The title sequence of Skyfall uses different imagery and the music as to foreshadow the movie as well give the tone, setting, the main characters and the plot. We start by seeing the main character float down and get through this hole in the ground, as to connect to the idea of James Bond falling and the whole movie about his fall. A few targets float around while one is bleeding, the one bleeding being bond, which connects to the idea of Bond being injured. We see a few knifes hit the bottom of the river and they turn into tomb stones, connecting to the idea of killing and death. We see a silhouette of a rundown mansion, with everything being red as to signify danger, which foreshadows that the end battle will be at that mansion. We go through James Bond’s eye and see him shooting shadows, as to mean he has won against spies before, but one doesn’t get shot and aims at him, showing Bond’s enemy for the movie. We go through a wound of the villain to see his veins connect to a skull, either meaning that someone close to bond will die (as someone does) or that the villain was betrayed and is traumatised. We see those targets with spies’ faces on them burning up, as to tell that MI6 is being targeted and destroyed, and agents killed. We see a skull and as we track in we see that the skull splits into tombstones and we specifically see one grave that is fresh and ready for a body, meaning that someone will die in the movie. We see bond walk up to a mirror and shoot it, signifying Bond disliking what he is now. We see the mansion again with stuff falling down and destroying everything, showing that the end of the movie will be at the mansion. The lyrics of the song perfectly matches with what is happening in the movie, complementing the foreshadowing and the tone of the movie.
Skyfall
101 Dalmatians
The title sequence for 101 Dalmatians is unique as it uses the title sequence to credit the staff instead of doing things like foreshadowing the movie, it sets the tone and setting. We start off with hand drawings of the Dalmatians, we then zoom out to see more drawings being done of the Dalmatians. Some dots are thrown at the dogs, they come to life and we zoom out more to see a vast amount of dogs on screen, highlighting the amount of Dalmatians in the movie. The title comes on, word by word, and the music enters in loud and seems to announce the title, making it seem grand to the audience.
The music is jazzy well, being very flexible and changing with each part of the title sequence, making it playful. We see some of the people involved have their name put on spots, crediting the people in a creative way well connecting to the main theme of the movie, Dalmatians. After the minor credits, we see special credits for the composers, writers, original writers, animators etc. The denotation of the video tailors towards the credit of the staff, for instance for animation the animation reel for a Dalmatian is showed well the main music plays, the main music being very light hearted and playful. The credit compliments the music, which compliments the tone of the film, and the music compliments the credit. The order in which is done (drawing before music, music before animation, animation before layout, layout before colour, etc) also shows the process that goes into making just one scene of the film, which is unique and original. Other smaller things like the dogs looking friendly and smiling sets up the children’s movie, the establishing shot of London when mentioning the directors shows setting.
Fight Club
Fight Club’s credit sequence is to invoke a sense of anxiety well also setting up the tone and central point of the film.
We begin with a gooey sound before the visuals begin, drawing in the audience as to what is going on well creating a sense of unease. The music starts off slow for a second and then quickly changes to electro-rock (connecting to the idea of split personalities). The music is fast and loud, giving this sense of anxiety.
We see the synapse and the diffusion of neurotransmitters; everything is very dark and most of the details are gritty which is shown to be like that throughout the title sequence, which connects to the film very well. When the title flashes on the music includes a repetitive sound that is also loud and sounds like an alarm, increasing the sense of anxiety in the audience.
We track backwards throughout the title sequence where we see neurons flash, the brain and eventually the skin, signifying the sense of fear being created in the brain and reaching the external world.
We stop seeing detailed skin when we move up a gun and reach the aim, pulling the focus from the character’s face towards the aim, showing that the character is in danger. When we travel up the gun we also get this acapella sound that increases its pitch as we travel up the gun, making the audience have this sense of realisation that this character is about to be shot.
The focus changes from the aim to the character, the character then narrates saying, “People always ask if I know Tyler Durden”, which foreshadows the twist in the end.