In class, we were given a task to find an opening sequence from the website 'artofthetitle.com' and to write on our blogs about the opening sequence we chose. Nowadays, the title sequence plays a major role in the film industry, for the creation and final product of making a film. The title sequence can tell you what that particular film is going to be about. The editors use ideas and maybe drawings to pick out how to structure the opening sequence of the film. They can be very unique to their idea and may show a lot of interest to the viewers when they go and watch that film.For this task, I have decided to write about 'This is England' because it is one of my all-time favourite films and it was the only film, listed on art-of-the-title, for which I have seen. The title is very unique in my opinion and also this is an independant film, which shows even though that the film had a small amount of budget, it is very effective.
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In this film, the opening titles appears after Roland Rat speaks in to the microphone and also when the music (genre of ska) starts about 5 seconds in to the opening sequence. This could suggest that the opening sequence grabs the audience by going back in time to the 80's, where Roland Rat was most successful.
The opening sequence also shows memorable people and events of the 1980's, like the creation of
'Space Invaders', Margaret Thatcher and also the wedding of Princess Diana and Prince Charles in 1981. This shows that the film is set in the 1980's due to its selected videos of past events in the decade (The film, in specific, was set in the year 1983) No matter how much violence or conflict was involved in the 1980's e.g.The Minors Strike 1984-85, the film brings back nostalgic memories to mainly adults, who have lived through the 1980's and witnessed these events.
The film is about a group of skinheads (as shown in Shot 6 and 9) proud of being British, who meet a 12 year old boy under a bridge. They feel sympathy for the boy, after he had a fight with a schoolboy named Harvey and the gang invite him to join his group. Skinheads are a subculture that originated among working-class youths in London in the 1960s. They listened to Ska, which from the opening sequence, the genre of music was played during the events of the 1980's.
The movie was on a low budget, which means that they did not have a big amount of money to create an effective film. Because of this, they have kept the title sequence very simple, but however, very effective. It runs smoothly with the visuals, creating this effective, which drew me in to watching this fantastic film. I love the fact they did this, as they used this opening sequence to flow in to the film sufficiently and the way they did this made me think that this is one of the best films I have ever seen.
Timeline - Opening Titles
(Sorry about the quality)
Timeline Order:
0:05 - 'Film4 and the UK Film Council Present'
Music Starts '54-46 That's My Number' by Toots & The Mayhals.
Music Starts '54-46 That's My Number' by Toots & The Mayhals.
0:10 - 'In association with EM Media and Screen Yorkshire'
0:15 - 'A Warp Film Production'
0:20 - 'In association with Big Arty Productions'
0:22 - 'A Shane Meadows Film'
0:33 - 'THIS IS ENGLAND'
0:41 - 'Thomas Turgoose'
Start of Above-the-line talent
Start of Above-the-line talent
0:47 - 'Stephen Graham'
0:53 - 'Jo Hartley'
1:02 - 'Andrew Shim, Vicky McClure'
1:09 - 'Joe Gilgun, Rosamund Hanson'
1:25 - 'Andrew Ellis, Perry Benson, George Newton'
1:32 - 'Frank Harper, Jack O'Connell, Kriss Dosanjn'
1:39 - 'Kieran Hardcastle, Chanel Cresswell, Danielle Watson'
1:45 - 'Sophie Ellerby, Hannah Walters, Michael Socha'
End of Above-the-line talent
2:01 - 'Script Supervisor - Diarmid Scrimshaw', 'Casting - Louise Meadows, Des Hamilton', 'Hair and Make-up Supervisor - Donald McInnes'.
Start of Below-the-line talent
2:09 - 'Costume Designer - Jo Thompson', 'Make-up and Hair Designer - Catherine Scoble', 'Production Designer - Mark Leese'.
2:17 - 'Music Supervisor - John Boughtwood', 'Original Music - Ludovico Einaudi'
2:28 - 'Director of Photography - Danny Cohen'
2:38 - 'Editor - Chris Wyatt'
2:46 - 'Line Producer - Julia Valentine', 'Co-producer - Louise Meadows'
2:53 - 'Executive Producers - Tessa Ross, Peter Carlton, Paul Trijbits'
3:07 - 'Produced by Mark Herbert'
3:17 - 'Written and Directed by Shane Meadows'
End of Below-the-line talent
Fade of Music
The title sequence lasts approximately 3 minutes and 29 seconds.
From my timeline of 'This is England', I noticed that the title sequence went at different speeds between each transition of the opening sequence. I noticed that at the end of the list of 'above-the-line talents', the gap between the previous and the next title is 16 seconds, compared to the normal 8 seconds, suggesting the change between each role. This also happened near the end when the 'Produced by' title appeared 14 seconds after the 'Executive Producers' title, suggesting that the 'Produced by' title is a more important role.
