Research Part 5 - The Simpsons

The Simpsons Opening Title:

The Simpsons is well known as an iconic opening title, it is well known as it amazingly shows all the characters in the opening even though there are so many. The title itself is constantly changed and kept fresh, the people in this opening however are always doing similar things, its very enjoyable. The music is a perfect match and joins up with the situation, in terms of placement of names there are only a couple max in the opening

RESEARCH Part 4: Frasier

FRASIER:

The opening title to Frasier is very simplistic, very ,very simplistic, that’s what makes it the perfect opening to this show, in its simplicity, it’s very smooth and elegant which perfectly fits the theme of the show and its characters, since the show is based on “Frasier” a man who in his own right, very intelligent and upper class, because of this the connection between when the title plays and the music accompanies, we can see that this character is the main one at least.

This title is very different from all the other ones that I have seen, it’s very short and doesn’t say anything about the characters, which begins in small captions in the episode itself. Other than that the ending of the programme is similar to others that I have seen except for something that happens occasionally in the show, there is a small soundless clip at the end of the show with the credits, we can see something that will be funny to the viewer as it has a connection to the end of the programme, since the sound of the episode is not there and instead we can hear the ending music to the programme people will have to watch the episode to understand it. The end of the episode is accompanied by a vocal version of the opening. Many TV shows use an instrumental as an ending as it is familiar but not overpowering. This uses it in the opening, they are however as effective as one another.

Research: Part 3 - Red Dwarf

Red Dwarf Opening Title:

The opening to Red dwarf is something that almost everyone will remember with its constant onslaught of the shows funniest moments and accompanied by that ever so catchy song.

The show itself appears as a very cheap intro as it just uses old clips put together, however it’s the content and how its put together that makes it effective, the first shot is of the characters ship which is established as the main base where the characters all interact, because of this establishing shot the audience can immediately understand exactly where the action is taking place, the clips used themselves are of the best slapstick moments from the show.

Similar to the other opening sequences I have looked at, this one uses and insanely catchy theme tune, it’s not only makes the opening feel homely, but in certain senses the song is relevant to the song but the key point is that it makes the show feel friendly and welcoming, something that makes you want to come back regardless of quality of content (which is great considering that the show itself is a masterpiece of the gods in my opinion).

Research: Part 2 - Friends

Friends Opening Title:

The Opening title to Friends is not one that I would say has had a lot of time spent on it, the filming of the scenes themselves mainly comprise of old scenes from the show, the characters themselves can be seen interacting with each other in both these scenes, and also some additional scenes of them elsewhere. This clearly shows that the characters have a strong connection with each other and as a result we can see that they are all indeed “Friends” which makes the viewer see how the title is relevant, the cast themselves are indicated by a caption below their character in the usual or commonly occurring manner that is very prominent in a lot of TV series.

This show seems to have a very basic opening sequence but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, we are given the basic information that we need to understand what the show is about, a group of Friends that get themselves into comedic situations. The music used within this title is very catchy and is well known as a very famous song, the use of this can really turn around the fact that the video sequence is very simple; the catchy, almost welcoming, music makes this simplistic sequence more warm and homely.

In terms of establishing the location where it is based, viewers may be slightly confused as there isn’t any real indication of exactly where it is that the characters are during the series, the only clue we get of this is seeing the background in the scenes of the characters talking, while this will make people feel like they recognise the area, they are not immediately given an understanding of where the characters are and as a result it’s hard to see how there relevant.

Research Part 1: The IT Crowd

The IT Crowd Opening Title:

The IT Crowd Opening uses something that in a certain sense, is a bit different, by this I mean that the show opens with an animation, which is odd because the show itself isn’t, it’s a live action performance, This however isn’t in any way a bad thing, the way that the show has connected the animation to the theme of the shows contents is amazing, by using the animation it makes the opening fun to watch which in the long run will keep people coming back if not just for this opening, it is in a sense, catchy.

The show itself presents the conventions of a normal opening sequence in that the names of the cast appear by their representative characters, there is an indication of where the show takes place, in this instance it’s the office building in which the IT department work, the title of the show appears, as usual, at the end of the sequence, just before in this case the name of the writer, the writer will appear at the end of a comedy title because they have a more prominent role in these things as there is usually a team for these as the dialogue is the main comedic gag so to speak.  

The music used in the Title sequence for this is hard to explain, as close as I can call it is, an electronic beat that is added to whenever a new character appears on the screen, the beat then turns wavy when they fall down a shaft and then returns. This music is strange but in a way memorable for its simplicity, the title itself even has a series of gags within it, for one the tools used to fix a broken computer can be seen above as comical items, the ending of the sequence itself is of a computer crashing, this is enjoyable and also relevant and connects with the theme of an IT Department.

TH3 PR150N3R

TH3 PR150N3R from David Smith on Vimeo.

Thoughts on video: Video came out fairly well, there are however some noteable flaws within the final product, For one thing there is a problem with the dubbing over a particular scene, the phrase "You are number 6" can be heard as two voices at the same time because of sound errors with both the scene and when it came to the dubbing itself. Other Problems include blurring of the footage due to reflections from the sun, Issues with accidental shots of filming equipment visible, most noticeably at 00:34. Footage taken from 1:28 was taken in a completely different area with different lighting and as a result there is a large amount of camera blur. Throughout the film there is constant sound balancing issues, at some points characters speaking are too loud and on the opposite end of the scale, unbelievably quiet. Hiss and distortion with laugh sound effect present at the end of the film.

On a positve note though, I think that the film has some redeeming features, the music is a dynamic choice for the subject, the acting is fairly well done and the quality of a majority of the footage in terms of the picture quality is nice, also the location matches the proposed setting very well.

The Prisoner Update 11/10/12

Large jump from last entry, Apologies. Film is nearing the end of its editing stage and all that is left is for some minor tweaks to the final product, Group is considering additional voice overs to the beginning of the film to add a dramatic effect, I will update the next entry with the results of this decision. Music is in place with the full film and is placed appropriatly, considering a slight change to the ending due to problems with original ideas of disintegration related effect not being possible due to time constraints.

The Prisoner Update 1/10/12

Have Begun Prodction on Film titled "The Prisoner". Opening Title has been finished with all that remains for it being a touch up in its glow opacity using Adobe After Effects. Film itself has begun its planning stage and is coming along well, we have established a series of shots for the beginning of the film as an establishing shot, the roles have been picked and an idea of the theme has been established. We hope to begin production on 02/10/12 which means we have time for a reshoot if need be and also have time for editing of the raw footage.