:56 “ Costume Designer Mary Zophres”

02:00 “ Film Editor Michael Kahn A.C.E”

02:05 “ Production Designer Jeannine Opperaval

02:08 “ Director Of Photography Janusz Kaminski ASC”

02:13 “ Co Executive Producer Daniel Lupi”

02:20 “ Executive Producers Barry Kemp & Lauri MacDonald”

02:23 “ Executive Producers Michael Shane & Tory Romano”

02:28 “Produced by Steven Spielberg and Walter Parkes”

02:32 “ Screenplay by Jeff Nathanson” 02:36 “ Directed By Steven Spielberg”

28 Titles Duration: 2:40

Length between individual titles: 4-7 sec

Analysing the length of professional Opening Credits:

I will be analysing is ‘Se7en’. I will be recording the length, amount and order mostly however will additionally be looking at design and technique.

TIMELINE:

00:04 “ New Line Cinema Presents”00:07 “ An Arnold Kopelson Production”

00:10 “ A Film by David Fincher”

00:14 “Brad Pitt”00:18 “ Morgan Freeman”

00:25 “Se7en” (film title)

00:30 “ Gwyneth Paltrow”00:33 “Richard Rowndtree”

00:39 “ R. Lee Ermey”00:42 “John C. McGinley”00:46 “Jucie Araskog, Mark Boone Junior”00:54 “ John Cassini, Reginald E. Cathey, Peter Crombie”00:58 “ Hawthorne James, Michael Massie, Leland Orser”01:04 “ Richard Portnow, Richard Schiff, Pamela Tyson”

01:11 “ Casting By Billy Hopkins, Suzanne Smith, Kerry Borden”

01:17 “ Music By Howard Shore”

01:22 “Costumes Designed by Michael Kaplan”

01:24 “Edited by Richard Francis-Bruce”

01:27 “Production Design by Arthur Max”

01:35 “Director of Photography Darius Khondji”

01:40 “Co Producers - Stephen Brown, Nana Greenwald, Sanford Panilch”

01:43 “Co-Producers - Lynn Harris, Richard Saperstein”

01:50 “ Executive Producers - Gianni Nunnaari, Dan Kolsrud, Anne Kopelsow”

01:54 “Written By Andrew Kevin Walker”

01:58 “Produced by Arnold Kopelson, Phyllis Carlyle”

02:05 “ Directed by David Fincher

27 Titles Duration: 2:10

Length between individual titles: 4-7 sec

Similarities / Differences between Catch Me If You Can & Se7en

Catch Me If You Can Se7en

1. Amount Of Credits = 28 2. Time Span between credits = 4-7 sec3. Order (Conventional / Subversive) =

Conventional

1. Amount Of Credits = 27 2. Time Span between credits = 3-6 sec3. Order (Conventional / Subversive) = Less so,

but still conventional.