RESEARCH: OPENING CREDITS - MRS. QUINLAN

What are Opening Credits? Why are they important?

The opening credits are the very first set of information displayed on the screen. They show the most significant members that took part in the production making. Often opening credits follow some themes that will support the film genre in order to establish the movie type. Opening credits introduce the film and can be a significant aspect because they help the audience to make an opinion about the movie by seeing the credits. For example if the production company is famous or the director is credible the viewer is more likely to watch the movie.

What information do the Opening Credits provide?

The opening credits usually follow a similar order, which is as:

 

·         Studio Name ( e.g.: Universal, Paramount)
·         Name of the Production Company (e.g.: HBO)
·         Producers Name (e.g.: Joel Silver for Matrix)
·         Director’s Name – usually displayed as ‘a film by…. Or a…. film’. (e.g.: ‘a Steven Spielberg film’)
·         Starring – only main parts
·         Film Title
·         Edited By
·         Music or Music Composed by…
·         Storyboarded by…..

 

 Examples of Opening Credits (in order of appearances) from a chosen Thriller opening:

 

SEVEN:

 

 

·         Studio Name – ‘New Line Cinema presents’

·         Producer- ‘An Arnold Kopelson production’

·         Director – ‘a film by David Fincher’

·         Main Cast- ‘Brad Pitt’, ‘Morgan Freeman’

·         Film Title- ‘Seven’

·         Co- stars- ‘Gwyneth Paltrow’, ‘Richard Roundtree’, ’R. Lee Ermey’, ‘John C.McGinley’……

·         Casting by- ‘Billy Hopkins, Suzanne Smith, Kerry Borden’

·         Music- ‘Howard Shore’

·         Costumes- ‘Michael Kaplan’

·         Editing- ‘Richard Francis- Bruce’

·         Different producer names and Co- producers.

·         Director- ‘David Fincher’  

From looking at this opening credits I can tell that the information displayed was in an accurate and common order starting with the Studio and Producer which are the most important aspects of the production. What I found interesting was that the Director was mentioned twice. Giving him credit at the beginning and at the end of the credits to reinforce his status and importance as well as promote him. I think that these credits did not lack in anything and had a good composition and pace in which they were shown in with a great balance between narrative and information. These opening credits would make the audience feel informed at first because they display enough for the audience to know about the cast, director and other crew members which can give them an idea of what the film will be about, basing it off their background knowledge. At the same time they will feel quite scared because of the sinister typography which will allow them to infer the genre but at the same time feel fearful of what could happen.

 

 

BOURNE IDENTITY

·         Studio Name- Universal

·         Film Title- ‘The Bourne Identity’

 

I think this opening is interesting because it doesn’t follow the conventional way of presenting the opening credits. This is because the sequence displays only two information, the Studio which is important so it has to be included and then the title of the film in order to introduce the movie. As much as these two credits are very relevant and significant I was surprised that we did not see any other credits such as the director or actors. However I think this unconventional way has its benefits because it does make the viewer curious and oblivious as they’re unaware what could happen. I think this is an intriguing idea because for my opening I could use this minimalism to provide more narrative. I think that from this, the audience is likely to feel confused and question why wasn't anything revealed, but at the same time they can be thrilled that they are left with no information and will be able to play a role of a 'detective' and try to solve everything for themselves, thus engaging them more into the narrative. 

 

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO

·         Studio name- ‘Columbia Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn- Mayer Pictures present’

·         Producer name- ‘A Scott Rudin, Yellow Bird Production’

·         Director- ‘A David Fincher Film’

·         Main Cast- ‘Daniel Craig’, ‘Rooney Mara’

·         Film Title- ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’

·         Co- Stars- ‘Christopher Plummer’, ‘Stellan Skarsgard’, ‘Steven Berkoff’...

·         Casting- ‘by Laray Mayfield’

·         Costume Designer- ‘Trish Summerville’

·         Co-producers- ‘Berna Levin, Eli Bush’

·         Sound Designer- ‘Ren Klyce’

·         Music- ‘Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’

·         Editors-‘Kirk Baxter a.c.e, Agnus Wall a.c.e’

·         Production Designer, Director of Photography, Executive Producers, Produced by,

·         Screenplay- ‘Steven Zaillian’

·         Director- ‘David Fincher’

 

 After watching these opening credits I have realized how they are differently presented in each movie. This one focused purely on giving the credit to the production members including many people that took a part in the creation. If compared to the Bourne Identity there was much more information placed. I think it was also significant that most members have received their own frame with their name which emphasized their significance and shows that the film had a large budget in order to spend the time promoting these people. From this opening credits, I think the audience would pay much more attention and value the movie because they realise that this is a high budget movie and will be expecting more from it. At the same time they can predict the possible genre or narrative from the rich typography and abstract background which proposes the mystery genre.

Audience response to Opening Credits:

Although the audience don’t usually put much importance on the credits they have a big influence on how we view the film. As the spectators, we unconsciously use these openings to form our opinions on the movie. For example if the opening credits are well presented we can infer that the film had a big budget and therefore was able to make a good first impression. In addition if the credits show famous and familiar names the audience will want to see it because of the associations they have with the popular members. Moreover the credits can help to establish the nature of the film by using specific codes. For example for the thriller genre the opening usually has low key lighting to show darkness and evilness. In addition the sound in a thriller opening credits should be low and have a dark and haunting theme.

 

Conclusion:

Overall, from looking at the opening credits in the thriller genre I am now able to plan what I should include as well as how to present them in an appropriate way that will reflect the thriller genre. I need to take in consideration my order of displaying the information and how much of it I want to include which is important because I have to avoid overloading the sequence and bore my audience but still need to have a fair amount of credits. I think that my sequence shouldn’t use empty frames to display the members as I do not have enough time. Therefore my opening will need to run well with the narrative and will have to be balanced in order to help the audience focus on both credits and plot. Lastly I learned that the director is often mentioned twice to show his status and importance which is what I intend to use because it was effective. From this post I decided that I want my opening credits to be in a following order:

• Producer/ production company
• Director
• Main Cast
• Editor
• Sound
• Film Title

I decided on this order because it is quite conventional, however I want my title to be placed at the end to have a bigger importance and emphasis. I have decided not to place every crew member in my opening credits because it will leave a sense of mystery to it and engage the audience in much more depth.