Evaluation of Art of the Title Grid Activity

In our teen rom-com, the three girls catch sight of the new guy which leads to them fighting for him. Synopsis of the film: Three best friends compete for the attention of the school’s new heart throb. We aimed to establish the characters, setting, relationships, genre, the title and credits through our film opening. 

The title is styled in blocked capitals. The typography resembles a textured college stamp. The block shapes of the letters connote the concept of the American high school. The shots feature high key lighting. 

Humour is created through the exaggerated reactions of the stereotypical characters such as the “girly girl” fainting at the sight of the boy. As the opening is clear, the audience should feel that the plot of the film will be based on the conflict between the characters and their competition. The audience would question if the girls’ friendship will survive hence they become more curious about the nature of the characters.

The master shot was placed first to establish the setting of the film. It features a long stretch of corridor and lockers. This immediately demonstrates the bright high school setting. The placement of the characters next to each other shows that they know each other. This was crucial for our opening sequence to create an understanding of the situation for the audience.

The slow reveal of the new guy enables the audience to understand that this character will be the driving force of the story. There are different shots of him: the close up of his shoe; the mid close up of his midriff; the mid close up of him posing and the mid shot of him smirking. The span of shots features the point of view of the girls. It is effective in the opening sequence to build up curiosity from the audience as they anticipate the identity of the heart throb. 

The close up of each of the girls created a comic effect. Thus it caused the audience to be focused on these characters giving them importance and agency in the plot. This creates the vital opportunity to credit the names of the actresses. This helps the audience understand the summary of the characters. 

In hindsight, we would involve extras in the master shot to make the setting at the school more realistic. I also would cast different people to make their appearances more contrasting. The characters could be more stereotypical e.g. making the character of Juliette blond. 

I think our film opening is effective as it puts across the genre, setting and concepts clearly. The colour scheme is bright and vibrant displaying the characteristics of a light hearted high school comedy. I also think that our titles fit in well with our shots and the comical reaction intended for the audience was successful. Furthermore, I think our range of shot types and angles made our production satisfying.