editing Indie Film Opening Titles Are The Worst In Film

Modern Day Myth Prod. LLC

Modern Day Myth Prod. LLC

If you follow Sheri Chandler on Google Plus and LinkedIn, today she made an interesting post about Indie Filmmakers have the worst opening titles of anyone. They neither understand the importance nor take the time to make attractive opening titles.

Reading posts of some of the people here on their attitudes on opening titles just because some film festivals may not understand the importance as well is something that needs to be corrected.

Two of my former colleagues who made a film that I was an associate producer on made a 16 mm black and white film that won nothing in film festivals got them a lot of work making opening titles for other productions for several years after their film was seen in festivals.

So, let's stop this nonsense that opening titles aren't important. They are. They may not be important to film festivals. But, they are important to money people.

Every now and then, I get emails from TV Networks with job openings for editors and visual effects artists who can make titles that can "Wow" a network.

Don't put people down here who are interested in making opening titles that are great. Encourage them instead to make something spectacular.
 
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Cracker Funk said:
I never said anything about ordering take-out. My menu wasn't created for those customers. ;)
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curb side pickup actually ;)
FYI your whole 'dine in' analogy certainly is not doing much against the argument that opening credits aren't pretentious. probably the most pretentious argument i've ever heard :lol:


but yes.. i'm sure if that star wars film trilogy had a bunch of opening credits it probably would have taken off in popularity
 
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For short films, I don't care that much. Nice title. (better title, if you're shopping it.) Credits should go at the end.

For features, I like to introduce the musical theme of the movie and set the tone. That's the composer/music fan part of me that pushes for that.
 
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Fine, allow me to serve you your Coca Cola, followed by a side salad with extra ranch dressing, and then a well-done cheeseburger with American cheese and extra ketchup. You should eat what you like and I sincerely don't begrudge you for that.

Meanwhile, just a couple tables away from you, a lovely young couple really seems to be enjoying the heck out of their sazerac and cucumber gimlet, and you couldn't imagine the looks on their faces when their pimento cheese dip arrives.

Sazerac

Cucumber gimlet

By the way, the longest running film series is one that is known for its opening title sequences. If Bond were here, he would be tempted to shoot you in the face with bullets-from-boobies, or some other trippy imagery. ;)
 
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Cracker Funk said:
Fine, allow me to serve you your Coca Cola, followed by a side salad with extra ranch dressing, and then a well-done cheeseburger with American cheese and extra ketchup. You should eat what you like and I sincerely don't begrudge you for that.

Meanwhile, just a couple tables away from you, a lovely young couple really seems to be enjoying the heck out of their sazerac and cucumber gimlet, and you couldn't imagine the looks on their faces when their pimento cheese dip arrives.

Sazerac

Cucumber gimlet

By the way, the longest running film series is one that is known for its opening title sequences. If Bond were here, he would be tempted to shoot you in the face with bullets-from-boobies, or some other trippy imagery. ;)
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Could I get some extra rum in that coke, to compliment my extra ranch and extra ketchup on my extra cooked hamburger. actually skip the side salad, lets go extra fries. I've been packing on the lbs to play a fat cop in one of my upcoming films. and make them extra crispy if it's not too much trouble
 
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It's about presentation. To call opening credits "pretentious," is to be dismissive of a lot of filmmakers. Just because you don't judge a book by it's cover, doesn't mean you don't have a cover, or a cover design. If you don't care about opening titles for youtube shorts because of the prevailing wisdoms, such as "if you have longer opening sequences, less people will watch," etc., then fine, you're making a strategic decision. Somebody else, working on titles, is probably working on their book cover.

I like to spend some time on it, because I look at it as practice. I don't believe that one day when I make my epic, I will suddenly become an expert. I practice to make sure that even in the shorts I think about how I'm going to open, how I'm going to close, etc. I'm not being pretentious at all. I'm just practicing.
 
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Opening titles will be right for some projects and they will be wrong for others. Like everything that goes into a film, this is a creative decision and there's no definitive rule.

I went with pretty colourful and elaborate opening titles for my feature film, but if it had been, for example, a social drama about drug use, then I wouldn't have. It's about feeling it out for yourself and knowing your work, but to say that 'distributors want opening titles!' or 'opening titles always suck!' is looking at art in extremely black and white terms.
 
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an old favorite of mine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqdkDwOY9fw​

and a new favorite
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmRXT7w2C1s​

they're kinda like mini music videos

I do think short indie films should cut to the chase and save credits for the end. maybe a company logo and a quick title of the film, then onto the show.

for indie features, a lot of them are yawn worthy, poorly designed, clunky and get in the way. I'm forever thinking "really? they picked that font? good grief..."

simple credits over an opening scene or sequence can be effective, so you're already watching the film while credits are sprinkled here and there.

everyone's got their approach.
 
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Flicker Pictures said:
for indie features, a lot of them are yawn worthy, poorly designed, clunky and get in the way. I'm forever thinking "really? they picked that font? good grief..."
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Exactly. It's like any other aspect of the filmmaking process - if you can't get it right it'll take away from the experience of your film. When in doubt keeping it simple will minimize the likelihood of that happening. It goes back to what I consider the fundamental maxim of low/no budget filmmaking - don't be distracting.

