Title Sequence Research

As said previously, Ben and I decided the titles should be a time lapsed over head view of Barnsley college students. With this idea in mind I did some research in to this kind of stuff. The first obvious point is that whilst time lapses look interesting as everything moves quickly, they aren't nearly as effective without good music. For example, the opening titles of the recent BBC nature show Frozen Planet use a time lapse of the sun passing around the bottom of the Earth. If this is muted, it still looks relatively interesting, but with the accompaniment it becomes a relaxing and epic feeling piece despite being 20 seconds long.

This kind of music would work well with our production as it would give the feel of a proper documentary. It could then be ended with something funny, such as a burp or something along those lines. The string, piano and what sounds like a wind instrument give a calming feel which give the impression of a documentary, as if it is sophisticated.

Another example I found was a time lapse of a dandelion turning from a flower to a seed-head. Whilst this isn't opening titles, it is another example of the importance of the music behind a time lapse, as without it this video becomes boring quite quickly. With the sound however, people are more inclined to keep watching as whilst the plant is changing and not doing much, they can divert their attention to the music. Again, this time lapse uses strings and a piano sound, although personally I think the lower sounding strings (possibly a viola) sound a bit too melancholy and depressing to be used in our work. 

Overall I think a short, piano & strings based piece would be sufficient for our opening titles music. The addition of something comical to take the serious edge off at the end would be useful but isn't necessarily vital.