Art of the Title Research...
Independent Film: Moonrise Kingdom
Major Distributor Film (Paramount and Warner Bros) : Zodiac
1. The beginning section is very simple, showing a simplistic one set of a house. No explosives or visual effects are used, which is conventional of an indie film. But due to the well-known director, Wes Anderson, the shots are intriguing, which makes the film remembered.
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Even though the beginning section is also very simple, in terms of narrative, the use of settings vary (the house, the school, the establishing shot of New York) - all of these different sets is what differentiate's an Indie film and a Major film - showing differences in budget.
Due to the limited budget of Indie films - the sets they can use are limited. Interestingly, due to the symmetrical style, which Wes Anderson presents - big explosives are not needed to intrigue the audience. Due to the pans used throughout the opening section it keeps the audience interested as they are not aware of what will appear on their screens next, creating an unnerving tone.
This opening sequence uses very formal, but bold typography to engage the audience. The bright yellow colour of the writing captures the audiences attention. Due to the stylised cinematography, the use of stylised bold typography fits with the style (as shown below)
Due to this film having a big budget, the filmakers are able to afford shots such as a helicopter shot like the one shown above. The image is visually effective as it tells the audience exactly where they are and sets the scene - which enganges the audience straight away.
The use of typography and style of writing during the opening sequence is very simple using a white colour. Due to this film being more about the storyline than the visuals - I feel like fancy typography is not needed ( as shown below)
When the title is shown- it is very noticeable due to the bold, bright text. I think this works well as it is a stylised piece but this is not something I would go for whilst creating my own drama.
The boys play a record featuring the theme from The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra. At the same time the camera pans around the dollhouse-like set. Once the girl looks out of the window - the music raises to a dramatic finish whilst the title appears on the screen. This reinforces the idea of a very stylised film.
The way in which the title is presented is also done very subtly. It shows in the bottom left hand corner of the screen on a dark bit of the protagonists shirt with white writing so that is stands out. Although the title is noticable - it is not thrown in your face like 'Moonrise Kingdom' - I prefer this effect as its more calming to the audience especially if you are focusing on introducing the characters, which should be a main focus within the drama genre.
There are many layers of sound, which makes this film a Major distribution film as it not only includes non-digetic but also digectic sounds going on all at the same time. This shows precision and richness on screen - which therefore does not give audience time to unfocus. They are constantly drawn into the action that is happening on their screens.
Evaluation of 2 films...
I have learnt that you don’t need a big budget to engage your audience. There are many ways of creating an interesting atmosphere and using typography in a creative way. I found that I connected more and was more interested in the Indie film due to the stylistic way in which the film was shot. I also felt more intrigued about character as they didn’t introduce them straight away. Even though Zodiac started off well with an excellent establishing shot – nothing stood out to me as being original and creative – I understand that for major films as many people watch them they have to be easily followed by their viewers so to make the storyline attached with creative visuals – it might not be easily followed.
My group and I had an idea of trying to film our film very symmetrically due to his OCD. We thought this technique would be effective as the audience would be able to view the story through the protagonists eyes. ‘Moonrise Kingdom’ showed us an interesting way of how this technique could be achieved. Due to the beginning of our film starting off with a daily routine, which parallels with the beginning of Zodiac – it showed us different and interesting shots of a daily routine we could show to make it more interesting as a viewer.
Here are examples of the inspiration my group had from 'Moonrise Kingdom'. This famous style that Wes Anderson includes in his films intrigued us as we thought it would be interesting to try and make our shots very symmetrical also. This was due to our main character having OCD and we thought it might be a clever and creative way of showing the audience how the protagonist would see the world in a very ordered manner.
Here are some examples of the inspiration my group had from 'ZODIAC'. In the beginning of our film we show James doing his morning routine (washing his face and hands after waking up). As this sequence of movements is very simple we were worried as a group that it would be quite boring for the audience to watch. After watching 'ZODIAC' - it helped us think of ways how to avoid this problem. The short cuts to different shots made the scene have pace and seemed to run smoothly. The music accompanied with the images added richness and tone to the piece creating an uplifting feeling that the film was starting. Also characterisation had a big effect on the sequence as you were intrigued into the characters relationship and their lifestory as the characters engaged with each other. This gave me the idea to create mystery and enigma to our character at the beginning to draw the audience's attention as much as possible.
IS MY FILM INDEPENDENT OR MAJOR?
Here is the wesbite for the film company that made 'Moonrise Kingdom'
My production company would be independent due to the low budget and the creative and stylistic image we are trying to produce. As we are making a student film – we do not have a big enough budget to produce a high tech piece of work – I do not see this at a weakness as this makes us focus more on the detail of the actor and the cinematography. It also lets us be more creative as we come up with our own ideas of how to make the film visually appealing and interesting to watch.
Due to my film being a low concept film I was target the local audiences more than the global. I would use stations such as Magic and Smooth to target our young adults to older adults demographic. I would put adverts in newspapers such as the times and the guardian to appeal to intelligient adults who would find an indie, intellectually stimulating film interesting and would come to watch the film. In terms of exhibition I would show my film at arthouse cinemas such as …. ?? In terms of tv I would place ads in breaks of channel 4 as the programmes that tend to show on that channel are intelligient programmes which targets the same audience as mine.
Due to the storyline of our film I do not feel as though much synergy can take place. A possible idea would be too create awareness of OCD around London to make people interested in seeing how we have created this illness onto screen. This could include teaming up with Apple to create apps such as 'How OCD are you?' and possibly do mini quizes on Facebook and Twitter to create awareness and possibly target a younger audience.