TW- Analysis of Title Sequence: Watchmen (Snyder-2009)

WATCHMEN (intro) ... by majestic69

Order of opening credits

0.04-0.08 PARAMOUNT PICTURES AND WARNER BROS. PICTURES PRESENT
0.09-0.12 IN ASSOCIATION WITH LEGENDARY PICTURES
0.19-0.22 A LAWRENCE GORDON/LLOYD LEVIN PRODUCTION
0.27-0.30 A ZACK SNYDER FILM
0.40-0.42 WATCHMEN
0.47-0.50 MALIN AKERMAN
1.01-1.05 BILLY CRUDUP
1.06-1.10 MATTHEW GOODE
1.17-1.21 CARLA GUGINO
1.30-1.34 JACKIE EARLE HALEY
1.42-1.46 JEFFREY DEAN MORGAN
1.56-1.59 PATRICK WILSON
2.07-2.11 MATT FREWER
                STEPHEN MCHATTIE
                LAURA MENNELL
2.22-2.26 CASTING BY KRISTY CARLSON, C.S.A
2.45-2.48 VISUAL EFFECTS SUPERVISOR
                 JOHN "DJ" DESJARDIN
2.59-3.02 COSTUMES DESIGNED BY
                MICHEAL WILKINSON
3.15-3.19 MUSIC BY
                TYLER BATES
3.21-3.24 CO-PRODUCER
                WESLEY COLLER
3.33-3.37 EDITED BY WILLIAM HOY, A.C.E.
3.40-3.42 PRODUCTION DESIGNED BY
                ALEX MCDOWELL, RDI
3.51-3.55 DIRECTIOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY LARRY FONG
4.05-4.09 EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS
                HERBERT W. GAINS
                THOMAS TULL
4.17-4.21 PRODUCED BY
                LAWRENCE GORDON
                LLOYD LEVIN
                DEBORAH SYNDER
4.28-4.31 BASED ON THE GRAPHIC NOVEL
                CO-CREATED AND ILLUSTRATED BY DAVE GIBBONS
                AND PUBLISHED BY DC COMICS
4.46-4.48 SCREENPLAY BY
                DAVID HAYTER AND ALEX TSE
5.13-5.18 DIRECTED BY ZACK SNYDER

Typography

• The font is very basic and clear, it is always in capitals, this gives seriousness to the sequence and reflects the action/thriller genres of the film. It is effective in connoting the context of this film as this font is similar to those used in comic books and graphic novels, in which this film was produced from. The names of cast and crew members are almost always bigger in size than their roles and responsibilities in the opening, this is done out of respect and promotion for these people.
• The colour of this font is bright yellow, which stands out to the audience during the titles, this reinforces the previous point and provides an opposition to the visuals provided with the titles, which connote death and crime- which is much more serious and conventional of its thriller genre. This allows it to stand out more to the audience so more attention is paid to them, especially matched with the generally dull colours of the visuals in this opening sequence.
• The positioning differs throughout the sequence and is generally motivated or revealed by movement from mise-en-scene. This means the typography is not set in one place, making it an interesting choice, this also connotes how everything is changing, which is emphasised by the visuals which display a time period of around 40 years, with the dates of events in the sequence constantly changing.
• Animation is used to present these titles, often using special effects such as fades in and out to reinforce connotations of comic book style typography representations.

Relationship of text and visuals 

• I have learnt from this sequence that through the use of typography, you can represent much more than just the cast and crew for the film, that you can analyse what context the film may have come from and how this relates to the films genre. Furthermore, I have learnt how an opposition between text and visuals can intrigue an audience and draw more attention to typography.
• Also, I have learnt how using ways of presenting text matched with captivating visuals can be very effective at establishing a film and its genre and that the typography of an opening in a film does not have to be separate, a storyline can still continue along with typography.

How I can use this

• This sequence has led to me with leading ideas of using typography subtly, whilst continuing the storyline of my sequence as this will allow the group to edit a final clip which contains all the shots and typography our group wants to use, but without the clip being too long.
• For our final piece, our group could also use brightly coloured typography which will catch the eye of the audience, but without distracting them from the mise-en-scene or sound of the opening. This would be effective as connotations can be represented through an extra technical aspect.
• I think that the use of adding typography in post-production which either follows movement or uses subtle a range of different positioning on screen would make our opening look professional, as well as differentiating it from others and making it stand out more.