Snowpiercer; Credit sequence analysis

 Snowpiercer (Opening credits)

I want to branch out from space movies and talk about another one of my favorite sci-fi movies. Snowpiercer is about the last of humanity confined to just a train while the rest of the world freezes away after an attempt by the worlds governments to stop global warming. 

What I really like about this opening sequence is how the credits change, in just a black background, by being briefly covered by a wide trucking shot of the silhouette of abandoned and broken buildings, foreshadowing that this movie takes place on a train before we even get to see the train in the first place.

Then when the title "Snowpiercer" is shown, the letters c, p, and o move backwards and fade behind the other letters. I do not know if this is just a stylistic quirk done just to make the title look cool, but I like to it has a deeper meaning than that. Perhaps it represents how the main characters would later begin to move up the train to reach the engine room, or maybe it represents how although the train moves forward, history still repeats itself and progress is moved back: society still remains regressing back despite the train always moving. 

This is a very simplistic opening, but it sets the setting of the film as a future dystopian with only just background news clippings and broad text to notify to further add context to the story. 

I feel like stories like these where there is a lot of lore and background information needs to have some sort of context or prologue to let the viewers know what world they are looking at. Or else the audience would be questioning everything for the rest of the film.

Alien; Credit sequence analysis

 Alien (Opening credits)

An introduction to one of my favorite horror movies. This movie just has that 1970s-1980s charm that can only be mimicked by todays standards. 

The sequence here shows the camera panning to the right, observing the darkness of a ringed planet. As the credits come and go, the title slowly begins to take shape and appear. Finally the credits get done showing, leaving only the title "Alien" at the top 3rds of the screen. 

What I love about this title sequence is that it makes the audiences eyes go up and down. The audience is interested in what the words at the top are forming into, while their eyes glance down at the names of the people in charge of making this movie. It is a very unique way to keep the audience engaged without much action going on. Also the words in "Alien" is spaced out, so even when the credits are done, the audience's eyes are now being led left to right to fully read the title. And finally when the credits are done showing, all that is left is the ominous looming presence of the title remaining. I am not sure if it was intentional but the way the title is slowly being pieced together reminded me of old computers, like an error has occurred.

Richard Greenberg was the title designer of Alien, whom he worked before on Superman. While Superman gave Greenberg a good start, he was established as a creative voice in Alien. In Greenberg's interview provided by artofthetitle, Greenberg said that the titles "came from the idea of something unsettling". The little bits slowly piecing the title sets up tension and seem very mechanical. 

Greenberg would also use this type of title for the teaser trailer for Alien, saying "It created a sense of foreboding". This sense of terror is also evoked further with the lack of narration, only portraying the title of the film, and also portraying one of the most unsettling taglines in cinema history "In space no one can hear you scream". 

Space Man; Credit sequence analysis

 Space Man (Opening credits)

Space Man, probably one of the most underrated space movies ever made, and maybe even one of the best underrated movies over all. 

This movie has a very simple credit sequence: following the main character, portrayed by Adam Sandler, as he wakes up from his dream, or memory, as he goes about his daily yet lonely routine. This is possibly the most common credit sequence done for most films, except for simple credits appearing in a black background.

This movie also sets the loneliness and depression the main character feels with the quiet ambience and almost contemplative atmosphere. The introduction is also very ominous, especially when the protagonist begins his day while a non-diegetic sound of a hum can be heard never ending. There is also a little homage to 2001 A Space Odyssey, when the protagonist was in his dream and in the background is non-diegetic audio of a low rising choir, like the one seen in 2001 whenever the monolith appeared. 

This introduction does a great job at showcasing the seriousness and blankness of the movies tone. This movie does not have a massive plot like 2001 or Interstellar. It is just a film about a lonely man going through period of sadness, and nothing more is needed to exemplify that.

The intro also plays with contrasting colors. The main character is first seen in a blue space suit walking in a bright green forest, likely representing tranquility and the want to go back home. Then it cuts to the protagonist waking up, shadowed in low dimmed orange light, likely representing reality or the grim emptiness that the character is confined in. Blue and orange are complementary colors, opposites used to further contrast dreams vs reality. It is also ironic how blue if often associated with the cold, yet it is shown in a warm sunny environment. While orange is often associated with warmth, yet is shown in the cold stasis of the space craft. I am not sure what the red light means, appearing when the main character gets out of his sleeping chamber, but I think it means the protagonist is coming back to his physical realm since red if often associated with flesh and blood, awakening and recovering from his dream state.

I love the play of colors and lighting here. Colors is such an easy yet effective way of making the audience feel a specific way. I'll especially like to use complementary colors since it helps give a lot of depth and contrast to the themes and ideas of a film. 

2001: A Space Odyssey; Opening analysis

 2001: A Space Odyssey (Opening)

I think that one of the most defining features of the opening for one of the most iconic movies in history is the music. The music encapsulates the grandness, the mass of planets and stars. The shot tilts up to reveal the outline of the Earth and the bright presence of the Sun, while the music also rises with the tilt. The music, Sprach Zarathrusta by Strauss, makes the Earth and Sun seem like mythological giants or gods. 

In an article by nofilmschool, Kubrick initially was going to have Alex North, a seasoned composer, to make the score for 2001. But Kubrick found that North's compositions were "alienated" from the classical works Kubrick wanted him to take inspiration from, and a bit too cheerful for a serious film like 2001. Kubrick was completely fine with using already existing music for his films, and even encourages it, saying in his interview with Michel Ciment "Why use music which is less good when there is such a multitude of great orchestral music available from the past and from our own time? When you’re editing a film, it’s very helpful to be able to try out different pieces of music to see how they work with the scene".

