Film Opening Comparison Essay

Terminator 2 Title Credits:

Arnold Schwarzenegger
Terminator 2 - Judgement Day
Linda Hamilton
Robert Patrick
Joe Morton
Earl Boen
S.Epatha Merkerson
Danny cooksey
Castulo Guerra
and introducing - Edward Furlong
casting by - Mali Finn
Constumes Designed by - Marlene Stewart
Music by - Brad Fiedel
Industrial Light and Magic Visual Effects SuperVision - Dennis Muren, A.s.c.
Special Makeup and Terminator Effects produced by - Stan Winston
Film editors - Conrad Buff - Mark Golblat A.C.E - Richard A. Harris
Production Designer - Joseph Nemec, III
Director of Photography - Adam Greenberg, A.s.c.
co-Produced by - B.J.Rack - Stephanie Austin
Executive Producers - Gale Anne Hurd and Marid Kassar
Written by - James Cameron & William Wisher
Produced and Directed by - James Cameron

Lock, Stock and Two smoking barrels Title Credits:

Summit Entertainment
the steve tisch company
ska films
presents
a matthew vaughn production
a guy ritchie film
Lock, Stock and two smoking barrels

Comparison:

The two Opening sequences are very different to each other, Where the "Terminator" Sequence is very simple, but uses lots of effects, the "Lock Stock" Sequence is much more action based. Terminator has used the footage that they have of a playground on fire, which in itself is a very strong image to think about, and have just overlayed their titles ontop, In a simple white text. So to say that the viewer can either keep an eye on the fire or read the credits if they are interested. The footage that they have used is interesting enough that having quick breaks to use white text on a black background, like in "Lock Stock", would not work. It would not flow with the footage and would not appeal to the audience, probably already gripped to the fires.

Lock Stock on the other hand, while no where near as dramatic, uses the White text on Black background idea. and while very different to the terminator sequence, it works with the footage that they have. Keeping the voice of the actors in scene going while the credits of the production company are shown, makes sure that they audience knows that what they were just watching is still happening and they are not going to have missed anything when the video comes back. In this sequence it works really well, and definatly fits in with the footage that the film makers had.

Another thing that I have noticed that separates the two from each other is that the Terminator one shows the names of a fair amount of the actors, and many more of the production crew. Whereas the Lock Stock one only shows the production companies involved and the directors name. Although I am not 100% sure of the causes, I can suggest that the differing credits are more to do with the actual footage than anything else. The Terminator sequence had allot more space in which to put the credits, with a constantly flowing clip, the credits could be placed in a large number of places, and with enough time to fit them all in, there was no problem in making it look rushed. This is helped by the fact that the actual footage is very slow paced to begin with, and gives the illusion that everything is slower than it actually is. Something very different applies to the Lock Stock sequence, in this one it is a very fast paced action sequence, and putting the titles on the video would not have sufficed enough time for the audience to read them, the camera work and shots are not cut long enough to be able to place a credit on there that is easily readable with the time alloted.

On the whole I think that these are both great examples of opening credits, where one is more to set the scene, and introduce the actors, the other is there to start the audience off with a bit of storyline. Maybe I could learn allot from looking at these, and using some of their techniques.