Credits Research

For this task, I looked at two opening sequences - Step Up (First Image) and The Dark Knight (Second Image). They are both openings for drama movies, which means they would have similar conventions and a certain theme. The first thing that I noticed was that they had quite simple fonts, relying on the content showing to make the scenes and the names memorable. Both sequences were action packed and had a build up of their own to show how intense and thrilling the movie would be. In the Step Up one, we see a lot of dancing and deep contrast between the two social groups, hinting on how the conflict in this movie would be binary opposition - driven. Even though The Dark Knight opening relies on visuals created by CGI, it succeeds to build up tension through the music and the type of animation we are introduced to, which is made to mainly compliment the titles. What surprised me during my research is that different titles had certain pauses between displaying the next name - depending on the importance of the role they are crediting. Names were mentioned in certain order and smaller actors and crew members were mentioned in groups. The difference between the two opening sequences is that In the Step Up one, we had the name of the movie in the beginning, to give a good introduction to the scene and start it off, while in The Dark Knight, where the action and tension was a main theme, the title of the film was mentioned as the thing the audience has been brought on their toes for. Soundtrack was another important key in the opening sequences, as it sets a tone to the scene and for the whole movie. The music in Step Up stays the same throughout the whole opening, telling us that the film would be quite simple and one track minded. The Dark Knight, however, has a lot of music changes, different moods and tones, setting the audience up for an intense,complex and layered storyline.