Credit and Title Influences

Zodiac:

Order of credits as they appear on screen and why:

• 0.15secs - 'Paramount Pictures' appears on the screen - production and distribution company/s appears first before anything else and this is usually the case for all crime/thriller trailers. 
• 0.30secs - 'From the Director of se7en and panic room' - promoting the director of the film and his previous work opens up a wider audience due to the fact that people who enjoyed the films mentioned are likely to go and see this one. This is more of a choice, often depends on the popularity/fame of the director. 
• 1.43secs - 'Based on real events' - again attracts a wider audience and creates tension, which is the overall aim of the trailer.
• 2.10secs - the three main actors are now revealed to again attract a certain audience and inform people watching who they are going to see. This is clear from the trailer itself but it is a necessity to show the actors names and often the bigger stars will have their names revealed before the other members of the cast.
• credits appear at the end of the trailer (2.25secs) as they are stating who has been involved in the film/trailer we have just seen.
• Simple white font (something easily found on either word/final cut and/or motion) on a plain black background. 
• order of final credits is similar to the order previously mentioned.   

Departed:

• 0.18secs - Production/Distribution company/s introduced again (usually most famous and most involved) - follows a similar pattern to Zodiac trailer. 
• 0.34secs - 'A Martin Scorsese Picture' - similar pattern with director but this time they have chosen to reveal the directors name. 
• 1.07secs - 'Loyalty is a lie' - the main tagline of the film is introduced, which gives the audience an idea about the major theme of the film, which in this case is 'trust'. I particularly like the way they have used two different colours (blue & white) in the graphics to again further support this tagline, that everyone in the film is 'two-faced' and the truth is not being told. This links into our film and the major theme of 'Two-Evils'. 
• 1.16secs - 'Sacrifice is a test' - another tagline - creates excitement and again reveals the major themes of the film. 
• 1.32secs - 'How far can you take it?' - third tagline.
• 2.07secs - all the most famous actors in the film are introduced similar to that in Zodiac. 
• 2.18secs - title of the film is introduced - good use of connotation with the title appearing in the shape of a gun as it not only suggests the genre of the film but leaves a lasting image in the audiences head, which will then carry into the film itself. 
• 2.22,23,24secs - end credits introduced (same as in Zodiac).   

'Welcome To The Punch':

• 0.19secs - production/distribution company again introduced first (momentum pictures)
• 0.37secs - 'In 2013' - the graphics in this trailer are undoubtedly our major influence with the city landscapes appearing behind the the words themselves. This phrase also creates excitement amongst the audience watching as it adds a sense of pace to the action in this trailer. 
• 0.41secs - 'Know' - same effect as previously mentioned. 
• 0.45secs - 'Your' - interesting use of graphics that wasn't used on the two trailers prior to this one. Keeps you guessing as to what phrase will appear next.
• 0.51secs - 'Enemy' - similar to departed these tag-lines/phrases set up the theme's of the movie as well as create excitement amongst the viewers. 
• 1.08secs - executive producer/director introduced much later than usual. 
• 1.42secs - 'Welcome' - clear that the title is going to be introduced in the same style as the taglines previously. 
• 1.43secs - 'To' - "
• 1.44secs - 'Punch - "
• 1.45secs - whole title introduced - different to previous trailers as their is a short moment of action after the title is revealed and before the end credits are introduced at 1.48secs. 

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After watching the trailer for Zodiac in order to analyse the credits and how they appear, I noticed the final title and thought it was remarkably similar to the look we were going for with a few minor details changed to fit with the style of the film itself. As seen in the aims for our graphics we are particularly fond of the idea of having our titles appear just above (slightly merging) with a city skyline in the background:

I also like the way, as seen in the first picture above, the words almost fade in from left to right and then became brighter as the trailer continues. I am also a fan of the simple font seen above and decided to sample a few of my own in Final Cut in order to see the outcome (skip to 2.21) :

Below are just a few stills showing some sample Fonts from Illustrator that I put together and then screen grabbed before placing them onto this blogpost:

I am particularly fond of the 'Trajan Pro' font as I feel it adds a professional/slick look to the main title that will appear at the end of our trailer. However, I also like the depth of the 'Silom' sample font and would like to combine both of these along with the fonts that my partner has produced to make the final title that most fits our style and tone that we intended for the narrative graphics. Obviously these are just a select few of the many different fonts we looked at throughout the process.

