Music for Thriller Opening - Research

When it came to the audio to my thriller opening sequence, I decided that I would add non-diegetic music to created the dark, suspicious atmosphere required to keep the audience attentive. There would still be the occasional diegetic sounds, such as the match lighting or the scissors cutting, to emphasis their meaning.
Unfortunately, when I started with my sequence I did not realise it would be more practical to commence with the audio and then cut the video to fit the music. However, once the sequence's had been cut accordingly and was ready for the sound, I was able to cut the music to be in sink with what the viewer would see on the screen. Therefore, I believe it made it better as there was more of a story to the opening sequence.
When I first started with my music, I was going to compose it myself using Garage Band. However, I was not achieving the sounds or effects I was looking for, so I moved on to searching a song that could be used and edited to fit my opening sequence. The song's lyrics had to have meaning and relate to the story of my thriller, therefore I researched songs including the lyrics similar to 'I'm crazy' or something related to being interested or 'obsessed' with somebody else. I tended to look at famous songs sung by new YouTube artists in search of fame to have a different, unknown voice singing the song. This would signify the way the villain is a known character, appear normal but has something different that's hidden from first sight.
The song 'Crazy' by Gnarls Barkley, cover by Daniela Andrade, was a good choice when taking into consideration the lyrics and pace at which it was going:

However, after being added to the sequence and edited slightly to fit the video, I realised that it did not match the mood of the thriller as it was too slow paced while the sequence is more fast paced, and there wasn't enough of what I wished to portray in the meaning of the lyrics. So my search continued...
After researching many more songs, I came across a song that had the slightly creepy, dark and sinister atmosphere required. The song is a cover of  Beyonce's second version of 'Crazy In Love', sung by a young YouTube artist named Sofia Karlberg:

This song is perfect as it set the right atmosphere between both locations, making it clear to the audience through sound, as well as through the editing, that they were related and intertwined. This song starts with the instrumentals and singing in the minor key, making it clear what type of film it will be. Further along the beat changes, making things more intense as there is more occurring and things are faster paced, which emphasises the danger.

Production Logos - Research

A production logo is the 'tag' a company uses to brand what they produce, used by television producing companies. What differentiates a production logo from a normal logo is that they use movement and sound. In films they are usually shown at the beginning, while in TV programmes they appear at the end.

A production logo is important as it helps people associate a genre with the company, which prepares them for the sort of film they are going to see. Also, the better known the production logo/company then the more likely that the people will watch the film as they will know the companies reputation and therefore will expect quality.

For example, if someone was to see the Sleeping Beauty castle, they would automatically associate it with Disney, which in turn makes people think of fairy tale classics and magical lands. So when people see this production logo, or even hear the music to it, they will know that they are about to watch a family film full of adventure and, most likely, music and magic.

 On the other hand, if people were to see the 'Twisted Pictures' production logo they would most likely associate it with horror films, such as the Saw film series. Apart from the name stating clearly what type of films they produce, the image of the wire binding and then unbinding the words, leaving scratches all over them, paints a clear picture of what to expect. Additionally, the sound chosen for this production logo is a scream at the end after the sounds of the scrapping wires, which once again reinforces the idea of the film being a horror or thriller based genre.

Not all production logos will clearly state by the name what type of films they produce. However, with the help of the sounds and movements, the audience will be able to get some idea. They can be as long as five to thirsty seconds long, depending on the what movement is involved to keep the viewers' attention focused.

Rotating Titles - Reaseach

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIOvlibX-jA&safe=active

When it came to making the titles, most were no problem. However, I couldn't figure out how to rotate the texts and even after asking around, I couldn't find the solution. Therefore I had to turn to YouTube tutorials, where I came across a video that explained it (check link above). Most of the video wasn't very useful but it did have the answers I was looking for.



After watching this tutorial I was able to change my work from this horizontal text, where it just stands out incorrectly against the lipstick lid:

to this slanted text:

This helps improve my work as the titles fit better with their surroundings and become more involved in the feature, making them more eye catching to the audience and more memorable.

Typography

The typography always has to be eye catching to stand out against what is happening in the background, as well as to make it memorable. The best way to do this is by somehow incorporating the titling into the background (e.g Zombieland), create a contrast between the titles and background or using bold colours and fonts that link with the genre of the film.
      Zombieland is a great illustration that has all these qualities. The font remains the same throughout the film, however there are two different font colours for different purposes. The first one is the red titling, signifying the blood and danger the zombies bring in the film, used in the title sequence to give an insight on the films genre. Meanwhile the white titles indicate the innocent people running and fighting for their lives, hence the reason the rules on how to survive are white.




White titling (innocent people)

Red titling (zombies/danger/blood)

      Not only do the colour of the font change but the height and width of the line, including the spacing between letters and words, alter according to what suits the scene best.
     In order to make the titles interesting and eye catching, the editing of the typography has been made to be part of the scene (picture bottom left) or shatter or knock out of place as the characters interfere with the titles (picture bottom right). The effect of this is to not only to make us focus on what is written but to focus on how the characters (zombies) bring chaos to the film, signifying the change people drastically had to take on.