Initial Research
For my initial research I wanted to look at title sequences that I found interesting and that looked in some way like what I would want to do.
Coraline
http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/coraline/
I like Coraline as a film and wanted to do something a little unusual and not your average comedy family film.
When I watched the title sequence I liked how the actors names were places on what I would call a "plaque" background which matched the film aesthetically. It then went into an animated clip which introduces a main aspect of the film and the importance of it while also giving the crews names. This for me creates the sense that the actors are more important but when it gets to the crews names, the aesthetics create a sense of hard work and pride.
The typeface used is easily legible with the more dramatic features (e.g. the "plaque" background and the detail that separates the job title from the names) added to make the plain serif typeface more aesthetically pleasing.
All through the title sequence you hear a soft but slightly creepy piece of music. It reassures the viewer it is a family film while also telling them it is not a light-hearted comedy film.
Lemony Snickets' a series of unfortunate events
http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/lemony-snickets-a-series-of-unfortunate-events/
I liked that this film was live action but had an animated title sequence. The aesthetic of the title sequence is quite dark and unusual which matches the film perfectly.
The music is upbeat but has an eerie tone too, to me this suggests that it is definitely and family adventure film but not light heated at times.There is a lot of movement in this title sequence which to me sets the pace of the film. There is also a lot of circular movement around the children which suggests it may be a slightly mysterious film.
I like how the background changes from inside out and from the bottom to the top. It gives it an unusual aspect.The use of removing parts of the background by bringing them to the top of the screen and turning them into images is inspired.
The serif text used is easy to read but to add to the slightly unusual feel of the animation, the capital letters are placed normally whereas the rest of the word is in Italic.This title sequence is eerie, adventurous and at times psychedelic. All of these things added together create a very interesting title sequence.
Catch me if you can
http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/catch-me-if-you-can/
This title sequence is full of geometric shapes and lines. 
Having some of the shapes not fully filled in gives the aesthetic of letter pressing and adds texture to the animation.
I like how the text is vital in this title sequence and is not just added as a side thought.
Having the job roles in serif and the names in sans serif works well to split them up whilst keeping them together.The music used is mysterious and quizzical which on its own tells the viewer what type of film it is.
Nanny Mcphee- end credits/title sequence
http://watchthetitles.com/articles/0011-Nanny_McPhee
This title sequence gives each actor/actress a different aesthetic based on the character they play. For example; Emma Thompson's name is placed on a deep coloured embroidered background with the characters silhouette above while Colin Firth's name is being attacked by the children. Both of these aesthetics fit the characters perfectly.
The title sequence as a whole is very playful and a bit mischievous, even the music gives this feeling. 
The text occasionally appears and disappears as if by magic (with a glitter dust effect). This follows the aspects of the film well.This animation uses shadows well which at points gives an air of mystery to it.
Corpse Bride
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILE7MxPfOq0
I love how this title sequence doesn't need to use any colours to make it interesting. Throughout the entire title sequence only greyscale is used.
The use of shadows is great, it brings a sense of intrigue and mystery to it, especially at the start with the shadowy effect of the trees.
The butterfly image at the start is drawn in and links to the start of the film. The use of the skeleton hand and the spider getting rid of names and bringing names in makes the sequence more interesting.
The music sounds a little sorrowful but as the title implies, it is a slightly sorrowful story.
Overall, everything that is put into this title sequence links to the film in some way. It doesn't exactly tell the story but it introduces a few main components and aspects of the film.
In my opinion the typeface is stereotypically eerie, however it works well to add a flare to the geometric visuals.
Fan created- Alice in Wonderland
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRfYKhYtp6c
Although this is not a professional title sequence, I added it to my research because it is a wonderfully made clip that is quite inspiring.
In a way this is a quite simplistic title sequence that gives a good feel of the film.
The dark backgrounds and mysterious music gives a insight into the storyline.The characters are introduced with the actors/actress' that played them.
