Opening credits - club & personal logos

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billyfromConsett
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Post by billyfromConsett »

Some of us saw a very powerful presentation from a BBC trainer last Sunday at Scarborough at NERIAC's festival.

The guy didn't lecturer us with just words and powerpoint. He showed us movie clips, talked about analysing them for style, then showed us a few again and asked for our thoughts.

He asked for opinions, rather than spouting his own. Asking is far more persuasive than telling. Does anyone feel I might have a point here?

Re titles. I got straight from a horses mouth how he made opening credits for a couple of his movies, where he mixed pictures with titles. Neither were "flashy" but the combination was photographically jaw-dropping.

And for North v South this year, I added some titles (including images and sound) at the end, and I can honestly say that I believe (and I hope I'm right) they give something extra to the movie.
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Willy
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Re: Opening credits - club & personal logos

Post by Willy »

Dave Watterson wrote:I am struck by how many French and Belgian non-commercial films begin with an elaborate club title, often with a fanfare.
Dave
Yes, Dave, from time to time you are a little provocative.

Rules are rules
Most Belgian films have a logo. Once we were obliged to make one for regional and national festivals. It was even one of our rules.

Expensive ping ping ball
About 7-8 years ago I asked a professional to make one for my Willebroek club. It was a very funny one, but the bill was also very funny ... In the logo a ping pong ball jumped "towards the audience" and the name of my club appeared in it. Afterwards I realized it was not a good one to start serious films and as I am a very serious man who always makes serious films ... If I had not used that logo maybe I would have won the Daily Mail Trophy once.

Some years ago I made one myself for the members of my club : the Willebroek Bridge. A good one for serious films and also a very cheap one. However, it was not a good one for funny films.

Most famous club in the world
In my second club the logo is a globe with the name of the club in it. It gives the impression that we are the most famous club in the world. In reality we are only a small group of old age pensioners who enjoy making boring travelogues and above all who enjoy having a chat in the bar drinking a pint of bitter after the club night. Sometimes until 1.30 am...

Not long ago I saw a very good logo : the name of the club appeared on the black screen and it was afterwards underlined in red. Very simple, but excellent.

Using the club logo I now leave enough time between the logo and the film thar follows so that it can't affect the atmosphere of the film.

Like football fans
Why do we use logo's in Belgium ? Because we're proud to be a member of our club and we want to show it. The more our club logo is shown at regional and national festival the best for the good reputation of our organisation. We love our club. It's just like a football fan. Every fan wears a scarf with the colours of his favourite team. He even goes to bed with his scarf.

IAC-logo at international festivals
Question : Imagine that all British films (or films made by anglophyles just like me) begin with an IAC-logo at international film festivals. Would you be against it ?
Willy Van der Linden
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Willy
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Re: Opening credits - club & personal logos

Post by Willy »

The more our club logo is shown at regional and national festival the best for the good reputation of our organisation.


Sorry for the mistake in my message : "best" = "better"
Willy Van der Linden
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FILM THURSO
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Post by FILM THURSO »

A logo is very important no matter how good or bad the ensuing film may be. An upbeat logo is probly a good start, you wouldn't want something that would best preceed a state funeral!
I am aware of one groups logo (and we won't say who) but the way it's set up is simple and practical. However it's music track kindof plays off on the group name which is one of those ones you can make something of like in Scrabble, you know. The music emphasises that alternative name (again we won't say what) and the overall feel it gives at the start is to check the programme to see how long it is!
Maybe people do change their ideas after reading these opinions but do so quietly. I can understand some folk do lean on their technology either as the best thing ever or winge about what it can't do.
I wouldn't dream of saying our Ulead Studio 10 was anywhere near brilliant. It has quite a few limitations. In the meantime until we can afford something more uptech we'll just have to live with it but we do what we can. One thing though, there's a lot in Studio 10 we won't touch simply because it is big time cheesy. We like to keep those effects things to the very minimum and let the rest of the film grab the audience. Whilst a fade or disolve in the right place works, it doesn't hold the picture. There is no sense using it just because you can.
It is a good thing to watch other film material, whether mainstream movies, arthouse, budget or amateur, even tv and cinema adverts can give us new ideas about how to put films together. Hmm maybe that's part of the issue. Some folk know how to write or work equipment but don't really know the formula for putting films together. How to film, and edit to create the style of the picture, how to choose format or color look etc. Hmm!
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Dave Watterson
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OPENING TITLES IN GENERAL

Post by Dave Watterson »

I love the way each of our themes on the forum bends and twists its way through lots of ideas - some only loosely connected to the starting point.

