Grease Title sequence..
In order to analyse the opening sequence of Grease the musical, directed by Randal Kleiser and released in 1978. I will look at the different elements and try and establish how they are used to set up character, narrative and genre.
The music for the opening sequences was sung by Frankie Valli, which was a number one hit. This theme of song helps to establish the funky type of genre (romantic Rom com) which grease is. This song was successfully marketed and was a big hit in the charts. The lyrics jump along in a quick motion which gives the musical a quirky feeling. The song also shows that characters in Grease are finding out who they are in the film due to the lyrics, “There is a chance that we can make it so far, and we start believing now that we can be who we are”. This helps us to get an idea of who some of the characters may be in the musical.
I deeply believe that the mise en scene plays a big part in establishing the tone and genre, as well as the lead character in the musical. At the start Danny the main male character is represented as an animated school / college boy, he is used to show representation of a teenager, as he wakes up in a messy room and slowly crawls out of bed to have a wash and clean his teeth. This is then shown as dominant ideology as quite a few people think of teenagers as being messy and lazy. Danny also shows attitude as when he arrives at the mirror in his bathroom he pushes everything off his sink onto the floor. He then styles his hair in mirror; this is then seen as a teenage interest as most teenagers like to look their best. Further in into the title sequence after Danny has been introduced to the audience, Sandy is then introduced, as she also awakes, although from a very tidy room, with a grand double four poster bed, she then sweeps across her room to sit herself down on her dressing table. Sandy is shown as a completely different character to Danny as her possessions seem very expensive and fresh. Animals also appear in her room, which she seems pleasantly surprised by, this then represents Sandy as a calm, polite, mature young teenage girl.
Throughout the title sequence the costume stays the same for most of the characters, pretty much teenage casual for males and females, with the males in leather black jackets, with the females in casual long tops and trousers. Although Sandy seems to be slightly different in what she wears she seems to wear outfits which make her look more sophisticated. When the characters seem to be travelling in the cars, they seem to be quite laid back with a chilled attitude. This then enters us into the teen world.
The animation technique works really well to show the title sequence of Grease as its fun and different to other musical openings. This technique allows the director to simplify and mute the colours, making it graphically pleasing to the audience. This also fits in well with working with the characters as teenagers around that time would have been into comics and animated drawings.
Many interesting camera movements were used, such as fading into certain objects, as well as zooming in and out. Although most of the time an establishing shot is used to show where the characters are. In this case they show that they are in the bedroom, but as the title sequence goes on a tracking shot is used for when the cars are moving down the road. Some other effects had been added such as slide and push edits, these are then more adventurous and are pleasing to the eye, which then grabs attention to the audience.
An obvious key feature for a title sequence is the credits. In Grease these are brought in as bubble written letters, continuing the funky teenage theme, and very much like a teenage doodle. Effects have been added to make the credits be on objects in the background for instance they end up on, advertising boards in the background of the frame. They are put there to stand out, as well as the camera movement of zooming is used to zoom onto the credits. These techniques are satisfying for the viewers and help integrate the title sequence into the film.
The sound of music title sequence..
In order to analyse the opening sequence of The sound of music the musical, with music by Richard Rodgers and directed by Robert Wise, as well as released in 1965. I will look at the different elements and try and establish how they are used to set up character, narrative and genre.
The music chosen for the opening sequence is by Richard Rodgers. It helps us to get an idea of what the musical may be about, as the music is fairly happy and very calm and relaxing, it may give us an idea that there could be romance in the musical. With no lyrics within the soundtrack there are no words in which we can relay back to, in which they may mean something within the musical. As in some title sequences the soundtrack lyrics may mean something to get the audience thinking about the musical, and what may be occurring in it. Throughout the title sequence the soundtrack consists of three different songs, this may be showing that as it changes the song more often than not at all, it suggests that there could be alot of singing and alot of music within the musical itself.
Although I believe that the mise en scene plays the most important part in establishing the tone and genre, at the start of the title sequence, there is a lady, who looks like a maid of some kind. She is spreading her arms out in a huge field with mountains around her, this may represent woman as being free to do as they like, although this musical was made in 1965 and that wouldn’t have been the case there and then. On the other hand , straight after there is a mid- shot of one of the characters looking smart in a suit , he almost looks slightly distracted in the shot , This may suggest that something may happen in the musical , in which it distracts him. Sooner after this, a long shot appears with seven children all standing in a line together in matching clothing. This most likely makes the audience think that the children are all either at the same school, or maybe they are all family members. Where the children are stood there appears to be a grand staircase behind them. This may mean that the children’s relatives are well off.
The costumes of the characters all vary , as they are all different ages , although the age of clothing seems to be quite old , this would then show us from the title sequence that the musical has had to of been set a while ago. The children’s costume, seem to look posh and sophisticated for their age, this is more than likely to suggest, that the children have money from somewhere in their family as in the last shot there is a massive mansion.
The techniques of the credits give off a plain and simple vibe, in which they don’t seem to be on any objects in the background. They seem to be on a push or slide effect in which they come on the screen whenever. Although , on the other hand , about halfway through there is a tracking shot in which the credits are moving along the screen with the camera this is a nice effect , as it is pleasing to the eye and catches attention from the audience. There are not many adventurous angles, but the ones used are enough to make the title sequence look appealing.
