Title Sequence Style, integration, and Transitions (Title Sequences: Function With Form) (Motion Graphic Titling) Part 3

Escamotage: Alternative Transitions

A clever example of a nontraditional transition between the title sequence and the movie is the one created by Imaginary Forces for the movie Dead Man on Campus (1998), directed by Alan Cohn. This film is a dark comedy that centers on two students who, after learning about a college clause stating that if your college roommate commits suicide, you are awarded A’s for the semester, decide to find the most suicidal student on campus to live with them.

This title sequence, led by creative director Peter Frankfurt and art director Karin Fong, revolves around a SAT (Suicide Aptitude Test), an exam in which the film’s credits are embedded among the multiple-choice questions, diagrams, and illustrations, created by Wayne Coe. The visual imagery and text formatting are without doubt reminiscent of the college test iconography, and the sequence progresses fluidly from one title card to the next, reproducing typical suicidal scenarios coupled with multiple-choice questions, wrapped in a comical veil that preludes the dark comedy themes of the movie. Shots are tightly edited on the beat of a soundtrack by Marilyn Manson, whose lyrics hint at the irony of the title sequence. The color palette consists of the white background of the test paper, black type, and orange text accents and a blue background of the main title card.

One of the powerful aspects of this title sequence is its transition. By the end of the test—after the last title card dedicated to the film’s director—we see a stop sign coming to full screen, we hear a camera-flash sound, the screen flashes to white, and we see the first shot of the movie, a close-up of a student whose picture is being taken for a library card. This transition has a strong audio and visual component that directly catapults the viewer from this animated title sequence into the live action of the movie, without a blink.


A Story within a Story

In other situations, opening titles need to provide a bridge between the audience and the film. There is nothing more frustrating for an audience than to be distracted, especially during a documentary, because they don’t know the background sufficiently to follow the story. Creating an opening sequence that offers the audience a basic historical or cultural background needed to properly enjoy the movie often bridges this gap.

Take a look at the title sequence of The Kingdom (2007). This Middle East action thriller directed by Peter Berg needed an opening title sequence to set up the movie and give it a political and historical context. Berg commissioned Pic Agency to handle the task. Creative director Jarik Van Sluijs, art director Stephan Burle, and producer Pamela Green created a 3-minute, 20-second opening title sequence presenting an audiovisual historical excursus of the controversy between Saudi Arabia and United States over oil during the last 80 years.

This sequence summarizes the political and historical events that unfolded from 1932 to 2001 by editing archival audio and video footage, by animating motion graphics summarizing key plot points, and by elegantly displaying simple typography onscreen. Nervous upbeat music underlines seamless transitions from video footage to three-dimensional graphic imagery, maps, graphics, timelines, charts, and pull quotes on-screen. The color palette of this title sequence focuses on desaturated reds, greens, and yellows; these muted colors help to not only achieve a historical look but to maintain a uniform look between all the different source video footage sizes and compressions, from VHS to 16 mm.

Producing this opening sequence took nine months. Pic Agency wrote their own script and dedicated countless hours to researching archival audio and video footage. Once the 128 shots were selected, it took another long effort to obtain their clearances, from CNN to the Saudi Arabia government. They even performed additional interviews for the sequence’s voiceover.

It is clear that this opening title sequence contains the essence of motion graphics and filmmaking: storytelling, entertaining, information, and design. “Symbolize and summarize,” as Saul Bass said. By the end, this opening sequence has offered the audience the necessary information in an exciting and compelling way. They are now ready for the film to begin.

Other notable “story within a story” title sequences include Catch Me If You Can (Steven Spielberg, 2002) and Lord of War (Andrew Niccol, 2005).

Pulling the Threads

The end titles for An Inconvenient Truth (2006) are one-of-a-kind. This powerful documentary, directed by Davis Guggenheim, deals with the issue of climate change and global warming. Al Gore plays a central character as he reveals necessary information through his traveling public presentations, interviews, and reflection on his life and politics.

After watching this emotionally compelling film, most viewers might ask themselves the question: “Yes, but what can I do?” And the answer is provided by the end titles. Elegantly designed by yU+co, the end titles provide practical tips on what to do to start positively affecting climate change on an individual and community level. Suggestions such as “When you can, walk or ride a bicycle” are interspersed with the film’s credits, to a soundtrack of Melissa Etheridge singing “I Need to Wake Up.” Transitions from one title card to the next are elegantly executed by leaving a few letters on-screen a bit longer so that they become part of the next title card.

This end title sequence successfully pulls the threads of the movie. Weaving its functional aspect (crediting cast and crew) with a call to action, this end title sequence complements and enhances the movie’s themes in a brilliant way. It encourages the audience to reevaluate their daily behaviors and offers practical solutions to positively impact the future of our planet.

Conclusion

Imagine that you’ve been hired at the last minute to create a title sequence. The picture is locked and there is no additional footage, no still pictures, and no money to shoot additional footage. Even though you might feel that your hands are tied, there is always a solution to a given problem. Sometimes it might not be exactly as you originally imagined if you didn’t have these limitations. Don’t feel discouraged; when you have a limitation, that’s when your survival instinct takes over and, with a bit more effort, you will be able to provide your client with an original solution. Sometimes the solution might come after a few days, sometimes overnight, but it will come to you if you don’t give up and if you try all possible avenues with the time and resources you have available.

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