~Establishing the difference between Theme and Style~

Different category of theme

There is more than one category of theme, we have the Narrative theme, Genre theme and Location based themes.

Genre theme

This is highlighting the imaginative idea within a film, TV programme or piece of work. the thing about themes in title sequences are that they are very useful in the sense that they give the audience a rough understanding of what the show or film is going to be about; within these themed title sequence would be enigma codes which is the thing that gives the audience an idea of what the shows about. Usually the theme of abstract title sequence would only increase the viewers imagination because you gain so little information on the actual film or show.

Monsters Inc:This is a very good example of an abstract title sequence because it doesn't give much away about the movie itself. It has no content in it that is from the movie and uses shapes to ultimately make a bigger picture, giving us a rough idea to go on. However we know monsters is the key theme in this movie hence the name Monsters Inc and monster being implemented in the title sequence.

Narrative Themes

These types of themes are usually based on abstract nouns such as "love" "friendship" "war" and are quite common. We just don't usually associate a narrative with these kinds of TV shows/ films. Dramas are usually based on narrative themes and it helps too because with narrative themes you are guaranteed a plot twist.

Joey: A continuation of Friend only this is specifically focused on Joey life hence the name "Joey". The theme of this Sitcom is Fame and riches however, because it’s a sit come, a large portion of it contains humor. Again, this is considered abstract and this is a good way to remember what a narrative theme is. Sometimes in the title sequence it will connote on what the show or film is about. Joey is a perfect example because in the title sequence we see the suburbs and an expensive car getting driven around. 

(Unfortunately i am unable to get the video up on blogger so here is the link)

Location Theme

The theme here has a big part to do with the location or area in which the show or film is being taken place in. Some TV shows or film come under both location and narrative theme but the area is usually more focused on more than most things  like certain characters.

CSI Miami: There are many CSI however this one is based on Miami and because of this a fair amount of the programme suggests that its taken place in Miami because of the surroundings. We think of Miami of being a rich and beautiful place and the staff that constructed CSI Miami wanted that image of Miami in our heads to carry over into this series. The title of the show or film will sometimes explicitly say where the story is taken place in. E.g. GTA Liberty city or Fresh Prince Of Bel Air.

Style

This is how the title sequence is portrayed. The colour the text are all what make up the style of a TV show or film. You could say its symbolic because the messages we as an audience get are implicit. The colour red in a title sequence signifies many things such as death, love, anger ect. This is what we call an enigma code. The Monster Inc video i supplied earlier uses light colours and shapes; that's their style and it works for them because it makes a wonderful abstract sequence.

Cold opening: This is becoming more frequent in today's film and TV programmes and it is when the move or film jump straight into the action without a title sequence. This is mainly because tolerance and patience of  society grow thinner each generation and this was made so the film doesn't bore the audience. It will have the name of the film displayed at the beginning but without credits or a soundtrack. They save all of this for the end credits. The most they will have is the institutions at the beginning e.g. 20th Century or Universal studios along with the name is all that is given. This is the nature of a cold opening.

Rush Hour 1: This film has a cold opening because it only starts with the name and then goes straight into the film. All the crediting is left to the end and a title sequence for a action comedy for rush hour would probably be abstract in my opinion because the theme is modern times and its got a variety of genre to it (crime, comedy, action, fighting) And so its much easier to put this all into abstract title sequence where all the genre can be connoted and be formed as an enigma code. They also use out takes in substitution for the opening title sequence along with a soundtrack. They make use of the bloopers to keep the audience there through the ending credits and its a very powerful technique because we don't realize when we sit through the credits.

My Opinion

I believe that a film with more than two different genre are better off going straight into the film like rush hour because then they would have to do an abstract title sequence which isn't always necessary because there are other ways to keep the audiences attention at the end as rush hour have done. The title sequence would be harder to implement effectively and looks like it would take a lot of creativity to connote the entire genre in one sequence.