MT

Ident Planning

We have decided to entitle our production company 'Encrypted Entertainment' and use the influence of 'Entertainment One's' logo and moving ident. I particularly like the way they have the 'E' emerging from behind a black circle background and would like to create something similar for our ident:

The style is also extremely interesting as the light is almost emerging from behind the black circle like a flashlight, which I feel is not only unusual visually but also adheres to the thriller/crime genre of our trailer. Many companies, such as 'Alliance Films' who produce the sort of film we are looking to recreate employ an ident that follows a similar style to the 'Entertainment One' logo seen above/below:

 

Although I am fond of the movement of 'Entertainment One's' ident, I don't particularly like the finished logo and have been more strongly influenced by the end logo of 'Impact Pictures'. The colouring and choice of positioning for the titles is much more interesting and unusual and so I would like to use samples from both idents in order to make my own:

However, after much of my time spent on motion attempting to create an ident that was similar to our influences, we managed to make something, which was fairly similar but which we did not particularly like. We thus decided to go down a different route and actually link both the logo/moving image to the word, 'Encrypted'. Despite the initial failure of the ident here, the experience was still extremely useful for me as it allowed me to familiarise myself with Motion, in which I was not confident on before-hand. I am now much more confident when using it, which has been helpful. Below is the first Ident we made, which we are not happy with. We had the idea of closing the gap between the 'Encrypted Entertainment' and the circle in the middle but after some time spent on it, I couldn't manage to make something I liked enough to use as our finished Ident and so we decided to scrap this idea as a whole and use it as experience if not anything else.  

Motion was something we used last year for the AS course but was still something I was unfamiliar with and so I decided to take on this task in order to improve my skills on the technology. Despite the fact that the above Ident failed to work how I imagined it, I was still pleased with my overall work and confidence gain on motion, which was invaluable for the editing stage of our films.

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Using original working title 'Gamechanger Films':

An Ident idea which I made in order to make the introduction to our trailer 

slightly more professional is that Gamechanger Films. With inspirations coming 

from companies such as 20th Century Fox and Lionsgate, shown right, we eventually 

chose a mixture of the clean font of Columbia and the clean black background of 

Universal as the main inspirations. This led us to choosing a font, a design and

 whether there was going to be anything in the background. The layer order, 

final design, font set up and effects used can be seen in the Photoshop screen

 grab below. 

Then came the animation, using Sony Vegas, to mix up the software from the 

previous ident using Motion, we took this idea of encoding from Encrypted entertainment 

and carried it over. Utilization of the TV simulator effect, as well as ready made effects

 used in motion and light flares allowed us to create an ident which both looks clean, 

professional, and resembles one usually seen professionally. It can be seen below. 

Sound may still be added, however a silent ident at the start of a tense film, if done 

correctly, has a majorly positive impact on the first act.

JL
MT

Ident Logo Research

 
 MT

Mid to Low Budget Ident Research

These are a selection of many different influential Low/Mid budget idents. They are clearly less 'glamorous' than the 'big six' for example but each have influential qualities, especially the light colouring on the dark background as seen in almost all of these idents. I particularly like the 'Impact Pictures' ident with the words written in 'blood red' inside the light bulb as seen in the collage just below.

I am also particularly fond of the 'Impact Pictures' Ident (above left), which has a high-budget sic-fi feel to it that I think is particularly powerful. I like the blue glow moving in from the left and lighting up the words 'Impact' and 'Pictures' either side of the half moon image splitting the titles. I particularly like the colouring on this Ident as it is relatively simple yet it empowers the title's, which is undoubtedly the most important part to most film company idents/logos. 

