The Jacket title sequence
TITLE
The Jacket
TAGLINE
Have you seen my jacket?
GENRE
Drama/comedy
ONE SENTENCE STORY OUTLINE (LOGLINE)
A hungover partygoer searches for his missing jacket, fighting his hangover and patchy memory of the night before.
SYNOPSIS
Artie wakes up severely hungover the day after a party, realising that he is missing his jacket, along with the number of his dream girl, written on a scrap of paper inside the pocket of the jacket. With his throbbing head and patchy memory of the previous night, he struggles to remember where his jacket is. Throughout the day he manages to figure out that the jacket is at the house of Vincent, who is angry at Artie and will not hand over the jacket willingly. Will Artie get the jacket back? Or will he lose his dream girl forever?
Planning
visual reference items
After reading the synopsis I have had many ideas of what kind of title sequence I could create. The first place I went looking for inspiration was the Hangover movies. It has a very similar concept as The Jacket and I figured it would be a good place to start. Moreover, I checked out some of the greatest animated title sequences such as Bojack horsmens, James Bond and Grease. These movies all have similar themes of drama or comedy and are all animated. Bond's sequences aren't really what I had in mind as it's not a comedy or drama, however, it is an excellent visual reference point of what an animated title sequence should portray.
StoryBoard
Before I started to create my storyboard I sat down and went over the task with my tutor as although my references were great intros, none of them worked with the film. From this discussion, I was able to compile my thoughts together and start to brainstorm a couple of ideas. Thanks to my tutor I was able to see another side of how to approach this task, while still keeping it mystery-themed.
Starting off my storyboard, I wanted to visually show what was going to happen in the film. Hence, I started with a beer bottle falling over and spilling everywhere. This is to insinuate that there has been drinking and a party going on. Moving on, the third to fifth scenes are following a dotted line like a map, explaining that the main character will be travelling to different places and meeting other characters. Being the main part of the intro sequence here is where I plan to introduce all of the cast members and the location of the film. Having each introduction as a location on a map or as photos placed next to the steps. Following on, the dots proceed to form into a question mark, with the jacket in the middle. Clearly showing that the main character is looking for his lost jacket. Finally, it ends with the title of the film "The Jacket". The plan I have is to set up the film's main themes while also introducing the cast and directing.
Stage 1
Shot one I made straight from the storyboard, I liked what I had going with a bottle falling over and spilling out alcohol. My design thoughts were to go for an XXXX bottle as it's based in Brisbane. However, just having the bottle knocked over without any obstruction felt off-putting. Later I hope to add either a hand in to knock the bottle over or have the bottle falling as if it had been dropped.
Stage 2
The only difference from scene 1 - 2 is where the liquid spills from the bottle. I'm very aware that beer isn't the usual purple however, for the majority of the scenes are orangy brown wouldn't work as well as a contrasting colour. It also will lead into the steps in the next four scenes, which is why I wanted to make it stand out as the main feature.
Stage 3
Stage three is where I start to introduce the cast and crew, while still setting up the environment and themes for the film. To get it started I wanted to introduce the director and directors assistance, as they are crucial to the production of the film and deserve a place on the screen. Furthermore, the steps are there to show where Artie is walking around in his search for his jacket. They also will lead into the next scene as we continue to follow Artie around.
Stage 4
Scene four will directly follow on from scene three as the camera will follow the steps. Furthermore, I wanted to set the location of the movie by showing a photo of Brisbane. By doing so it gives the filmmakers more time to flesh out-there characters and story rather than having to world-build as well. Moreover, I introduce the main character in the same drop-down photo style. As I didn't have an image of Eli, to fill his spot I just picked Ryan Reynolds a famous actor. This is really easy to change I just needed something to fill the empty space.
Stage 5
Much the same as Stage three and four, stage five follows the steps and introduces three more vital parts to the film. Here I introduce the main drive of the film, A secret love interest who had left a note in the jacket that Artie is looking for. As Artie can't remember who the mystery girl is, I decided to use a silhouette and question mark to explain this. Moreover, I went for the same style in scene three where the locations popped onto the screen, I did so just to keep the flow and symmetry of the sequence. Afterwards, the steps curve back onto its self to head upwards, leading to the final scene.
Stage 6
Finally, with the final scene, I needed to show what Artie was looking for during his search around town. So I went for my original idea of ending his steps by making them form a question mark. When they are completed I have the jacket jumping onto the screen to show it off as the main objective of the film. Holding the scene there to give effect, it then fades to the title of the short film "The Jacket" From where the movie can begin.
Final
The final render is a compilation of all of the previous scenes combined with a few minor adjustments that needed to be made. For example, I made the bottle at the start of the sequence look and act like it had been dropped by someone. Furthermore, with the render complete I have decided on the font used throughout as well. I went online and found a site that gave out free movie fronts. From there I did a bit of experimenting and concluded that a larger bubbly font suited the film and that the colour red was a simple contrast that would stand out and attract the eye of the viewer. The music choice I went for can be changed out if the director has a better image in mind however, its only purpose is to just enhance the sequence by creating background noise.
To conclude, the process of making a title sequence was really enjoyable and being able to have a lot of creative freedom definitely helped me along the process. Although I heavily struggled with the time aspect of getting the product done by the due date. I can now reflect back and say that I created something that I'm very proud of.
References
(2014, August 23). BoJack Horseman | Opening Credits Theme Song [HD ... - YouTube. from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQvIR1oL1vE
(2010, Sep 7). The Hangover - opening sequence. from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKtHA8EFgIo
(2020, September 18). Every James Bond Opening Title Sequence, Ranked. from https://filmschoolrejects.com/bond-opening-title-sequence-ranked/
(2009, July 26). Grease - Intro - YouTube. from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtOmKaVbP_A
