Etude Four (4) - Concept

The general concept for this etude is straightforward and caused to me to immediately create comparisons in the modern media. This led to easily uncovered research as old media revival is not new but mainly in terms of promotional material has this been commonly seen. For example the promo for the Big Boss film (promo) utilised masking techniques to composite 2D & 3D graphical elements into the scenes with Bruce Lee from the film.





Video available from: http://youtube.com/watch?v=EFH35qNf_Hw [cited 26th March 2008]

I have compiled a list of films I liked the look of from a brief overview using Publicdomainmotionpictures.com and Archive.org as resources and references. In essence I intend to create a type of promotional montage of re-edited title sequences for the films but in a way so that the re-edited sequences will be perceived as the actual title sequences for the films rather than just promotional pieces. I made a conscious choice to utilise public domain movies in a celebratory manner for artistic and creative freedom rather than select an old film I knew of and liked but was under copyright.

My main intention is to create several re-edit titles with a maximum of 3, however if time doesn't permit this then I will simply focus on a single film. For effect I may be selecting scenes from later into the actual film that seem to reflect the films title and theme well and it will be in that sense where it can be perceived as promotional but I will be creating it and using the original credits to produce the title sequence as accurately to the films theme and tone as I can. An additional purpose for creating these titles is to show the audience that old films (especially those now in the public domain) are still worth watching and re-create interest in them for the audience and other artists alike. I will also edit the title sequences to continue with an additional following scene segment to maintain the film's theme before the next.

The compiled film list includes:

Black Samurai (1977)

Available from: http://www.archive.org/details/Black_Samurai [online] [cited 25th March 2008]

Return of the Kung Fu Dragon (1976)

Available from: http://www.archive.org/details/Return_of_the_Kung_Fu_Dragon [online] [cited 25th March 2008]

Death Rides a Horse (1967)

Available from: http://www.archive.org/details/Death_Rides_A_Horse_pan_and_scan [online] [cited 25th March 2008]

Return of the Street Fighter (Satsujin ken 2) (1967) / IMDB - (1974)

Available from: http://www.archive.org/details/ReturnofTheStreetFighter [online] [cited 25th March 2008]

References available at:

http://www.publicdomainmotionpictures.com/
http://www.archive.org/

Essentially the final pieces will also be a demonstration in Motion Graphics animation and I will decide during the creative process how contemporary I want the animation style to be as I have also chosen films where I feel it could benefit from a title sequence makeover. Exceptions may include Black Samurai which already has a good title sequence but I feel as if could improve upon it for effect.

Examples of old production logos are seen below:



Video available from: http://youtube.com/watch?v=Fr8TYxd9qbU [cited 26th March 2008]

One of the main factors I had considered carefully that this video helps to highlight was the use of the original soundtracks from the films for use in the title sequence. A good example of consideration or an homage to classic films is seen in the title sequence for the film "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" (2005)



Video available from: http://youtube.com/watch?v=_bpP9sI72bM&feature=related [cited 26th March 2008]

Other films such as Superman Returns (2006) had their title sequences faithfully recreated to match that of the previous films. Therefore creatively I will consider how effective the style and methods I use will be to match the film and in essence the sense of context and the era in which it was made e.g. the animation style, colours and clarity (distorted lens, dirt, dust and scratches).

Additional film references:

IMDB Available at: http:www.imdb.com/ [cited 26th March 2008]