Assign 10: 3 types of OTS

•By:

•Will

•Alistair

•Connor

We were really inspired by the following OTS:

•The Walking Dead

•Dexter

•The Last of Us

The Walking Dead• It’s a non-linear OTS because:

-It is introducing the setting to the audience and it could bring narrative enigmas to the audience such as; Where are the people?

• The OTS prepares for the programme by: -Establishing the setting, the sub-genre and the themes of the programme. -Themes include: death, danger, conflict and survival.

• Narrative within the OTS include: -Where are the humans? -What has happened to the human race? -What do the establishing shots want us to see?

• It mostly supports forms and/or conventions of the genre because: -A non-linear title sequence is common with zombie horror films/programmes -It introduces the main characters of the story -The audience do not know what there is to come in the story (it gives nothing away to the audience)

Answers continued

• Characters represented? -No characters have been represented in this OTS

• Why there is no representation of the characters? -The OTS does not want to give too much away to the audience -Creates more narrative enigmas

• The OTS presents credits and the main title by: -Using the rule of thirds -Small font size for actors and production company, large font size for the title -White font makes the text stand out more from darker backgrounds, black font makes the text stand out from lighter backgrounds -No credits are placed in the centre of each shot, this is so it won’t distract the audience from the establishing shots -Title appears word by word. It is large as it is more important to the audience and it stands out clearly from the dark background

Effective shots in OTS

The placement of the title doesn’t distract the audience from the deserted streets of

the city

Empty streets/roads can connotea sign of loneliness and can make

the audience feel at unease becausethey will not know what could

appear in the streets at any randommoment in the programme

The use of a filter on this shot can createnarrative enigmas to the audience because

it is unclear on what the dark liquid on the floor is

The blurred edges of the frame allow the audience tofocus more on the centre of the composition which ismore in focus than the rest of the shot since it is more

important to the audience as it carries more of an effectto the shot

Use of low key artificiallighting makes the setting darker and can connote a

sign of danger to the audienceas dark places can often mean

something could be there

Use of mise-on-scene of the papers onthe floor could tell the audience that

there was chaos (something has happened)and has caused the setting to become

deserted

Sped up shots can show theaudience how empty the settingis for the programme. Narrative

enigmas such as “Where iseveryone?” could arise by using

this type of editing

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The use of blood and the birdseating the flesh of an animal cantell the audience that there will

be scenes of blood, guts and gorethroughout the programme

The fact that the animal is lying on the roaddead could connote death within the

programme

The use of a long shot to establish a scene iseffective because it can tell the audience why

the city in the background is deserted; everyone wanted to leave the city for some

reason. This reason is unknown to theaudience and this will make them want to watch

the programme so they can find out what happened

The font size used for the title shows the audiencehow important it is compared to the rest of the

credits used in the OTS

The colour of the font allows the font title to stand out from the darker background The filter used on the shot makes the

image look run down and worn out. This links to the setting of the OTS as the streetsand buildings look as if they are run down

so this effect is relevant and effective to use

DEXTER

• The OTS in Dexter is Linear and symbolic. Linear because it flows from one sequence to the next simultaneously, it also symbolic because a lot of the scenes in the OTS represent a lot of the themes in the series.

• The OTS prepares the audience for the programme by setting up the series and tells us a lot about the main protagonist and the themes.

• Narrative enigmas throughout the OTS include: Who is he? Why does his normal everyday activities connote different things? Why are his activities observed so close up?

• Certain serial killer movies and TV shows such as Se7en have very detailed opening title sequences that reveal a lot about the characters within the show/film.

• The main protagonist ‘Dexter’ is represented through a number of symbolic actions throughout the sequence

• I think it was important for them to do this as it sets the scene for the show and gives you a brief glimpse of what you are about to watch. I also think that doing this makes the audience appreciate the personality and the characteristics of ‘Dexter’ and how he is different from everyday people.

• The OTS uses depth of field to pull in and out of focus during certain scenes of the title sequence. This turns the viewers attention from one thing to another, and is often used to emphasize certain things. Also, no credits are placed in the center of each shot, this is so it won’t distract the audience from the establishing shot.

Effective Shots in the OTS The depth of field

technique is used here to not only distinguish

between Dexter and the mosquito, but to also show the swiftness of

death along with blood. This gives us an idea

that the themes throughout the series

are to do with death and gore.

Also if you look closely, you can see that Dexter is smiling

after he has killed the mosquito. This gives us a key bit of information regarding

Dexter’s character and reinforces his character as

basically, a bloodthirsty serial-killer, but on a much

smaller scale.

The methodical and technically skilled side of

Dexter’s character is portrayed using these shots of the orange being cut into. You can see below the fine

cut and the technique used is similar to that of an

experienced knife wielder. This gives us our first glimpse

of the skill and experience Dexter has had at chopping

things up, namely flesh.The gore aspect of the series is again

reinforced as we see the juice of the

orange shoot out. This connotes the blood spatter that

will no doubt be ever present in the series.

