In dramas, the titles and credits are shown in multiple different ways. For example, in Mr and Mrs Smith, the production companies are shown on a screen of their own but the stars in the film are shown while the actor/actress is on the screen. The transition of the titles/credit are fast-paced to match the speed of the action shown in the trailer and the writing swipes on and off of the screen quickly. While in Forest Gump the title is shown at the beginning and at the end; with credits shown right at the end all on one slide.
I looked at the titles and credits and their functions in the trailer:
Forest Gump:
The titles in ‘Forest Gump’ uses the well known phrase “life Is like a box of chocolates”, in order to show the audience the message of the story. These simple sentences send a clear message to the audience that life is surprising because you never know what life will bring you. Therefore, these titles create a happy mood and atmosphere in order to encourage the audience to see it because they are positioned to fall in love with the characters and therefore want to see the film in order to find out what happens to Forest. Showing the audience that the film is a Robert Zemeckis who is an American filmmaker and screenwriter frequently credited as an innovator in visual effects. This is shown through the use of the feather floating down to where Forest Gump is sitting in the opening scene. It symbolises purity and kindness; illustrated to the audience that this film would be a warm feeling film. Using a black background for the titles makes the writing stand out a lot and this therefore catches the audience’s attention and therefore they will read it. Having the name of the film at the end is conventional as it allows the audience to find out what it is called so that they can see it in the cinema.
Mr and Mrs Smith
The titles and credits are much more minimal than other drama trailers. This is because the titles do not tell the audience anything about the story, but only tell them the actors/actresses in the film, the name of the film and the release date, which are all conventions of trailers. The use of the black background for the titles represents the characters in the film as dangerous due to the connotations of black. Therefore, the audience are positioned to fear the characters because they are represented in this way. The titles of the film are presented on a timeline, which shows the audience how the characters link together. Furthermore, the titles that tell you who is in the film are presented like profiles, which suggests to the audience that the characters are agents because they are shown in a text box with their name underneath. This creates mystery for the audience as they are not exactly told what the characters do for a living through the titles. Therefore, this helps to persuade the audience to see the film in order to find out what they do and what happens to the characters as the story continues. Telling the audience the names of the stars in the film also helps to persuade them to see the film. This is because “Brad Pitt” and “Angelina Jolie” are A-list stars and therefore people want to see films with them in. This may be because they have seen in a film previously that they enjoyed and therefore assume this film will be just as good because it has the same actor/actress in. The release date, “June 10”, is shown at the end so that the audience knows when they can see the film. This is shown at the end because it is the last thing the audience sees and this means they are less likely to forget it compared to if it was shown at the beginning.
Skylar Brady 