For my film, I want music to be a massive aspect. I do not think I will be using classical music but I will definitely be very picky with the music I want: especially since 2001 is also characterized by very quiet scenes in between the great music. Because of such quiet scenes, it stirs me on to be more careful on the music I choose. It does not make it better that I have to choose royalty free music, but I already picked a few artists and studios. I am mainly leaning towards music owned by Creative Commons (Mainly looking into the composer Scott Buckley), Audiomachine, and Eternal Eclipse.

After listening to the original score by Alex North, I can't help but agree with Kubrick. Although North's music is not bad, it does lack the grandeur and spectacle that 2001 has; with the score sounding more like something to be put under a Stephen Spielberg film. There is an aspect that the old classicals had, like some sort of magic that could keep the viewers entertained and enraptured by the notes. And just like how Stanley Kubrick said in his interview "However good our best film composers may be, they are not a Beethoven, a Mozart or a Brahms". 

Ad Astra; opening analysis

 Ad Astra (opening)

Ad Astra is about a man who ventures into space to find out what has happened to his father, and to find possible alien life. What differentiates this movie to others like First Man is that its about the complexity and inner conflict within the main character, while First Man is a historical retelling of an actual person and retells the events leading up to the moon walking.

In this opening, we are not treated with a grand or intense opening like in 2001 and First Man. Instead we get the melancholy inner thoughts of the main character. The protagonist does not look happy, a far cry from the space race when people and astronauts alike were incredibly enthusiastic about space exploration. Here we see a character who does not look pleased with his life, only putting up a smile so that others does not disturb him or his work. 

This movie is specifically focused on the main character, portrayed by Brad Pitt, who shut himself off to the rest of the world, and would rather find his purpose elsewhere while the ever expanding universe strengthens the connections he had. This movie is more aligned with 2001, it being not just a space movie about "Man goes to Jupiter" or "Man goes out to find his father". It is rooted in a more deeper meaning than that.

I love it when sci-fi movie's environments and settings are used to fuel the deeper meaning within the protagonist, illustrating they are just a spec, a single story in a vast world: Like Blade Runner and Stalker and Space Man. 

For my film opening, I want it to have that same existentialism: the loneliness knowing that one's story does not matter to the infinite universe. Since I am only doing a two minute opening, the first thing I want to do is to show my character as a dot compared to the vast void of space. 

First Man; Opening analysis

 First Man (Opening)

First Man is a historical fiction movie, meaning it should be mainly realistic and true to the real life events it is based off. But there are times in this movie when it is being dramatic, not accurate to history, to show how risky the process of space exploration was during the first years of NASA. 

Such as this scene here. Armstrong, the astronaut piloting the plane, is shown being shaken a ton by the flight. But in real life, this did not happen. Armstrong only felt a bit of turbulence when he bounced off the atmosphere but since he is in a bullet plane, he would not have felt much vibrations. As explained here by Chris Hadfield, an actual astronaut. "And the vibration, there's so much little rattly vibration. Where's that coming from?"

Not to mention that clouds do not appear at 45,000 ft as shown in this clip. So this scene is not really realistic, but it does illustrate how crazy and dangerous it was being a test pilot back during the 60s. Remember these men were using technology that was not fully ensured if it would work properly, all while piloting a ship that the they do not know if it is going to shatter or not. 

2001 and First Man is realistic in its approach to space and scientific topics, and do not shy away from exemplifying certain aspects it wants to make clear to the audience. I definitely want to lean toward the realistic side for my film, mainly combining the the roughness and uncertainty of First man, and the grand magnum opus 2001 shows itself as. 

I really like this opening because it is the opposite of what is done for 2001. While 2001 used grand music that tilts up to reveal the silhouettes of the Sun and Earth, First Man barely has any music at all in its opening. First Man's intro is mainly occupied by diegetic audio. Also the intro takes place on the surface of the Earth while 2001 is an extreme wide shot of the planet instead. I love the contrast between these two movies because they both show the fantasy vs reality of space: how beautiful yet dangerous the unknown is. 

Establishing a schedule

 This will be my timeline for what I am going to do each week for my project. 

Overall Plan

These are the major aspects of each week of my project

1st and 2nd Week: Initial research

• Skim and brainstorm ideas and genres
• Research film openings of my chosen genre
• Create schedule

3rd Week: Planning

• Storyboarding
• Create a supply list (Shop for the materials needed for this project)
• Find music
• Find possible sound effects, and plan for specific foley sounds (If needed)
• Sketch a layout for the set design 

4th and 5th Week: Production

• Create and prepare the set
• Filming (Animating) 
• Recording foley (if needed)
• Revise completed film

6th and 7th Week: Reflection 

• Research info related to the reflection and CCR
• Create final reflection
• Review CCR

Timeline (Time breakdown)

1st Week (1/21-1/25)

• Project start
• Research genres

2nd Week (1/26-2/1)

• Create schedule
• Test film?
• Final decision

3rd Week (2/2-2/8)

• Storyboard
• sketching
• Supply list

4th and 5th Week (2/9-2/21)

• Create the set
• Filming/animating

6th and 7th Week (2/22-2/28)

• Research reflection
• Finish final reflection