Developing Ideas

10 texts you love 

- Time Again 

- To Kill a Mockingbird (book)

- Notting Hill 

- Love Actually 

- The Perks of Being a Wall Flower (book)

- Charlie and Lola 

- Modern Family 

- Criminal Minds 

- Suitcase Kid

- Cinderella 

Method 1: steal like an artist 

Time again

- sadness, laughter, nostalgia, family, warmth 

notting hill, love actually, time again : 

These films all have the same overall vibe to them. They are all British films with actors who have stereotypical south London accents. They are all romantic comedy films which have good endings. Love actually and notting hill even share similar actors such as Hugh Grant and Collin Firth making them even harder to compare. All the films follow the typical meet, fall in love, fight, get back together and happy ending story line which is popular amongst British audiences.

Modern Family and Charlie and Lola are very different TV shows when you first look at it. For starters Modern Family is a young adult comedy show about a dysfunctional, confusing family dynamic whereas Charlie and Lola is a children's TV show about a brother and sister in their dad to day life. Even though when you first look at it you may think they are completely different they are in fact some ways similar. For example, they both follow a reality TV complex where the characters talk to the camera and break the fourth wall like they are having a conversation to the audience. Both shows also follow the characters day to day life documenting to the audience what they do in their day and how they go about it. They both also have a one episode = one day structure.

Method 2: the question game 

at the heart of storytelling is the question "what if"

e.g.

'what if' a galaxy was ruled by a corrupt empire 

'what if' a wealthy aristocrat fell for a woman who loathed him 

'what if' a third-world African country was secretly the wealthiest nation on earth 

brainstorming 'what if' questions can be a powerful way to generate concepts for new stories. all you have to do is unleash your curiosity. with your own interests and experiences in mind, how many 'what if' questions can you ask 

once you have developed an extensive list, choose and combine the ideas that most exits your interest, then challenge your self to write a new story based on each question.

'what if' giant pandas stay in the UK

'what if' you had to move across the world to escape the sun 

Wednesday 8th December 

NatWest advert 

what did I like when I was 9/10 years old ? 

- lego - imagination, creative 

- baking 

- bikes - outdoors, village/countryside or city ??

- cartoons - non realism, imagination, colourful, violet but safe, comedy violence 

- dinosaurs - real dragons, fact fiction

opening title sequence based on ad 

kid on a bike with a chemistry set in his backpack 

 

Introduction to Kyle Cooper

Kyle Cooper 

Kyle Cooper is an American designer known for his work creating title sequences for various different motion pictures.

He has produced and directed over 350 visual effects sequences along with main title sequences across a wide range of films and various broadcast mediums.

Kyle was born in Massachusetts and was obsessed with sketching monsters along with his love for comic books. He said that he has "always been interested in film and editing more specifically, the juxtaposition of images in film or on a single page."

He claimed that his greatest influence in his choice of profession is Stephen Frankfurt's opening title sequence for 'to kill a mockingbird'. He also takes inspiration from William Shakespeare.

He has been credited by saying that he is "single handedly revitalising the main title sequence as an art form" and Los Angeles magazine calls him the "da Vinci of main titles". He is said to be amongst the top 50 biggest and best creative thinkers from the last 20 years of advertising and consumer culture.

Kyle Cooper demo reel 

spider-man (2002) opening title sequence 

Spider-man is one of the hundreds of opening title sequences that was created by Kyle Cooper. The sequence is animated and has a graphic design approach to it which is what Kyle Cooper was known for.

Kyles goal for the opening title sequence was to make the viewer feel tied into the movie and I think he was successful in this as he has created an opening title sequence that captures the essence of the heroic and action packed spider-man movies. 

The opening title sequence shows a build up of emotion and excitement for the audience. Kyle did this by mirroring the action that would be shown in the movie. Due to the movie being produced in 2002 the visual effects are no wear near to the standard of what we watch in modern day society. However, Kyle overcame this by using his creativity. He experimented with various different graphic designs and chose to have the graphics follow an intricate spider web that catches the letter forms. Further on in the sequence it weaves through skyscrapers like the ones the audience would see in the movie in the main characters world. All of these elements of the sequence build up to a full shot of spider man shooting a web as the music swells to its fullest intensity. The particular shot also mirrors the moment in spider man and other similar action films where there is a tense build up to the fight scene. Overall, this leads the audience on a suspenseful journey through the scene but overall it encapsulates the excitement you would feel as an audience member watching the film for the first time.