Art of the Title Evaluation

Summarise your film idea. Provide a brief synopsis and outline what happens in your film opening.
The concept behind our film is that there is something following the protagonist. It is intended that the audience does not know what this thing is until the end of the opening credits. The protagonist wanders around to a variety of different places, but the pursuer is still present. We decided that we wanted this pursuer to be something quite sinister and disturbing, which is why we opted for a teddy bear. The teddy bear follows the protagonist in the distance before revealing itself in the final shot.

What kind of information has been included in your film opening?
In our opening, we wanted to achieve to things. The first was to have a clear connotation of genre. We wanted the audience to be able to recognise the genre of Horror quickly and concisely. The other purpose of the opening was to establish the scene and hint towards the presence of the teddy bear. In order to achieve this, we used a lot of scenic shots to create a wider sense of setting. We were also able to introduce the teddy bear by showing him in the distance of the first few shots.

How do the titles link to the main film idea?
The titles are used to provide institutional information such as the actors, director and producers. We chose to use these scenic shots as the background for our title as showing the production information over a different shot would draw the attention away from the action. The scenic shots are also intended to suggest isolation, as this is a key theme in many horror films. By removing other people from a large environment, it makes the audience believe that something big will happen.

Summarise the expected audience reaction. What should the audience be thinking by the end of your opening? Is your opening clear or ambiguous?
As said before, the focus of the film is on the pursuer. Therefore the audience's reaction to the start of the opening should be confusion, as they should not be able to recognise what it is in the background. Furthermore, a teddy bear is something that would be very out of place in a traditional horror film. This means that it is unlikely the audience would understand the identity of the pursuer until later on in the trailer. The audience can get a better look at the teddy bear in the middle of the opening and may even begin to recognise it. However, it is still left ambiguous until the end of the opening. The film's name is revealed and the identity of the pursuer becomes understood. However, this presents enigma codes to the audience. Why is the teddy bear pursuing the protagonist? What is the teddy bear capable of? What link is there between the protagonist and the teddy bear? Although the identity of the teddy bear is revealed, there is a lot of information about it that is withheld. These are the kinds of questions that we wanted the audience to be asking themselves.

Identify three things that you included in your grid that are important in the construction of an opening sequence and explain their role in understanding the film.
The first significant shot is the very first one, as it introduces the presence of a second party alongside the protagonist. However, the shot is constructed to make the identity of the pursuer unknown. This shot appears early on in the opening to establish this fear of the unknown for the audience to question until the end of the opening sequence. The role of the shot is to establish the setting, the main character, and the presence of a pursuer.
The next important shot is the fourth shot, which shows an empty area and includes institutional information. Not only is this information necessary, but it allows the audience to question the significance of the empty shot. This shot is intended to highlight the isolated setting, and I believe it is the shot that achieves this the most effectively out of the scenic shots.

The final shot which is important in the opening sequence's construction is the final shot. The identity of the teddy bear is revealed and a variety of questions are presented to the audience. Furthermore, the final shot lends itself to narrative codes beyond enigma codes. What is the connotation of the bear sitting on the shoulder? What themes can we associate a teddy bear with in reference to our culture and how are they applicable here? The intention of revealing the teddy bear at the end of the opening was to introduce more questions to the audience. Therefore I think this shot is significant in understanding the film. Another shot that deserves a mention is the second shot, as it gives the audience a clue towards the identity of the teddy bear. Giving the audience hints towards details of the film is important, as it allows for the audience to speculate why the information is given to them.

How effective is your project as a film opening? Explain your answer.
The genre of the film is made easily identifiable by the low-key lighting present in the opening. Furthermore, the framing of each shot is constructed to draw the audience's attention to the teddy bear. The isolation of the following shots are used to build up suspense before the reveal of the pursuer. The opening has many conventions of horror films and these are made identifiable by the audience. However, there are things I would change if I were to repeat the activity. The font we chose was not the best choice for a horror film and if I had more time would be something that I would alter. The second change I would make would be to add more graphical effects, such as a darker gradient near the teddy bear. The last adjustment I would make would be tidying the fifth shot, as we ran out of time when editing the shot.