Dexter’s identity

The ruthless and aggressive side comes out in Dexter’s character during these two

scenes. In these scenes Dexter is just about to tie his

shoes and floss, but the force he is applying and the

tension in his hands can imply that he is strangling

someone.Also, the fact that these things are being

implied during such mundane activities

shows that this ruthlessness is

embedded into his DNA, rather than he

has just got into it. This tells us that his dark

side is a massive part of his character and it

wears off on everything he does.

Dexter’s identity pt2

To reinforce this point I can use these three scenes to show, again, how his

serial killer identity rubs off on everything he does. The multiple

cracks in the egg show his power and efficiency and connotes broken bones. The two scenes below show his love of

domination and his controlling personality. This is conveyed by

showing how the downward movement of his hand crushes the coffee beans, which implies he is

always in control of the lives of his victims. It also implies that he is

always one step ahead and never out of his depth.

Dexter’s identity pt3

Again, these scenes reinforce this point. We can see below the way he squeezes the orange against the juicer shows the inside of the fruit falling out. This easily implies guts spilling out of a stomach.

This is the same with the second orange scene, where the remnants of the orange is lying on a table. It shows the trauma the orange has been through and for a

second time uses the mundane everyday activity of juicing an orange to mask

Dexter’s dark side. Another scene where this is apparent is the scene where he cuts up the bacon in the packet. The

combination of these everyday normal activities combined with the execution of

a bloodthirsty serial killer gives us this sense of him hiding in plain sight, and

trying desperately to keep his dark passenger hidden, but at the end of the day you can’t hide who you are forever and that becomes evident with the little

details shown in these scenes.

Dexter’s identity pt4

The theme of gore is a mainstay throughout the Opening Title Sequence. Again, it conforms to my

earlier argument in the last couple of slides about

Dexter’s dark side being hidden in mundane

activities. As well as this though normal things like Tomato sauce and drips of

blood are used just to reiterate the main themes of the series as well as increase

the feeling of unnatural normality when we see

blood.

Themes

Lastly, the title and the credits combine with the activities taking place which again heightens the feeling of normality with blood.

The ‘Dexter’ title gives us a bit of information about his character, everything in Dexter’s world is

blurred and uncertain but the one thing that has remained a

constant throughout his life is his love of blood and violence, and this is outlined by the bold and

sharp bloodstained title accompanied by a blurred

background. The subtlety of this makes the scene even more

effective as it builds on Dexter’s hidden identity.

Title and Credits

The Last of Us

What type of ots is it?

• The OTS to the Last of Us is both non-linear and symbolic. It’s non-linear as it shows the audience a montage of how fast the virus can spread.

• It also symbolises that the events will be focused around the virus and how it devastated the human population. The purpose of this is to frighten but inform the audience.

How does the OTS prepare the audience for what to come?

• The OTS prepares for the game as it informs the audience what has happened, the consequences and which direction the events that occur are going in.

It creates narrative enigmas such as:

How did it occur?

How many survivors are there?

What is left of Earth?

Forms and conventions of the genre.

• Symbolic opening title sequences aren’t usual for sub-genres.

• It gives us no location so we don’t know where the events will take place or if the virus has hit most or all of earth.

• There’s no characters, action or bodies being shown but we know it’s there thanks to the news reports keeping the audience informed of the casualties and the consequences of the outbreak.

• The names of the cast and crew are slightly bigger than the role so it catches the eye of the audience first and so they get credit for the production.

Forms and conventions

• The OTS reinforces aspects such as death, chaos, danger and survival.

• The OTS presents credits and the title by using the rule of thirds. The title is in black and white and slowly fades in so it stands out from the background, grabbing the attention of the audience immediately.

• The whole OTS is in black and white. This was done to clearly show how fast the virus can spread by making the virus white and the background black.

What I enjoyed about the OTS

• I enjoyed the use of sound e.g. the news reports and the use of carpuntal sound as the news reports and the sirens in the background emphasise chaos and lack of control. Whereas the carpuntal sound is something you wouldn’t expect.

• You would alternatively expect something more intense or dramatic to signify to the audience that this virus is serious.

• I enjoyed the different camera angles and shots to accurately and successfully show the progression of the virus to keep the audience entertained.

• The title of the game is announced at the start of the OTS. The use of black and white helps the title of the game stand out from the background as well as making it bright and bold.

•The OTS shows the spread progression of the virus by editing the speed of the shots, suggesting that the virus is fast spreading and contagious.

• The role of the crew member is smaller than the name of the person that did the role as it’s more important.

• It stands out from the background, doesn’t get in the way of the virus moving about so the audience can focus on all of it and so it catches the eye of the audience first. It also allows them to get credit for their work.

• The OTS uses the rule of thirds when it comes to text and credit as it’s easy for the audience to read and they can focus on everything that’s going on in that shot due to it being easy to notice.