The only negative thing i can really say about this title sequence is that the smaller text on the playing cards is not legible on a small screen, the video has to be full screened to see it properly.The teeth of the night
http://watchthetitles.com/articles/0065-The_Teeth_Of_The_Night
Les Dents de la Nuit (original French title) is a horror comedy around the inexhaustible
theme of vampires. Three friends succeed in getting
an invitation to a very
exclusive and mysterious party. They get more than they bargained for, when
they find out that the hosts of the evening are vampires.
The music used in this title sequence is a rock song with an interesting set of lyrics. I haven't seen this film but from the music I would assume it would be a film with a similar target audience to Hotel Transylvania.
The title sequence doesn't really tell a story but it does introduce us to the setting, characters and tells us that it is a family "scary" film.
I like the use of vibrant colours that emphasise the silhouettes and the simple idea of having a black screen with some text and eyes works well to emphasise the concept of hiding.
The typeface used is an interesting choice. The job roles are in a dripping blood type font and the names are in a font that emphasises crosses in the words. I can see that they are used to explain to the viewer that the film is about vampires (not very subtle) but to me it looks like the creators are just trying to make it a lot more entertaining for their child viewers.
I do enjoy how the characters interact with the text near the end of the title sequence. Having the characters pull up a T and chase the vampire with it gives an added little amusement to the sequence especially since the whole video shows the characters hiding or running away from the vampires.
Gruesome School trip
http://watchthetitles.com/articles/0062-Gruesome_School_Trip
Gruesome School Trip (original Dutch title: "De Griezelbus") is a scary adventure
movie for kids about a boy who writes a fantasy horror story that becomes
reality. The main-on-end credits were created by Dutch animator and prop
artist Balder Westein.
This is another title sequence that doesn't use very much colour. It mostly consists of the grey-green background and the silhouettes that create the images (not including the white of the text and the occasional yellows)
The typeface used for the titles is elegant as opposed to a "creepy" font. This makes it seem like it may not just be a children's film but more of a family film.I like how it uses rotation, turning the images on an angle and at times rotating 360 degrees. I think this adds a but of confusion and curiosity to the title sequence.
Fan created- James and the giant peach
http://vimeo.com/64872982
It is a little short and doesn't give much insight into the story except for the very basics.
The boxtrolls
http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/the-boxtrolls/
The song used in the title sequence makes the audience feel like this is a light hearted film with a bit of comedy.
The typeface used is fun but legible and fits the artistic imagery well. I like how they made a clip with most of the screen showing the names of the lead animators. Even though children will probably be focusing on the box trolls bouncing in the background, it emphasises the importance of the crew that worked on the film.I don't think i will be making something as intricate as this but I see this title sequence as inspiration, especially because of the small comical parts that have been added.
Edward Scissorhands
http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/edward-scissorhands/
I like how the text seems to rotate to match the direction of the images behind. The film title is clever in the way that it is rotated to give the shape of scissors.
The title sequence sticks to the thriller aesthetic of dark and not colourful. Which is a nice contradiction to the film.
The last visual is of the castle on the hill. This is one of the reasons I added it to my research as the storyline I was thinking involved a manor on a hill.
Title
Ideas:
Professor Grey
Grey Manor
Monster manor
Grey brothers
Manor on the hill
The Grey Monster
Monster Grey
Grey Monster
In
the grey
Ethics of Grey
Grey Conscience
Grey Morals
The brothers’ grey
In the end I decided to go back to basics and choose "Grey Manor" as my title. I decided that this was a simple but explanatory title that would work well with my animation.
Synopsis:
After a series of disappearances and monster
sightings at the Grey Manor, the town is in fear. No one will go near the
mansion and everyone locks their doors by dark. After moving to the small town of Hillrise, Eve hears of the rumours and stories of the mansion
on the hill and can’t resist investigating.Genre
I want my title sequence to be slightly lighthearted but also with dark elements, like the films Coraline and Nine.
Family
Adventure
Storyboard
I decided to make an animated title sequence to fit in with the family themed genre.
