Research has begun on one of the core requirements of my film opening: credits. I set out to analyze a few case studies, but many of those “Top 25 Opening Credits Sequences of All Time” listicles were for films that aren't super comparable to what I’ll end up creating. E.g., okay Indiewire, I know the Catch Me If You Can credits are great, but I’m not animating. I get the artistic significance of Drive’s neon pink scroll, but I won’t exactly have sweeping crane shots of skyscrapers. So, with the (self-imposed) restriction of “Must Be At Least Somewhat Within My Abilities,” I landed on the following films.
- Coraline (2009)
- Credits roll during series of clips that serve as a prologue
- Engaging visuals but not distracting from text
- Establishing an eerie, twee look (dark tone + stop-motion visuals + mystery built through lack of seeing character(s) head-on)
- Prioritizing tone over, character development
- Napoleon Dynamite (2004)
- Inventive/quirky/artistically presented
- Expresses film’s personality → beginning to develop MC’s personality
- E.g., the actors’ names appearing on the covers of a distinct style of sci-fi/fantasy novel gets across that the film centers a nerdy kid whose media consumption habits are un-modern (pinball machine art in the year of their lord 2004)
- Does more for character development/genre than conflict/mystery
- True to characteristics of comedy/coming-of-age films
- Halloween (1978)
- Commendable attention to detail, sweet & simple, tone-setting
- The shade of orange. Of the text. Is dynamic. Subtly shifting. As the interior of the Jack-o-lantern. Varies in darkness. With a flickering candle.
- HELLO??? Maybe I’m just a color person, but DUDE, that’s just. It’s perfect.
- Like Coraline, thematic foreshadowing is prioritized over details about character/setting
- Stillness of the shot:
- Contributes to candlelight’s mesmerizing quality (stare into the mouth of the Jack-o-lantern, think about what sharp knife must have carved the pumpkin, understand w/o doubt that this film takes place around Halloween)
- Directs viewer to actually read the names of the filmmakers
- Is evocative of Raging Bull credits: static shot → focus on the object to the left of the text (flickering Jack-o-lantern, or trapped fighter)
- Serves as status quo that can later be broken by violence/action
- I’m again reminded of a different film: this time Scream, how the tranquility of the opening scene is broken as the slasher starts ,, slashing
- The connection is not a coincidence— that “calm before the storm” pacing is characteristic of horror/thriller genre
One of my main takeaways is that credits don't just happen to appear during a film's first few minutes; they're an opportunity to further a filmmaker's goal in the opening (whether that be exposition, like Coraline, personality, like Napoleon Dynamite, or tone, like Halloween). I've come to understand that no detail is arbitrary, so something like the font choice/placement/color of the credits scroll definitely has a seat at the table. By genre, my opening credits will probably end up the closest to Napoleon, but my hope is that I can still incorporate the nuanced attention to detail exemplified in the other two.
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