MAIN Post 5a: Macro/Micro analysis of an opening sequence from your genre.

500 Days of Summer

It starts with a dirty page and the title (500) days of summer in a simple white block capitals font. Trees and fine lines of buildings are drawn on the paper in a wiped action; the camera is facing the paper. The trees are then added some green leaves. The date flips to (488) the previous image fades away and a bench is drawn. The drawn picture fades in to the footage. It shows a couple sitting on a bench the lighting is natural but still fairly light the shot size is medium shot. It the sharp cuts to a fuzzy close up of an eye and plain block text of a name ( Joseph Gordan-Levitt) and shows the eye blinking. It then fades to a picture of a girl’s eye and text in the opposite position compared to the previous shot. It goes back to the sketch that appeared at the start, the dates the roll back from 282-34. It then cuts to footage, one of a boy on a train and other of a girl waving; the screen is spilt into two. The footage of the boy is a medium shot filming him from behind and the footage of the girl is a close up. Both clips have natural lighting but looks bright. After about 3 seconds names of production and designer fade in the centre of the girl’s box. This all fades to a blackout, it then cuts to the sketch that appears at the start (35) days rolls up too (303) days. It then cuts too spilt screen of close up of a boys face on the left and extreme close up of a girls lips blowing a dandelion on the right the lighting is still natural. The girls box fades out to a blackout and is replaced with plain block styled typography of the directors name. it then goes back to the previous drawn picture but the sky is orange and there is a sun, the number (1) appears as shown. The  background is moving and rays of sunlight come out of the sun in a lighter yellow colour, the trees also grows white flowers this fades to a blackout and the title sequence has finished.

There is no other sound in the title sequence except music, this is quite bubbly and goes well with the genre of a rom-com as the song talking about 2 people being together. The title sequence doesn’t give a lot away so the main big enigma is what happens between the man and women. When we see them sitting on the bench together you wonder why, and you also see them as children so it makes you wonder what happens between them.

There aren’t many special effects in this title sequence except the drawing cartoon style sketch. I have noticed this is very common in the rom-com style genre of film and this links in with special effects as they are quite simple.

There's something about Mary

It starts with a black background the words Twentieth century fox presents fades up the typography is a light blue colour and everything except presents is in capitals. The font is a messy handwritten style as this fades out some slow music starts up. It then cuts to a close up of some trees and pans across, the typography Cameron Diaz fades put in the same style as before and the fades down, at this point the music is still a slow paced backing beat. The camera carries on panning and lyrics are sang by a male voice acoustically, another name fades up in the same font and fades out, this happens again with other names. It pans across to a medium shot of a man sitting on a branch hitting a drum and another man who is a bit closer to the camera playing a guitar singing the song. A sketch like font fades up with the title of the film, the word Mary is written in a love heart with arrows through it, this fades out the camera jibs down to a medium close up an another name appears in the same style of font. The men in the tree are an enigma to why they are there. The camera stays in this position while more names fade in and out in the same style. Behind the men in the tree you can see people walking from the road across a bit of a field and out of shot this makes you wonder the location.  The camera tracks down away from the man in the tree and down towards the ground this is a close up on the tree and natural lighting. It tracks to a close up of a boy the typography of the director’s name fades in and then out this is the en of the title sequence as music stops an goes straight into the film.

There is no special effects in this opening sequence, this film was made when special effects weren’t as deve3loped as they are now and from what I have already watched special effects aren’t the conventions of a rom-com film. I have also noticed that a few rom-coms start there title sequence in the location that the first scene is and I think this is a good way of linking the title sequence in with the film.