12. Differences Between The Two Sub-genres

Summary about the order and type of titles in high school movies
In High School films, the title sequence often shows the titles in the following order:
1) production company
2) film title
3) actors names
4) who does the casting, music, photography and costume design and so on.
5) producers and writers
6) director

In the movie Mean Girls, the first few titles are on a black screen. It then changes and the goes onto moving images. The titles are bold, colourful and and in capital letters. They are often placed at the corner of the screen or in the centre. The actions behind the titles shows the narrative of the main character starting high school in America. So we are introduced to the setting and characters.

Summary about the order and type of titles in youth movies
Youth Films have much shorter title sequences compared to High School Films. They generally follow the same order as high school movies (of the main people being credited at the end) but exclude people who do the casting, music, photography and costume design and also the actors names.

In Kidulthood, the very few titles (5 being production companies and the title) are over black screens. The production companies are in a small, white, formal font in the centre of the screen. Whereas the title is in a graffiti/street style font to symbolise the main plot of the youth movie.

Summarise the main differences
The main difference in the two sub-subcultures is the amount of titles shown. This may be due youth movies having a lower budget compared to high school movies for the production. However, Youth movies do have more production companies and producers credited as they all combine in order support the production financially.

4 Types of Film Openings

4 Types of Film Openings 

Titles over moving images

This type consists of titles appearing over motion in the background. An example of this can be the title sequence of 'To Kill a Mockingbird' as the white text appears over the moving images in the background, in this case being the marble rolling around and the little girl playing with the things in her box. Another example an be the opening of 'City of God' where the titles appear as the knife is getting sharpened and then cuts to the chicken chase, making it very fast paced.

Titles using Animation or Motion 

This method requires a lot of digital technology and stylised editing as it does not involve any real footage and has to be created. An example of this can be the title sequence from Fight Club where we are shown the inside of Tyler Durden's head in supposed microscopic view, this is entirely made on a computer.

Titles on a black screen

This is normally used with white text due to the high contrast between the two colours, making the titles stand out. Type of text is used to drop hints about the film's time, genre or main characters. For example a pink colour can be used to introduce a connotation of a female character like in the title sequence of 'Spring breakers.' It combines different media to make background music hint on theme. A surreal violin soundtrack will tell the audience that it is most likely a horror based film.

Titles on still images

This type is more elaborate as it is more than just text. Images and style of font suggests the films genre or plot. A film where this is used is High School Musical 3 where we are presented with the characters in the form of still images

Difference Between Youth Dramas and High School Dramas Title Sequence

It is seen that the difference between the two sub-genres is that high school dramas seem to have more credits than youths dramas. This is because high school dramas are more popular than youth dramas, so it has a higher budget and more funds.

	High School Drama: Grease	Youth Drama: Donnie Darko
What titles do we see and in       what order?	1.       production company        2.       Title        3.       Main Characters        4.       Choreographer        5.       Music Supervisor        6.       Music Producer        7.       Producer of Broadway stage        8.       Editor        9.       Production designer        10.   Director of photography        11.   Original musical writer        12.   Screenplay/ adaption        13.   Producer        14.   Director	1.    Production company 2.    Director 3.    Title
Category/ type of title	Animation	Blank Screen when showing production companies and director. Then Changes to a moving image of the main character and title is shown.
What font/ type face is used?	·         Informal, Cartoony font        ·         Colourful	·         White           ·         informal
What action do we see behind the titles?	Animated (cartoon) characters are seen getting ready and making their way to school	We see the main character waking up and finding himself outside and then rides back to his home.

What Are The Sub-Genres Of Teen Drama Films?

Sub-genre: Films of the same genre, which use the same codes and conventions in a different way. We can use this to categorize teen films in more detail.

There are two sub-genres for teen films:

• Youth Drama
• High School Drama

Youth Dramas focuses on social dilemmas faced by the main characters (often male characters), whereas High School Dramas are more about the socialization of teens and young adults by institutions for example, school, college and at home and is often 'girl centered' however the drama may also focus on a male character. Also it sometimes celebrates the idea of being young or young is fun. Youth drama's tend to have characters which are often rebellious and/or get into conflicts with others, such as the police, which is why it is popular with teen audiences as it reflects on the true life/ representations of youths unlike many High School dramas. Youth dramas also focus on the difficulties of adolescent experience and how youths are seen as a difficulty or a problem in society. High School dramas tend to focus on changes, make overs and/or conflicts within different groups at school.

Youth Drama: Donnie Darko

                                                       High School Drama: Mean Girls

In conclusion the different ways in which the two sub-genres are used to show the aspects of teenage experiences may have an impact on title sequences as well.  

Four Types of Film Opening

There are four main film openings, which includes titles on a blank screen, titles on still images, titles over moving images and finally titles which use animation or motion. They all have different meanings towards it and a reason for their use.

My favorite titles sequence has to be from the movie Alfred Hitchcock's: Psycho. This is because it is so simple as it is on a blank screen, but it has the most impact towards me.