I asked about logos and Willy's is the best explanation: pride in one's club.

But we seem to have drifted on to the much more interesting question of opening titles. (I think they are called "Generik" in Dutch, is that right, Willy?) When Christiane Surdiacourt ran the De Drake Fiction Film Festival there was a special prize for Generik. Jan and I have recently been judging the competition for North West Region of IAC and they too have a prize for titles.

They do seem to me a very important part of how film maker and audience communicate. The actual words can be clever, emotive and so on ... but they way they are presented, with or without live footage can really make a movie memorable.

Those of us who remember the days before computers will recall struggling with Pressgrip titles (like scrabble tiles) or Lettraset (transfer letters) to get words of any kind onto a title card which we then had to film before they got anywhere near the screen. S.J.Seccombe's firm ran a sideline to their business in making titles for amateurs - it was such a specialised art. Now we have basic titlers in our editing packages and can buy add-ons to do even fancier things.

To paraphrase what someone said on the forum recently it has got easier and easier to do the basic chores of film making. That should leave us free to concentrate on the story we are telling, the subject we are explaining and so on.

Dave
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Willy
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Re: OPENING TITLES IN GENERAL

Post by Willy »

Dave Watterson wrote:I love the way each of our themes on the forum bends and twists its way through lots of ideas - some only loosely connected to the starting point.

Dave
Yes, in Dutch it's called a "generiek". The kind of letters you use for the title is always essential. I never choose special letters. I prefer simple ones. I also avoid special effects in my "generiek". They don't look very professional. Once I read it's good to limit the nummer of words in your titles. 4 words is a maximum. Professional titles are also very short in general. My last film was called "Breendonk". I thought of "The Hell of Breendonk" and other ones, but afterwards I just stuck to the word "Breendonk". The title must cover the theme of the fillm. I was criitized by someone about my "generiek" at the end of my latest film.That man didn't have enough time to read everything, but in my opinion that is a minor point.
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Willy
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Re: OPENING TITLES IN GENERAL

Post by Willy »

Dave Watterson wrote:I love the way each of our themes on the forum bends and twists its way through lots of ideas - some only loosely connected to the starting point.

I asked about logos and Willy's is the best explanation: pride in one's club.
Dave
I would like to repeat my question : What would you think if we use the IAC-logo to start our film ? I'm proud to be a member of the IAC? Maybe ity would encourage other friends to become a member of our organization. It would be excellent publicity fot the IAC in Britain and abroad.
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Post by FILM THURSO »

I like the whole idea of titles being a bit more active than just words on the screen. Working with the logo into the title sections, the way the words are displayed quite rightly affects the audience reaction and interest in the film. It was common in the 1950s and particularly the 1960s. Hitchcocks "Psycho" being a good example where each title is brought in by use of lines across the screen working with the jarring string percussions of the score to create a really interesting viewing effect that took the viewers into a feeling of deep concern.
Modern films are back in on the act with cool animations like in "Catch Me If You Can" which styles itself on movies in the era in which the story was set. Spiderman takes us through comic pages and cobwebs.
We did a film called "American Dog" where the logo goes straight into an animation that was designed to be used for any further editions of the "American Dog" syndicate. The titles that followed were specific to the story in the picture. We fully support making titles as an integral part of the film rather than statutory information about who made the tea or swept up. :D

I think using the IAC logo in our films is a good idea, it lets the audience know we are part of something bigger on a national or international scale, not just chipping away in the garden shed studio somewhere in middle England or Highlands of Scotland. We have a wee mention of IAC membership on the bottom of our content advisory titles that come up before the start of the film and our membership always appears on the end titles.
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Dave Watterson
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Post by Dave Watterson »

Willy said:
What would you think if we use the IAC-logo to start our film ?
Personally I rather like it when I see a film maker mentions his or her national organisation somewhere - either in the opening or closing credits. A great many German and Austrian films make a point of saying the club or person is "a member of BDFA" or "of VOFA".

I have asked a couple of people to raise the matter at the IAC Council meeting on Sunday - though I am told they have a lot of business on the agenda and may not be able to deal with much in the "Other Business" part of the agenda.

Dave
Ray Williamson
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Post by Ray Williamson »

What is absolutely vital is that titles and subtitles must have correct spelling, etc.
Even if YOU do not notice mistakes, to others they can really jump out of the screen!
Ray Williamson, East Sussex.
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