Feature Friday: The Title Sequence

Today being the last feature for my month-long birthday video streak thing, I figured I'd end it with a series of sequences that inspire me. While most people go to the movies to see the movie itself, I go and watch the entire thing from the pre-movie trailers to the very last character of the movie's end credits. While most people start leaving the theater the moment the end credits roll, I stay. One, I believe that watching the end credis would be my way of giving respect to the people behind making the movie. I stay to the very end, especially if I loved what I saw. There's that need to know "who did what". I actually do the same thing for TV series. Part of the fun in watching those series are the title sequences. It's a preview of what the show is about, and what you can expect, and it's one of the reasons why I seem to have that need to view every pilot of every show I fancy. And then I google the show and dig to find out who made them. Is that weird? Maybe that's just me. Below are a series of title sequences that tickled my fancy.

Frank Miller's 300

Aside from the movie itself having my jaw constantly on the floor, and I don't mean that because of the insane amount of abs, the movie's end credits were just an awesome way to cap the entire film. I enjoyed the movie for all the technical geeky video stuff. The colors, the treatment, the effects. I loved it so much I watched the making of the film more than I can count! [end credits by yU+Co]

Watchmen

I didn't enjoy the film as much, but I definitely enjoyed the opening title sequence. I love the whole re-creation of iconic personalities and events. I know the film isn't a period piece, but the title sequence certainly looked a lot like one. It was pretty long though. But hey, I found it to be the highlight of the entire film. Well, minus certain fight scenes, which I also found amazing. Title credits, again, by the amazing people at yU+Co.

Juno

Juno - Title Sequence from Alain Benoit on Vimeo.

This' flick's title sequence was created the long and painful way. But thanks to geeks around the world, a tutorial comes in handy to create your very own Juno title sequence. I loved it because of it's element of youthfulness, and it's uber indie feel. Y'all know how much of a sucker I am for indie stuff. Well, that, and insane visual effects. Definitely not the easiest one in this post. Created by Shadowplay Studio.

Six Feet Under

One word: FANCY. It may not be the most CG heavy title sequence out there, but I find it one of the most clever ones. Not so hard of the visual effects, but it does move you. Well, it moved me. Into saying "WOW! I wanna do that!!!" The camera work (+shots) were awesome. Proof that you don't need some super hi-tech 3d machine to produce something wild. But you do need a wild creative mind. This was created by the iconically amazing Digital Kitchen.

The Kingdom

Love the title sequence. I love it because I know it's something I can pull off. And it's awesome. And when I said "something I can pull off", I don't mean now. Give me a year, or a bit less than a year. I know I can pull something like that off. See? Inspired already!

There are two go-to sites to view more title sequence bliss.

I love these sites because not only do they compile these fabulous clips, and definitely the best out there, they provide interviews and links and more information in general to geeks, and people who are majorly interested on who and how those amazing sequences were made. All with just a click or two of your dandy mouse.

The Art of the Title Sequence | Forget the Film, Watch the Titles

Feature Friday: Chris Milk

The director behind two of my favorite-st MTVs. It is because of him, that I actually liked Kanye West and his MTVs. Dubbed as the Steven Spielberg of music videos, I dedicate my birthday week feature to the great, Chris Milk.

This was one of the MTVs that totally blew me away. What I love about it is the clever use of metaphors. It was mind blowing to attack such a touchy concept and not be shot down, but instead The message comes across clearly, and just in case you didn't get the message, there's the stunning imagery to keep you occupied. What I recently discovered about this MTV is that this is the second MTV for this track. It was also nominated for Video of the Year in 2005, and was listed as the sixth best MTV of 2004. With this alone, you'd know Chris Milk's cred was no random thing. Insane video, this thing is, and it still blows me away.

Another MTV I absolutely loved as this one. What I loved about it was the whole POV thing. All I could think about then was "How'd he do that?!!?" with wide eyes, and jaw on the floor. I think it's pretty cool. I actually found a book that had him share how he did it. It was awesome. And clever. In an almost "Why didn't I think of that?!" kind of way. I know, given that tiny chance, I'd try and pull something like that off.

Kanye West "All Falls Down" [HD] from Chris Milk on Vimeo.

This one, found at his vimeo page, was an created for the 42 Second Film Festival in China. What's awesome about this is that in less than a minute, you get the entire story. And even more awesome is that it was shot using a Canon 5d Mk II!!! I'd go all geeky with the equipment, but I'll keep that to myself.

