Titles research and design

Mitchell Frost

Although titles were a big focus point last year for my AS opening sequence production, the difference between the way titles are used in an opening sequence compared to a trailer means that I must again place a big focus on the research and analysis of titles in order to understand how to use them to full effect in my trailer.

With my trailer being a trailer for a psychological thriller film, I will make sure to focus on the way titles are used in trailers of this genre, as they will clearly work the best in my trailer. I am also interested in looking at how trailers of different genres utilise titles and I will maybe look to develop some of these typical conventions in order to challenge they typical conventions of a thriller trailer’s titles.

Titles for my trailer

The trailer for ‘The Loft’, makes heavy use of titles and regularly uses them to drop hints and help contextualise what is taking place. When watching the trailer, the titles really stuck out and it is clear that from the design and the behaviour of them that the producers were keen to make them stand out to the audience, thus drawing a focus toward the man-made/artificial factors and elements of the trailer and the film. The ‘chopping up’ and fragmentation of the titles is something I do not feel will work in my trailer, as seek to create the highest sense of verisimilitude as possible. The basic font used and the white colour in contrast with the black background is plain and simple and means that the audience spend more time focused on what the titles actually say, than the titles themselves. The contrast between black and white indicates a narrative style typical of Claude-Levi-Strauss’s theory of binary opposites (good vs evil). I will also look to do this by using two contrasting colours, to suggest to the audience that the film will feature ‘two sides.’

The Loft -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgQUVXwkfNk

The trailer for ‘Jack Strong’ is one which makes use of titles rather than speech or a voice over in order to contextualise and make clearer to the audience what is happening and why. I am keen on using this technique in my trailer, as I wish to keep speech to a minimum, in a hope of making the audience feel as ‘isolated’ and ‘alone’ as possible- creating suspension and building tension.

The red colour of all the titles connotes danger and death, therefore indicating to the audience that the world in which the film is set is a dysfunctional one and not one which they can relate to heavily. The flickering of the main title is further evidence of this and suggests ‘destruction’. Themes of violence or death are perhaps suggested from this.

The ‘typing’ behaviour is one of which I am extremely keen to explore and hopefully use in my trailer as when watching the trailer for ‘Jack Strong’, I really liked the sinister effect that the behaviour of the title created and feel that it will also be something else to keep the viewer as entertained and focused as possible. I feel that the behaviour of the text gave the impression that you were ‘not alone’, putting you more in the shoes of the character and therefore creating pathos.

Jack strong- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCtaQzaKv58

The titles for dark summer are very plain and basic, with a simple font and basic black/white colour scheme being what they are primarily made up of. The titles also hold some level of irony, with the oxymoron and direct antithesis between the ‘darkness’ of which some of the titles suggest and the brightness of the bold white colour scheme and subtle gleaming of the title. I feel that this gives the overall aesthetic of the film a less serious tone and is not one which I will look to explore.

It is clear that the producers want the titles to be easy to read and for the audience to be concerned with what is happening between the character than the titles. The titles are used just to compliment the moving picture and not as a feature.

The slow ‘expanding’ behaviour of the titles leaves the audience to infer many things, with it maybe suggesting that the ‘danger’ is getting closer and closer.

Dark Summer- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbduETT_LnM

In order to produce the titles for my trailer, I will use Adobe After Effects- a piece of editing software which allows you to animate text.

After watching a range of real life trailers, I was intrigued by the titles which made use of a glitch movement, almost like the title was ‘flickering’. With my pre existing knowledge of After effects from AS level, I already have some understanding on how to make the title ‘flicker’. I will use the ‘wiggle’ behaviour by setting the amount of wiggle to an extremely high level and the space in which the title can move to a very low level, thus creating a fast paced jitter effect. I will used this effect only for my main film title, at the end of the trailer. I plan to use the ‘October Crow’ font for this title, a jagged edged font which connotes imperfection and danger.

Furthermore, although some trailers I have watched do not use any titles throughout the trailer, I feel that without a voiceover to help contextualise and make some sense of what is going on, it was essential for me to use titles throughout. I will use a font called ‘moms typewriter’, alongside the ‘typewriter’ behaviour and a typewriter sound, in order to give the titles an aged look, this being because typewriters are not as commonly used any more. The titles will also suggest that somebody else is present (the person who types on the typewriter), adding a sinister mood to the trailer. The slow pace of the typing and gradual reveal of words, I hope will keep the audience ‘on their toes’ and making inferences.

Creating my titles

Final title designs