Cracker Funk said:
Between people who eat out and people who dine, there is no question that the people who dine enjoy themselves more.
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I disagree - some of my most memorable dining experiences have involved little more than a beer & a burger, because the experience can be about a lot more than the food itself. The food is just the 'social object' that the experience unfolds around. For the connoisseur the food itself is a significant part of that experience, whereas for the casual diner the food is just an excuse to get together with friends.

Think of a group of cinephiles going to a Fellini retrospective vs. a group of college kids going to the latest Adam Sandler film. The cinephiles marvel at the art of the film, appreciate the cinematography, the editing, the subtle meanings behind the dialogue, the nuanced performances of the actors. Afterward they discuss and debate all those aspects for hours over cocktails. The college kids don't get any of that stuff watching "Hibbity-Whoo Goes to Washington", but they laugh their asses off from start to finish. Afterwards they continue to laugh their asses off as they quote back stupid jokes from the film to each other over beers at a dive bar.

So which group enjoyed themselves more? Neither one - they both got exactly what they were looking for out of the experience.

In the restaurant biz, the customer chooses how their experience unfolds. In filmmaking, it is the chef who decides. The opening title sequence is the appertif, and chef Joseph feels no shame in forcing my customers to dine, not just eat out.

:D
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So take those same two groups - force the cinephiles to watch Sandler and the college kids to watch Fellini. Now which group do you think will enjoy themselves more? It's a trick question - because the odds are neither one will enjoy it at all. They'll both be bored and feel like they wasted their time and money.

So, as the 'chef' it's certainly your prerogative to decide how you will present the experience to your audience - but it's also their prerogative to get up and leave if you try to force something on them that isn't what they were looking for from the experience. It's better to match the experience you provide to the expectations of your audience and the specific context in which they experience it.

A badly executed title sequence on an independent film at a serious festival is the equivalent of serving microwaved pizza rolls as the appetizer in a fine dining restaurant. If you're lucky you might be able to win them back with your 'entree' if it's exceptionally good, but their memory of the experience will be tainted by the taste of the appetizer. If you're unlucky they may just leave because they'll assume that there's a good chance the entree will be hot pockets. Either way you'd be better off skipping the appetizer all together.

The flip side of that is that if your audience is looking for a quick few minutes of entertainment on youtube to distract them from work you won't want to start by leisurely serving them a sazerac and cucumber gimlet, followed eventually by a pimento cheese dip. They just want a hot pocket, dammit, and they'll click away if that's not what you give them.
 
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Haha, IDOM, you are the master of analogy. Nevertheless, I don't think we're quite on the same page.

The difference between someone who eats out vs someone who truly dines is not dependent on the cuisine they choose. Whether we're talking roast halibut or bbq sliders, either choice of food allows the patron to either rush through their experience, or savor it. I'd be willing to bet that in the scenarios you mentioned, in which some of your best food experiences revolved around sharing time with your friends, you didn't hurry through it (because you were enjoying time with your friends). Same thing goes for movies.

Anyway, we digress a little bit. I don't see an opening title sequence as either necessarily Felini or Sandler. It is neither necessarily a hot pocket, nor fois gras. It is exactly what a filmmaker feels it should be. I think an opening title sequence can work for either audience (for sake of this conversation, we'll continue to pretend that there are only two types of audiences). What works for one might not work for the other, sure that's true.

But isn't the same true of your entire movie?
 
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Flicker Pictures said:
................

for indie features, a lot of them are yawn worthy, poorly designed, clunky and get in the way. I'm forever thinking "really? they picked that font? good grief..."

.........................
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This is the real problem: poorly designed titles showing no clue about design, aka ugly and/or amateuristic.
Not whether or not people think there should by opening titles or not.
 
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Sweetie said:
You're really working under the whole "Production Value" banner. Production value is often a matter of opinion where on the totum pole its value really is... and what resources you have available to you.

Some productions don't like to use titles up front, others do. Does that make one right and the other wrong?

When used right, and in the right place, for the right story, under the right circumstance, you're correct, great looking titles can enhance some films. It doesn't matter how nice the titles look, if they're wrong, inappropriate, they're going to do more harm than good.

There are lots of focuses and areas of specialty in film. This is just one piece of the puzzle. I'd personally rather have a great story than great titles... You may have a different opinion of what is more important.
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Wrong.

Your title and logo are brand labels for your product.

A real producer looks at a film as a product more than a work of art.

The Film and TV Professionals Forums on LinkedIn explain this in various discussions.

Here again,

Your opening title is needed and must be worked into the design of the look of your product.

A graphic designer can help you with an appropriate design for your production.
 
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Sweetie, sorry for rudeness to you too.

In regards to the right font and decorating the font, it is research. Just like many of you research lighting and camera techniques for a period film, do the same with fonts. There are font families and fonts from different time periods.

A graphic designer will do the research and custom make an original font that fits the film, genre, and time period from scratch. They generally show a client three possibilities and lets the client choose their preferance.
 
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Modern Day Myth Prod. LLC said:
Your title and logo are brand labels for your product.

A real producer looks at a film as a product more than a work of art.
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This is entirely dependent upon your goals with a project though. Not all films are products, just as not all films are art. Context is important, and making generalized proclamations about what is and isn't important to a film without taking context into consideration doesn't really help anything.

This is a cool resource that just launched for learning about typography - obviously it'll take more than this to learn how to do a good title sequence, but it's a good place to start if you're interested in understanding the kind of decisions that go into choosing a font for a given design:

http://practice.typekit.com/

It's geared towards web design, but the typography principles they discuss are relevant to any design.
 
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