Last Day Dream [HD] from Chris Milk on Vimeo.

This just shows how amazing of a story teller Chris Milk is, and why I am a major fan of his work. What he does now, is a vision of the career I am wanting so much right now. Music videos, commercials, photography. Instead of pasting screenshots here, I think it's best you see his awesomeness in the links below. Be very blown away.

Chris Milk | vimeo

Feature Friday: Stop Motion Love

Stop motion has been around for forever. Remember Gumby? How about Bob the Builder? These, and a number of other children's programs make use of stop motion. Today, thanks to the growing fascination with stop motion (and photography), and it's accessibility to the masses (all you need is a point and shoot camera, and a computer), More and more stop motion videos can be found almost everywhere.

This Coldplay MTV is absolutely charming. And quite clever, if you ask me. I love the chalk drawings in relation to the Chris. Plus, the story's just cute! It's just adorable! This Strawberry Swing MTV is created by Shynola. They're a multi-awarded London based group of artists whose works include animation for The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Coldplay | Shynola

I first saw this MTV when a friend of mine sent a link to vimeo. Made out of thousands, if not millions of photographs, there is just nothing little in the making of the Little Bribes MTV. As director/creator Ross Ching put it, he didn't have to go to around the country to get unique shots. All he did was create the interesting shots. And create he surely did.

Death Cab for Cutie - Little Bribes from Ross Ching on Vimeo.

Death Cab for Cutie | Ross Ching

Certainly something to think about for people who, like me, have no access to a video camera. Who knows, I may do something like this for the hols?

Feature Friday #14 What started it all

When I was eight, I realized that there was one more thing I wanted to be. I want to be a film maker. Well, along with being a cardiologist, chemist, scientist to discover a herbal cure to everything, talk show host, runway model, and fashion designer. Yes, I wanted to be all that, but not all at one. It changed from time to time, depending on a lot of things. And in that list, what stuck was being a film maker. I still want to make videos till this day.

November being my birth month, I've decided to make this month's series of features to focus on music videos. It's been a dream of mine to make music videos. Well, it changed after a few years, with me wanting to make movies. But music videos inspired me to get into this industry, And it still inspires me to this day.

This was one of those MTVs I absolutely loved. And I knew when I saw this, that I want to make something like that when I grew up. Directed by Francis Lawrence (yes, the Constantine director) way back in 2001. I loved this video for its warm colors, despite the whole "jaded" thing. Mila Kunis also reminded me of a friend of mine, way back in 5th grade. I loved its message as well.

I grew up basically glued to MTV, watching well, MTVs, and shows like Making The Video. I love watching the behind the scenes footage of these music videos, which today, has evolved to the behind the scenes of making these insane CG-rich blockbuster movies. Here's another video that just has me all the time. I love this video.


What I love about this MTV, is its story, and its relation to the song. And I love how they made Bjork a robot. The effects were simple, but very effective. Directed by Chris Cunningham, this video, as most of you may know, has won numerous awards. So did the song. Which comes as no surprise. It was, and still is, stellar.

And to end this weeks MTV-filled feature, here's one that despite the risque poses and what-not, I find tasteful, artsy, fancy, and classy. This awesomeness was directed by Diane Martel. (The same director behind some Mariah Carey MTVs, and FOB's America's Suitehearts)

I'd love to make something like this any day.

Feature Friday: Cassandra Clare

If, like me, you happen to be a major fantasy novel fan, then you've probably heard of Cassandra Clare and her works. Recently wrapped was her Mortal Instruments series, which, word has it, will be turned into a movie!

Earlier this week, I've been thinking about who to feature this week. Well, this week being Halloween and all, I figured this would be the perfect time to feature her work! If you remember my last literature feature (that inspired a photoshoot), well, her books are on its way there. Casting's proving to be a bit of a challenge, but I'm finding ways to interpret the story into photos.

Long story short, I read all three books of The Mortal Instruments series, and wrote about it here. I love how she infused fantasy with (pseudo) reality, and created a different world that won't make any references, dead or alive, roll in their graves. It was a beautiful series. And for the love of vampires, lycans, and everything else fantasy, pick up her books and find out for yourself why Cassie Clare and her TMI books are on the spotlight this week. Also, she has another series in the works, The Infernal Devices. Go see her websites for more info on that, and the links below to know more about her awesomeness.

Cassandra Clare | The Mortal Instruments | Infernal Devices | Twitter