I am also fond of the 'inFilm' logo, despite its simplicity. I particularly like the use of font, with the 'F' clearly standing out on the black, block background. The 'Infinitum Nihil' logo also stands out for me as the red square image is very striking. I was instantly drawn to the logo as it is again extremely effective when placed on the block background. It would be good for us to use a block background of any colour and then employ the logo/text (name of company) over the top of that background. 

'Initial Entertainment Group inc.' employs an interesting use of colouring for its logo/ident and I especially like the beaming circle of light in the middle of the image with the title of the company placed inside. The contrasting blue's here is extremely effective and is something we would like to employ in our very own ident. This idea of contrasting the same colour in different shades as seen above is something of influence to us. The icon is also something that needs to be thought about in order for it to be 'eye-catching' and memorable for the audience. I feel that the 'Illusion' logo (bottom left) does this extremely well as the image of the bird is quite striking and stands out in comparison to the rest of the idents around it. We would perhaps like to make something similar using their logo as an influence to us. 

MT

Graphics Intent

The aims for our graphics revolves around the idea of the conflict between two evils in the narrative of our production. The protagonist has the choice of giving in to the police, who at the time are ignorant to the situation and suspect him of murder, or proving his innocence but fighting against both the police and the people who attempted to set him up. This idea of polar opposites is something we wish to convey and decide on early in our research and planning, as for the ancillary tasks we will be able to talk about iconic and recognisable branding. We also wish to convey the idea of a cityscape, which can be seen in the below font, taken from the film Cabin Fever. By relating these two ideas, from that of the city to choosing the lesser of two evils, we will be able to create a recognisable font and branding which can transcend the graphics of our trailer to the posters, magazine covers and the very narrative graphics within the narrative of the trailer.

JL

Sound Research

Welcome To the Punch:

  

0.01secs - sound boom to start the opening shot of the city skyline (London). Typical way to start many crime/thriller trailers as it instantly places you into the action of the film. Juxtaposed well with the blue/neon lights on screen as it creates this sense of danger/crime but also gives the film a glossy look. We know instantly that the budget of the film is fairly high due to the slick, well controlled lighting and sound boom followed by the non-diegetic sirens over the top of the city landscape (similar to Hummingbird). 



0.03secs - (Foley) constant ticking sound, which is used to great effect in this trailer as it creates tension amongst the audience, which is essential for a crime/thriller trailer and so the 'WTTP' trailer is adhering to the desired genre. It works in conjunction with the action on screen as it is suggesting that some sort of 'deal' is going to take place and that time is an issue. The ticking noise keeps the audience guessing as to what is going to happen next and is something we would like to use in our trailer in order to enhance the overall quality.

 0.05secs - The ticking noise is also used alongside a sci-fi style soundtrack that increases in volume whenever we begin to see more action on screen. The sci-fi noise works particularly well with the close up of the 'bad guy' wearing a compromising mask and carrying a bag, which is clearly something illegal. It also keeps the tension and sense of danger in the scene extremely well as we are unsure of who the 'bad' characters are and what they are about to do.

Sci-Fi soundtrack - high cord increasing in volume.

0.07secs - Voice over used at the start of the trailer over the top of action. We would like to play with the idea of using both visual and non-visual verbal sound in our trailer in order to create differing effects. I particularly like the use of voice over in this part of the trailer as it works well in conjunction with the shots on screen of the 'bad guy' walking towards the camera and the quick shots of Mcavoy fighting. 

0.24secs - Fog horn noise used to open Act 2 after 'momentum pictures'. Adheres to the crime/thriller genre and has an epic, almost blockbuster feel to it, which is something we are interested in. We would like to use a mixture of different foley sounds, such as the fog horn to create the desired tension we would like to create in our trailer. (fog horn noise is almost brooding over the other sound involved)

0.40secs/throughout - Soundtrack - gives the trailer a certain flow and makes the trailer feel instantly more epic when watching it. The soundtrack gives the trailer a certain rhythm throughout that links every shot/scene change together. Also allows for the flow of the trailer to run smoothly whilst creating a tense and even powerful atmosphere.  