Favorite Film Title Sequence Analysis

The Perks Of Being A Wallflower

My favorite film I have chosen to analyse is 'The Perks Of Being a Wallflower'. The title sequence starts of introducing the production Companies 'Summit entertainment' ( a Lionsgate company) and then 'mr.mudd production'. As well as this, the lead actors and then the title, Which are all laid out on a blank screen in a White, Courier type font. Also a Foley sound of a typewriter is heard in the background. This then transitions into a moving image of a car and the music changes to an acoustic song, which is sung by a male singer. The rest of the credits are shown ,which are the other casts(2), music producer, music supervisor, costume designer, editor, production designer, director of photography, executive producers(2) and producers(3). Lastly the most important are shown which is the author and the director.  

13. Macro Sub-genre Conventions

The macro elements (plots/storylines/ characters and  social groups introduced) in the sub-genres of teen films- youth and high school drama.

	High School Drama Superbad	Youth Drama La Haine
What is the key plot idea introduced in the title sequence?	Animated sequence of 2 guys dancing. Uses simple colours for background and titles. It hints that these 2 best friends might be separated in the movie	Rioting clips- rebellion, teenagers versus police, the aftermath of rioting
In what order is the storyline introduced?	Chronological order- 2 friends talking on the phone while 1 is on his way to pick up his friend. Their concerns are sex, family, education.	Chronological but there is one flashback scene at the beginning of a news clip to provide details about why the riots are happening
What characters are introduced?	The 2 friends and one of their mums	2 boys- Said and Vinz. They’re both working class teens, Vinz is Jewish and Said is Arab
What social groups are represented? How are they represented (positively, negatively, stereo-typically/ us of binary oppositions)?	Young male students- complex representation as their topic of discussion is gross but they’re both likeable characters. They are the stereo typical concept of being a 'nerd'.	2 teenage boys have a negative representation as they are rude and aggressive towards authorities but are also seen positively too as they are acting like this to support their friend which got violated by the police. The police have a negative representation of abusing their power over teenagers.

11. What Are The Sub-genres of Teen Drama Films.

The Film Before The Film

6. 4 types of film openings

UThere are 4 types of film openings. They consist of titles over a black screen, titles over moving images, titles over still images and titles over animated backgrounds.

My favourite title sequence is from the movie Catch Me If You Can as it tells an interesting story which links to the movie plot.
 

5. Watching Documentary

1) What does Thomas Sutcliffe mean when he says "Films need to seduce their audience into long term commitment. While there are many types of seduction, the temptation to go for instant arousal is almost irresistible"?

By this, Thomas Sutcliffe means that the title sequence needs to be so engaging that the audience is hooked from the very beginning of the film all the way to the end. The audience will judge the film and be put in a mood and set expectations of the movie so the opening sequence is the most important part of creating an engaging audience.

2) According to Director Jean Jacques Beineix, what are the risks of 'instant arousal'? 

'Instant arousal' from the title sequence may cause the audience to expect too much from the movie and therefore be disappointed in the rest of the movie. Instead, the arousal should happen gradually, almost like the film is teasing the audience.

3) Explain why "a good beginning must make the audience feel that it doesn't know nearly enough yet, and at the same time make sure it doesn't know too little"

In other words, the beginning of the movie must not give too much of the main plot away, but also not give too little information and make the viewer confused and lost as to what is going on. The small amount of information should have the effect of making the audience want to know more about the plot.

4) What does critic Stanley Kauffmann describe as the classic opening? Why does this work?

Critic Stanley Kauffman describes the classic opening as a visual stimulant for the viewer to set the expectations for the movie. It briefly explains what is going on by using establishing shots to show the location or tracking shots of the main characters to show their importance. Fonts of the titles should also be skilfully used, such as using a childlike font to represent that there will be a child as the one of the main characters.

5) Why is Kyle Cooper's title sequence to the film Seven so effective?

The title sequence of Seven is very effective because it is personalised to let the audience view the actions of a killer. The use of the many different props such as sharp objects and disturbing images, and shot types gives an uncomfortable sense of fear. This is further emphatisised by the dark sound track and titles which are have the scratched effect.

6) What did Orson Welles want to achieve with his opening of the film 'A Touch of Evil'?

Orson Welles wanted to create the opening of his film with no credits or music. However Universal Studious did not allow him as they did not believe that this type of title sequence would engage the viewer.

7) What is meant by "a favourite trick of Film Noir"? What is the trick?

This is when the opening of the film is actually part of the dramatic ending plot. The movie then rewinds and starts properly to explain how it got to that scene. Now the audience is constantly trying to figure out how the events in the movie conclude with that scene.

8) How does the opening of the film 'The Shining' create suspense? 

The opening of the shining created suspense as the camera is used to show that the car is being followed by a predator. The feeling that the car is not safe builds tension and therefore engages the audience. 

Target Audiences

1. What is an audience?

An audience is a group of people who are witnesses to a public event
such as a play, a film, a concert or a meeting.

2. How do we define target audiences?

A target audience is a particular group at which a product such as
a film is aimed at.

