Week Seven: Feel the Motion of the Ocean!

Okay, so I stole my title from a Hairspray song, sue me... Please don't actually.. I just didn't know how to go about introducing Motion Graphics, the topic I decided to discuss further this week.

Motion Graphics is a bit tricky to discuss overall so I decided to focus in more on movie/TV show branding and title sequences, which is mostly what we talked about in class.

Movies and TV shows are very brand-oriented. You wouldn't think it to watch them on their own, but if you've anticipated the release of a new season or flick, you've probably taken in more movie brand marketing than you'd think! The idea behind a movie or TV show brand is to make the audience associate an identity with your show/movie through repeating imagery and sound related to it.

Why is branding important to a movie or TV show? Think about it, how many movies have you been to where you haven't had a pre-conceived notion of how it was going to be? I can't even remember, it's been so few. A number of factors affect how you think of a movie/TV show: who's acting in it, who's directing it, who wrote it, what genre it is (or is marketed as, because they're not always the same!) and what other people say about it. And this is before you've even seen it! A filmmaker can choose to market their film by showing you exactly what it's about to try to appeal to a specific target audience, or they can tease you (hence coining the term 'teaser' for initial movie trailers) into going to the movie/watching the show to find out more.

Title sequences are the the last influential factor on your perception of a movie/TV show before the show itself. It's usually the time the filmmaker either sets the record straight or leaves you wondering and wanting more. In the case of a series of films, it's the time when the filmmaker is trying to reiterate and emphasize the brand so you continue to associate with it. Just look at opening sequences from movie series like James Bond:

or any Guy Ritchie:

film where the design elements and music style (sometimes tune) are repeated to the point of being almost identical per movie, so that there's no possible way you *couldn't* associate them (do you think all the different Bonds had to practice that walk?). You'll know in the first minute of the movie if it's a James Bond or Guy Ritchie film if you'd ever seen one before. The repetitive elements (Hey! A CRAP theory!) are a big part of sustaining brand identity in series.

This works the same way in TV series, even moreso because you'll be seeing the same title sequence every week, waiting for your show to start. This has posed a particular problem for the people who make these shows, because they either have to come up with something entertaining and memorable, change it enough (but not too much!) to keep it entertaining each week or simply choose not to do it at all. Because attention spans are getting shorter these days, more and more shows are opting out of the title sequence so they can get straight to the action (Heroes for example). It almost seems like we're reverting back to the days before Saul Bass (one of the first title sequence creators, see: Psycho) to a time where we don't need title sequences.


Personally, I loved rocking out to the Third Watch credits

back when this show was on, and I'm sad to see so many titles going extinct. That's not to say that the "straight-to-the-action" openers are bad See: Dark Knight,

I know it's bad quality, but you should have seen it by now anyway), just different. Some TV shows like ER switched from having full-fledged credits

to Heroes-esque openings; making me feel like I lost something in the process. You don't realize how much the credits of a show affect your enjoyment of it until you have to go without.

What exactly do title credits do for a show/movie, besides reinforce a brand identity? They can set the tone of the flick, like this Dawn of the Dead one does. I love this title sequence because it takes a lot of existing stock footage mixed with fabricated footage adding a touch of typographic elements and putting it all to a Johnny Cash tune to create an eerie feel for the film. Horror/thriller movies usually have great title sequences to produce this exact effect; they want to give you a certain feeling (usually creepy-crawly) before the movie's even started. Title sequences can also provide a backstory or foreshadowing. In the case of Se7en it does both!

I don't want to give too much away, but the imagery you're seeing is of a person you don't meet until the last quarter of the film, and the backstory to some of his character. On that note, another thing title sequences can do is introduce you to the characters. In Guy Ritchie's films, this is essential since he always has at least 10 major characters you need to try to remember throughout the movie. They can also just confuse the hell out of you like Fight Club.


I've given you a lot to chew over in this blog post, so let me summarize. Branding in movies/TV shows is important to develop an audience relationship with a film. It can be achieved in many ways, but a large part is in opening title sequences. Title sequences can be repetative in terms of movie series and TV shows, or they can not exist at all, to better serve the attention deficit audience. Title sequences do more than just provide a brand for a type of film/show, they can also set the tone, provide backstory or foreshadowing, introduce characters, or just be mind-bendingly confusing.

I bet you won't be able to watch a movie/show without noticing its title sequences (or lack thereof) now!

Till next time!