Institution research

Hammer Films Productions 

What they specialize in:

Hammer Films is a British film production company based in London and the company specializes in Gothic "Hammer Horror" films. They are mostly known for a series of horror films they made from the mid 1950's until the 1970's. They also even produced science fiction, thrillers, film-noir, comedies and later on even created TV series. They even began to dominate the horror film market.

Their ideology/mission statement:

Hammer studios were classified as a "major force" in the British cinema industry during the early 1950's and they marked a reaction directly to post-war optimism and the rise of a conservative political system. They also represented alternative strategies that were in opposition to the realist tendencies of common British cinema. Hammer's revitalization of the British Gothic horror tradition marked a necessary shift in national cultural identity, effectively enabling ideological opposition. Their main aim was to revitalize British Gothic Horror and make it the biggest selling genre of film.

Does this fit with your ideas?

This partly fits in with our idea because we have planned a traditional "Gothic Horror" which Hammer studios really focused on. Also I film isn't very similar to current common horror films that exist. So therefore it might be unusual to see.

Is your film institution mainstream or indie?

Hammer studios is a mainstream institution, however they are not really known because of the film genre they produce are not as popular like actions or comedy's. But they still do have quite a large budget when it comes to making their films and to people who know the genre well, this institution is easily recognizable.

Warner Brothers Pictures

What the specialize in:

Warner Brothers Pictures is a production company based in America which specialize in a range of differant genres of films from cartoons to horrors. They produce, distribute and license everything across all media platforms from TV programme's to movies.

Their ideology/mission statement:

Warner brothers are dedicated to producing a variety of different films with different genres aiming at a range of different ages and audiences because they want everyone to enjoy the world of film, no matter what entertains you as an audience.

Does this fit with your ideas?

In some ways this does fit with my idea because they have been involved with quite a few horror productions like "Orphan" and "Friday the 13th" and they are very well known and do appeal to a lot of audiences. Therefore they could help us appeal to our audience and maybe even some other audiences that usually would not watch Gothic Horrors as well. 

Is your film institution mainstream or indie?

Warner Brothers Pictures are a mainstream institution that are well known for a lot of productions from cartoons horror films. They globally known for the mainstream films they produce for example they are well known for their "Harry Potter" franchise or "The Hobbit" franchise they produced as well, So they are well known and have the reputation to prove their success. 

Comparison between the two:

Overall both institutions are good, they both are very professional. However they both have differences which stand out when thinking about my film idea, for example Hammer Studios specialize in Gothic horror whereas Warner Brothers Pictures are more wider with their films and productions, but Warner Brothers is more widely known and arguably more successful than Hammer because of their status within the film industry. Overall however, i would pick Hammer Studios because they specialize in Gothic horror films and are very successful with their productions and they know how to appeal to my target audience of Gothic horror fans.

Title sequence analysis

Why do films have Title Sequences?

Films and TV programme's have title sequences because it allows them to show the title of their production, who it was directed by and written by, any main actors within the film/TV programme.

Why are they useful?

They are useful because they allow features of the film to be shown like the genre and sometimes, the characters and settings within the films. They also allow the main actors to be shown before the end credits so the audience know who is in the film before watching the end credits.

"The Shining"

http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/the-shining/

After watching the title sequence, timeline that was created;

The Shining is a film directed by Stanley Kubrick that was released in the 1980's. Throughout the title sequence we see a range of different shots like long shots of the setting and weather and tracking shots of the car travelling along the road. This title sequence is effective because we get long shots which show the audience the setting of a desolate are surrounded by mountains, rivers and one long winding road so the area where the movie takes place is clear because of how much it is shown within the titles. The use of the repetitive deep-toned trumpet from the start to finish is effective because it shows the audience that this is a dark film because the tone is low down and slow instead of upbeat and cheerful.

"Signs"

http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/signs/

After watching the title sequence, timeline that was created;

Signs was a film directed by M. Night Shyamalan which was released in 2002. The title sequence within this film doesn't really show a lot about the film itself and there is no clue as to setting and characters within this because it is all blue and black backgrounds. However this title sequence is also good. At the beginning of the sequence, music starts to play but starts to get louder and faster. This is effective because its the same type of music that is used when someone is following someone else getting closer and closer to them to cause harm to them. The effects used in the title sequence to switch between titles is also useful because the titles suddenly appear on your screen and then fade out which suggests that there will be some sudden shock scenes or scenes that will make the audience jump in this movie and also suggests that the genre of this movie may be a bit dark  instead of happy and cheerful.

"The Conjuring"

http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/the-conjuring/

After watching the title sequence, timeline that was created;

The Conjuring is a horror film that was directed by a man named James Wan and released in 2013. The title sequence for this film is very good and really does clearly show the genre of the film. The music used in this title sequence is low pitched, slow paced and quiet which really creates a spooky and uneasy atmosphere and this helps portray the genre of the film as well. The images used within the background are all old photos of different family's and old newspapers, locations and events. This is useful because it helps show the setting of the film which is useful because it gives the audience the information about the film before it actually starts.

Summary:

Overall all three of these title sequences all have differences and similarities, they all have different backgrounds, different fonts and different edits. However, they all show the main actors, Director and other important people at the start, they also give off hints to the genre in one way or another either with the music they use, the colours, or the editing. Overall the one i enjoyed the most was The Conjuring title sequence because it all flowed together nicely, it really showed the genre well as well as covering the setting, time and main actors involved and the music worked really well. When it comes to my title sequence, i would aim to create the same type of creepy and uneasy atmosphere as they did because it really provoked the horror genre just by watching the title sequence because of the sounds, editing and shots photo effects they used.