Walk Cycle
For my animation I had to use a walk cycle in one scene. Finding pictures like the one below from Google Images was extremely helpful. Using this image I was able to create a walk cycle in half the time it would have taken me to figure the exact positions for myself.
Run Cycle
Much like the walk cycle, i used images like the ones below from Google Images to help me perfect a run cycle which I used in my title sequence.
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/a5/e8/c7/a5e8c715d00b2cf50000810e296cfc76.jpg
Lab Equipment
I wanted to create some background aesthetic for the second picture in my title sequence so that it would give more emphasis to vial that one silhouette was holding. I thought that using the images below from Google Images would help me create some lab equipment that would give the viewer a better understanding of what was happening.
Experiment Chair
For the third picture in my title sequence I wanted to have one person sitting in a experiment chair but I wasn't too sure about the aesthetic of the chair. I looked on Google Images for Electric chairs and found that if i created this with a person on it in silhouette form it would not look very good and would be hard to understand exactly what it was.
I decided to look at a chair that would lean back to help the viewer to understand what it was. I then remembered that a dental chair looked quite similar to the visual in my head and the shape could easily be turned into a chair/bed that could hold someone down.
Music/audio
For the music, I found a great website that I could download royalty free music/audio. This was made even better by the fact that I was about to pick genres or categories to help me find the perfect piece that would work well with my title sequence.
http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?feels%5B%5D=Bouncy&feels%5B%5D=Dark&feels%5B%5D=Eerie&feels%5B%5D=Mysterious
I also wanted to find a monster roar for the 4th picture to explain why the person who was holding the torch suddenly started running. For this I typed Monster roar into Google and found a few. The first few I selected didn't sound quite right and I eventually found the perfect monster roar sound effect on none other than Youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnXy6i8AaWg
Evaluation
I started this project quite well,
coming up with a synopsis within a week and then researching title
sequences that had an aesthetic I liked.
Unfortunately, I suffered from
"designer's block" when trying to come up with a narrative and
storyboard. I came up with a few ideas but always found flaws in them before I
even had chance to write them down.
This "designer's block"
carried on for a while and slowly ate away at my motivation. I was stuck
for a few weeks until I came up with a narrative.
Looking at title sequences helped me to
decide that I wanted to create a dark family film title sequence. By this I
mean it would be appropriate for the whole family but had a tragic/more in
depth twist to it.
The main people that inspired me in this
project were Tim Burton and Henry Selick because they have created films that
have the same family film but dark twist, which I was leaning towards. Most of
the films that use this aesthetic are animated with the exception of films like
Edward Sissorhands and Lemony Snicket’s Series of Unfortunate Events. The later
of these films use animation in the title sequence and is a very inspiring
title sequence.
For my title sequence, I wanted to use
silhouettes because it creates a slight air of mystery about the identity of
the people. I think this benefited my animation because it is supposed to be a
slightly mysterious storyline.
I thought about the colours I used
carefully, I wanted each picture frame to have a different colour background to
not only emphasize that it is a different picture frame but also to coincide
with the visuals shown.
For most of the project I used Adobe
After Effects because I not only have a little experience with it but also, it
is a very good program to use for animation. I did however have to use Adobe
Audition to edit the sound a little and since I also have experience in using
that program, it wasn’t difficult. To put the animation to the music I had to
transfer the title sequence to Adobe Premiere Pro because I couldn’t get the
audio to work properly on After Effects plus After Effects is not an audio
based program. This made things quite difficult because I wasn’t able to make
the audio coincide perfectly with the animation. If I had given myself a lot
more time to perfect my title sequence I would have been able to resolve this
problem.
I don’t think I would want to change
anything in my title sequence, I would only want to perfect the work by making
it flow a little more smoothly and smooth the edges of the silhouettes.
Thinking back on the project, I think
that if I had tried harder to get around the "designer's block" I
would have had more time to work on my title sequence.
Throughout this project my only regret
is not using my time as wisely as I could have.
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