3. Why is it useful for a film to have a target audience?

It is useful for a film to have a target audience, so that it could help the
producer with the marketing process.

4. Which audiences do you think teen dramas appeal to?

I think that teen dramas appeal to teenagers, which are
going through the 'coming of age' stage.
It would be ages 15-19 and aimed at both  females and males.

8. What is genre and what is a teen drama film?

The term genre means 'category' or 'type' and is useful when discussing film because it helps to group or organise different films according to what they are about and what they look like. This helps producers make and market their film to audiences

A theorist Altman says we can talk about film genre in 2 ways:

1. Semantic-the way the film looks (micro)
2. Syntactic- the stories the films tell (macro) 

The use of similar features in the films of the same genres are called codes and conventions. This helps us quickly recognise the type of film we are watching, to have some expectations about what we should see and what might happen

The main codes and conventions of Teen movies is seen to follow the concept of coming of age. It usually includes:

• adolescent central characters 
• conflict with an older generation 
• management of adolescence by families, schools, law
• peer group and friends 
• Romance 
• Sexually active characters

Teen drama title sequence institution research:

In general, mainstream teen movies with a big budget tend to have lots of credits as they were able to hire many people as part of the production. And independent movies have less credits as they have a lower budget. However this also means that they have a lot more producers as they need the financial support from them. 

what is a title sequence?

Statement	What it means
“The title sequence should evoke the meaning of the title and plot of the movie into strikingly symbolic visuals’	The title sequence should give us a hint of what the movie genre is.
“The title sequence places the viewer right I the centre or location of a film”	The titles sequence should show location.
“A title sequence has memorable typography”	The title sequence should have a font that is memorable for the audience, meaning big and bold.
“Magic happens in the movie theatre when the curtains open, the lights dim ad the opening title sequence starts. In those two minutes you are transported into the world of the film”	The title sequence engages with the viewer, and It allows them to figure out the films genre.
“It’s the job of the title designer to take you to the world of the film – by setting the right mood with their opening titles.”	The title designer creates the sequences to connect with the viewer, through the lighting, music, and more elements
“Title sequences can be engaging o wildly entertaining, funny, exhilarating or simply drop dead beautiful. They can be oozing with visual poetry and sophisticated imagery wile others hit you had with their bold and audacious stylistic gestures.”	The title sequence should be effective on the viewer, and it must interest them.
“The very best title sequence out the audience in the right mood for the movie, they transcend their proper function and venture off into the realm of something far deeper and far greater.”	The title sequences blocks the audience from the outside world, so they can focus on the film.
‘Title sequence are the signifiers of contemporary pop culture and an art form in their own right.”	The title sequence is as good as the whole film.
“A title sequence is the method by which films or television programs present their title, key production and cast members, or bot, utilizing conceptual visuals and sound”	The title sequence should included the names and the roles of the people who were involved in the film… e.g. Casting        Director
“The order in which credits are billed in a title sequence generally signifies their importance.”	The title sequence should include the name of the people who took a big role in the film.
“Title sequences are complete and complex narratives that are age to stand on their own, setting the tone, providing the mood, and foreshadowing the action.”	The title sequence alone should give away a story.

3. What is a Title Sequence?

 

Statement	What it means
The title sequence should evoke the meaning of the title and plot of the movie into strikingly symbolic visuals	The visuals of the title should give hints as to what the movie genre is
The title sequence places the viewer right in the centre or location of a film	The title sequence should place the viewer in the same position as the main character so that they can sympathise and understand where the movie is set
A title sequence has memorable typography	The titles should have an interesting font and style to catch the viewers eye
Magic happens in the movie theatre when the curtains open, the lights dim ad the opening sequence starts. In those 2 minutes you are transported to the world of the film	An atmosphere must be set in order for the viewer to be in the correct mood for the movie
It’s the job of title designers to take you to the world of the film- by setting the right mood with their opening titles	The editor must create the sequence with the purpose of connecting with the audience through the many elements
Title sequences can be engaging or wildly entertaining, funny, exhilarating or simply drop dead beautiful. They can be oozing with visual poetry and sophisticated imagery while others hit you hard with their bold and audacious stylist gestures	The title sequence has to have a big effect on the viewer. They either find it extremely funny or fall in awe over the aesthetics. It must be interesting
The very best title sequence put the audience in the right mood for the movie, they transcend their proper function and venture off into the realm of something far deeper and far greater	The sequence must engage with the audience making them block everything out and concentrate solely on the movie
Title sequences are the signifiers of contemporary pop culture and art form in their own copy right	The title sequence is as good as the whole film
A title sequence is the method by which films or television programs present their title, key production, and cast members, or both, utilizing conceptual visuals and sound	The titles shown should be the names of the people involved in the project in order to give credit to them
The order in which credits are billed in a title sequence generally signifies their importance	For example the director, title or the movie and producer would be at the beginning
Title sequences are complete and complex narratives that are able to stand on their own, setting the tone, providing the mood, and foreshadowing the action	A title sequence should have a story itself