Animation Titles

We've decided to make an animation sequence for the opening titles and so we are looking at other animated titles for inspiration and ideas.
Genre: children's/family film

We will start the film in the real world as normal and then to go into an animated world, to give a storybook/childish feel to the film. This idea came from the film Elf which is one of my favourite Christmas films .
http://http//uk.youtube.com/watch?v=t5cv0MxKAzk

ELF (2003)




This film begins in animation. snowflakes fly across the screen, to reveal titles,which is like our star will do. There is a book which opens and the picture turns to real life. Later on in the clip at about 2 minutes in, the book opens up into a pop up book. This part is kept quite simple but it is still looks beautiful, which proves that you don't have to over complicate the animation to make it work. The pages of the book turn and a name appears on each page along with some snowflakes blown across. The camera glides along the pages of the book showing the viewer colourful drawings inside the book of elfs and toys. 3D animation is also used int this opening sequence; there is a penguin, a polar bear and a walrus.


These characters move about, talk and sometimes interact with the text. In one shot the penguin pulls along a sign with credits on. When it has finished the pages ofthe book flutter to the end and as the final page blows away we are cut to the real world again inside an orphanage.
From looking at this clip i would like to use the flying snowflake idea, but with a star, to relate to the story. The images that we are going to draw will be colourful and childlike like the pictures in this opening scene.


JUNO (2007)
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=_NPNoKHlTLM






This is an example of how animation is developing today. At the begining a girl named Juno walks along the street drinking sunny D,minding her own business. When Juno steps past a tree and comes past the other side, her world turns into a series of colourful drawings. The house behind is in a block colour with simple lines and Juno's clothes look like they have been coloured in. It is likeshe has stepped into another carefree and simple world. The film is " a comedy about growing up... and all the bumps along the way" so it shows Juno in a young and playful environment because she is still a teenage girl. It sets the tone for the rest of the film. Juno walks through the neighbourhood in the whole sequence with nothing fazing her.

The credits appear behind her on buildings, on fences, beside her face and on the pavement. The film makers asked Shadow play to make the opening titles for Juno which also made the titles for Thank you for smoking, another Jason Reitman film. This handmade sequence hundreds of photos would have been taken of (Juno) walking down the neighbourhood and then colouring in the photos using Adobe After Effects.


I found this website very intersting and helpful, it gives a video tutorial on how the titles were made:)!http://library.creativecow.net/articles/bonner_simon/The_Juno_Look/video-tutorial.php