Hummingbird:

  

0.02secs - already a sound boom to open the trailer, followed by contrapuntal/asynchronous sounds of police car sirens against the opening image of the city and Soho 'backstreets' - the sound boom is used throughout most, if not all crime/thriller trailers and so we will want to use it as well. The use of asynchronous sound is also extremely effective here and we will want to create a similar effect. 

0.10secs - sounds of an alarm going off - adhere to the crime/thriller genre and keep the audience on the edge of their seat, which is a desired effect especially at the early moments of a trailer like this. We would like to play around with non-diegetic sound, such as alarm sounds and other 'tension-building' Foley sounds to create different effects at different moments throughout our trailer.

0.15secs - a form of soundtrack begins (the sound of the ticking clock over the top of running music that adheres to the thriller/crime genre). The ticking clock is extremely effective as it not only follows the storyline of Statham's character running out of time as he is trying to escape from the 'bad guys' but also creates suspense, which is the desired effect at this moment in the trailer. We would again like to create something similar and hopefully our music producer, after watching our finished trailer will be able to fit an interesting, yet suspenseful piece of music over the top. 

0.21secs - They employ an almost sci-fi style sound boom throughout the trailer at certain moments of tension/suspense. These are extremely effective despite being asynchronous to the images displayed on the screen. This is again, a good use of -non-diegetic sound to create suspense amongst the audience, which is something we would like to recreate.

0.32secs - voice of a man on the phone being played over the top of Statham's characters making himself 'at home' in someone else's house. This is useful as it suggests a lot about the storyline and keeps the audience up to date with what is happening thus far in the trailer.

0.40secs - first bit of 'real' dialogue between Statham's character and the 'love interest' in the film. I particularly like the way they waited 40 seconds before any conversations emerge amongst certain characters in the film/trailer.

0.44secs - Sci-Fi style soundtrack begins at this point after Statham's character says, 'I need to get my life back together' - this suggests that there will be a series of shots representing his character improving the quality of his life. However, the crime/thriller nature of the soundtrack, with the eerie sound booms and the fast flowing pace of the music suggests that Statham is going to take advantage of 'crime' in order to 'get his life back together'. This is an excellent example of how the soundtrack can parallel the storyline, running throughout the trailer and has been an influence to us when thinking about the sound in our film.

1.05secs - sound booms (brooding orchestral noise) used throughout especially during the fight/chase scenes but used as well during the moments, where crime is being shown on camera as seen in the image below where a 'trade-off' of some sort is taking place. We would like to use these traditional thriller foley sounds and add them to our trailer in order to not only adhere to the genre of our film but also to create suspense throughout.

Throughout - soundtrack is used especially during the montage towards the end of the trailer and is 'mixed' together with foley sounds to create tension. Dramatic singing is used to highlight the storyline. Brooding orchestral music is something we will want our producer to make over the top of our trailer, especially during the montage scene and is something we will have to use in order to properly adhere to the thriller/crime genre. However, we will definitely want to our producer to add his own twist on the soundtrack and so will give him some artistic license to experiment with the trailer.

MT

Music Producer

The producer we will be using for the music in our film is a friend of ours with the production alias "Agile". He has a relatively high following on soundcloud with over 1000 likes on various posts as well as a strong influence on European rap groups such as "Sesh" and "Bones". Having successfully produced the music for my production "Existence" last year as well as producing backing tracks in attempt of recognition in the advertisement industry. With this relatively illustrious background for a no budget production we see him as the perfect candidate for the production of our music. Due to this near-professional background however he has asked for the trailer to be sent to him soundless/without a backing track in order for him to syncopate the music, meaning that for the time being we will have to use a copyright, predetermined song to enforce the tone of the film and inspire us when editing. Links to his soundcloud and the music used in last years production can be found below, as well as some of his more recent tracks. There is also a track included, in which he collaborated with another producer of a similar genre. This producer is also available, however his genre and conventions of production differ, striving to be separate to the mainstream advertisement industry and tropes of film music.





JL