The music played ('54-46 That's My Number' by Toots and the Mayhals) begins as the first title appears 5 seconds in to the opening sequence. It starts off slow and then as the 'THIS IS ENGLAND' title appears, the music starts to kick in and the beat goes faster. '54-46 That's My Number' is a song from the genre of SKA and it relates to this opening sequence because of the characters of the film, which are mainly of the 'Skinhead' subculture and SKA is what the subculture listen to and enjoy the most. As the last title comes in, the music starts to fade and so does the picture, telling us that it is the end of the opening sequence.
The first titles of the opening sequence are the distributors from independent film companies, as this film is known as an 'independent film'. The distributors are 'Film4', 'UK Film Council', 'EM Media', 'Screen Yorkshire', 'Warp Films' and 'Big Arty Productions'. None of these are from the 'BIG 6'.
Following on from the production titles are the above-the-line talent. These include the actors who play the main characters of the film including 'Thomas Turgoose', 'Stephen Graham' and 'Jo Hartley'. These actors are listed each on their own in a title, as they are the most important. The rest of the above-the-line talent are listed in twos or threes, to show low importance. After the above-the line talent, comes the below-the-line talent, starting with the least important roles in the film, such as the costume designer and the director of photography. This follows by the most important roles in the film: the director, the writer and the producer.
1:02 - 'Andrew Shim, Vicky McClure'
1:09 - 'Joe Gilgun, Rosamund Hanson'
1:25 - 'Andrew Ellis, Perry Benson, George Newton'
1:32 - 'Frank Harper, Jack O'Connell, Kriss Dosanjn'
1:39 - 'Kieran Hardcastle, Chanel Cresswell, Danielle Watson'
1:45 - 'Sophie Ellerby, Hannah Walters, Michael Socha'
End of Above-the-line talent
2:01 - 'Script Supervisor - Diarmid Scrimshaw', 'Casting - Louise Meadows, Des Hamilton', 'Hair and Make-up Supervisor - Donald McInnes'.
Start of Below-the-line talent
2:09 - 'Costume Designer - Jo Thompson', 'Make-up and Hair Designer - Catherine Scoble', 'Production Designer - Mark Leese'.
2:17 - 'Music Supervisor - John Boughtwood', 'Original Music - Ludovico Einaudi'
2:28 - 'Director of Photography - Danny Cohen'
2:38 - 'Editor - Chris Wyatt'
2:46 - 'Line Producer - Julia Valentine', 'Co-producer - Louise Meadows'
2:53 - 'Executive Producers - Tessa Ross, Peter Carlton, Paul Trijbits'
3:07 - 'Produced by Mark Herbert'
3:17 - 'Written and Directed by Shane Meadows'
End of Below-the-line talent
Fade of Music
The title sequence lasts approximately 3 minutes and 29 seconds.
From my timeline of 'This is England', I noticed that the title sequence went at different speeds between each transition of the opening sequence. I noticed that at the end of the list of 'above-the-line talents', the gap between the previous and the next title is 16 seconds, compared to the normal 8 seconds, suggesting the change between each role. This also happened near the end when the 'Produced by' title appeared 14 seconds after the 'Executive Producers' title, suggesting that the 'Produced by' title is a more important role.
The music played ('54-46 That's My Number' by Toots and the Mayhals) begins as the first title appears 5 seconds in to the opening sequence. It starts off slow and then as the 'THIS IS ENGLAND' title appears, the music starts to kick in and the beat goes faster. '54-46 That's My Number' is a song from the genre of SKA and it relates to this opening sequence because of the characters of the film, which are mainly of the 'Skinhead' subculture and SKA is what the subculture listen to and enjoy the most. As the last title comes in, the music starts to fade and so does the picture, telling us that it is the end of the opening sequence.
The first titles of the opening sequence are the distributors from independent film companies, as this film is known as an 'independent film'. The distributors are 'Film4', 'UK Film Council', 'EM Media', 'Screen Yorkshire', 'Warp Films' and 'Big Arty Productions'. None of these are from the 'BIG 6'.
Following on from the production titles are the above-the-line talent. These include the actors who play the main characters of the film including 'Thomas Turgoose', 'Stephen Graham' and 'Jo Hartley'. These actors are listed each on their own in a title, as they are the most important. The rest of the above-the-line talent are listed in twos or threes, to show low importance. After the above-the line talent, comes the below-the-line talent, starting with the least important roles in the film, such as the costume designer and the director of photography. This follows by the most important roles in the film: the director, the writer and the producer.
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