Leon
I chose to analyse this film's credit sequence because I have previously watched the film and I found it very interesting and would like to read further into it. It also had the typical sequence of the genre with the production name first appearing and then the actors names to follow.
The first title we see is, 'GAUMONT presents'. Gaumont is a French film company founded by the inventor Leon Gaumont. It is the first and the oldest film company in the world. Gaumont mainly produces, co-produces, and distributes films.
0:26s
The second title shown is 'a Gaumont-Les Films Du Dauphin Production. ©1994', which again tells us the full name of the production company and the year it was founded.
0:30s
Here we are given the name of the director of the film 'Luc Besson', who is French and has contributed to many films as either the writer, producer, the director or all three.
0:34s
After all the production list names have been presented we are then introduced to the first actor name in the film 'Jean Reno'. This contrasts the other titles as they were shown still in white on just a black background, however with the first title we also see a high angle of the water moving. Jean Reno is the main actor in the film who plays a Hitman or a 'cleaner which he refers to himself as. We could connote from this he is always on the move with the fast movement of the surroundings behind the credit. We could also say that the title is shown in white because his character comes through as honest and pure. We can also see a few white birds flying through the shot that supports this.
0:45s
The next Actor shown in the credit sequence is 'Gary Oldman', who plays the antagonist, a corrupt and mentally unstable DEA agent. We can see that the background is gradually getting darker as this name appears, showing the deep ends of the sea to connote that he truly is a strong villain character.
0:49s
Another main character title shown is 'Natalie Portman', who plays an innocent young girl shortly living with her dysfunctional family. The actress' name is presented on a different background where the sea ends and the forestry begins. We could connote that this supports her innocence, or could also link back to her love for nature because throughout the whole film we see Mathilda carrying one of Leon's tree plants around with her. We could also connote that there is a road because before Leon dies he tells Mathilda that she has taken him on a journey and given him 'a taste for life'.
0:55s
The final actor title we see is 'Danny Aiello', who plays the character of Tony who is a Mafioso that sets Leon up with all of his work. We can see some shade in the trees in the background of this title, we could connote that although he seems like a nice man towards Leon we can tell there is a darker much more cold side to him towards Mathilda in the end.
1:00s
Just after the final actors name is shown, the film title is then announced in a much larger font to cover most of the green part of the shot, and then the skyline view of the city is just on top of the title to give us some familiarity with the surroundings to set the first scene. This is typical of the thriller genre because they are mostly set in large cities.
1:09s
The actor Peter Appel plays 'Malky', one of Gary Oldman's sidekicks. Michael Badalucco plays Mathilda's Father to which we are not told his name. These actors' titles are shown on a screen moving down the street of the city, placed in the road almost like they are cars driving forward. Both of these characters are shot and killed in the film, so we could connote that on the road it says 'Lane Fire' because they both had a fatal consequence from a gun being fired at them.
1:19s
The final two actors names we see are Ellen Greene and Frank Senger. Ellen Greene plays Mathilda's mother who is an evil woman that favourites the other children over her. Frank Senger plays a fatman that Norman goes after and holds hostage.
1:25s
The next credit we see is the 'music by' title, by Eric Serra. The background changes for this title to appear in a large font to cover the street which connotes that this person contributed an important part to the film. He is a French musician and composer who has often worked on films by Luc Besson.
1:30s
The final credit we are shown is the written and produced by which is the most important credit of the whole production. This is the person who essentially has assembled the whole film together.
1:39s
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