Art of the Title: Skyfall

Skyfall

• The credits start with the infamous James Bond hitting the surface of the water and falling deeper. This would immediately catch the viewer's eye because James Bond is virtually invincible and he is now drowning. They would have to keep watching to see what will happen to him and if he will survive.
• A hand reaches out and grabs his and the audience thinks he is saved, but instead of pulling him up towards the surface and to safety, he is pulled down further into the dark ocean. The close up shot becomes a wide shot and a giant hand pulls him deeper by his leg. The audience might be interested in this part because reality is distorted and they want to watch more to see where this is leading to.
• The first title, 'ALBERT R. BROCCOLI'S EON PRODUCTIONS LTD. Presents' appears in a Verdana font in white which is seen very well against the falling dark-suited body of 007. They also fade in which fits with the dream-like state of the opening sequence.
• Throughout the rest of the titles the audience realises that we are watching an abstract version of James Bond's life; the falling guns and knives among the gravestones, the dancing silhouettes of women, the shadows of assassins aiming for him and also the wound in his chest that is present in all of these scenarios. These all represent the action packed thrilling missions that he's completed in his life.The audience might be thinking that his life is flashing before his eyes- a very common belief about the moment before you die. 
• The opening sequence for Skyfall is nearly 4 minutes long, which unconventionally long for any movie, let alone a fast paced action movie. However Skyfall is the 23rd James Bond Movie ever made and because it was expected to be the last one, the producers and directors might have known that so many people were going to be watching they needed to make the movie special and different to all of the others. Or the case might have been that because the movie was going to be watched by so many people they could afford to take risks.

Eon productions Ltd. shows up first which I've noticed is similar in every opening sequence that the production company goes first followed by the director and the main character(s) before the name of the film appears. This is useful because they have put the most important people first before the audience stops paying attention to the words and focuses on the excitement behind it. Something that Skyfall does differently to other films is that the titles are shown around 5-10 minutes into the movie. Including the titles during this part was a good idea because if it had been during the fight scene before, it would have taken away from the intensity of the moment.

The opening sequence for Skyfall is intriguing but something we cant use many ideas from because it is almost 4 minutes long and we are aiming to make ours 2 and a half at most. It also doesn't tell the audience anything about the movie e.g. storyline, characters or themes. We want to try and get across the plot of our story or at least the part of it that we're showing so we wont have time to do any abstract art tricks. James Bond is a well-known and loved movie so most people would be able to guess what the plot might involve anyway (Dangeerous missions, evil villains, beautiful women blah blah) but we can leave it up to the audience to guess because our movie is new and unknown.

The order of titles are:

... Productions presents

Main Actor

as .... in

Title of the Film

starring (less crucial actor)

Less crucial actor

"           "        "

Less crucial actors (on screen at the same time)

with ...

and ... as ...

Co-producers ...

Script supervisor, Sound recordist, Electrical supervisor, Second unit assistant director,

Makeup Designer, Hair Designer, ...'s Wardrobe, Wardrobe supervisor, Publicity and Marketing, Promotions,

Supervising art director, Set decorator, Property Master, Construction Manager, Skills photographer, Visual effects producer,

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