Final Once Title Sequenced

Critique

At the in 60% progress critique there were a few things my classmates pointed out that they felt my title sequence needed work on. Timing was one of them, which I went back and worked on a lot of that to make it fit perfectly with the music. One of the comments was on the music itself, but I wanted to stay true to the movie in as many ways as possible and this song is how the movie's title sequence already starts and also just a great song. Another comment which I thought was very interesting was how I should specify who the actors are. It looked like they could be more directors, since Once was a very low budget film I didn't want to just use "starring..." so I chose introducing since this was the first movie the singing duo were featured in. The last thing people commented on was my typeface. I didn't argue much with what they were saying because I saw where they were coming from when making the comment, but I disagree with changing it. They felt that it should have a more elegant feel, but there is hardly anything about the movie that is really elegant. Since no one in class has actually seen the movie also it was hard to go off of what they were saying. I had a few people who actually have seen the movie once to take a look at it and they agreed that the typeface worked as is. It has a foreign look to it, which the movie is based in Ireland, and also contrasts nicely with the more elegant line work of my animation. So in the end I decided to keep my original typeface. I did try a few different ones just for kicks and none of them gave the same feel as the one I already had.

IN PROGRESS title sequence

In progress of Once title sequence. I still need to work on timing with the music, but the animation is getting a lot better then it was... there are still a few things that I want to tweek to make perfect (like the piano keys and the guitar head with once spelled out), but overall I am happy with where it is going. 

Test Animation

This is a test animation I did of the ending section of my timeline. I have a few things to work on, one being timing. It will be easier once I have music to go along with, but for now it's difficult to get the right flow for my animation. It was also suggested that I use thinner lines for the guitar to give it a more elegant look, something that I  am looking to get. 

Finished Timeline

Timeline inprogress

Ideas for Title Sequence Project

The next project it working on a Title sequence for a movie of our choice. I ran through a long list of movies I would like to create an opener for, and finally came up with Once. It's not a very well known film and the title sequence they have now is very lacking. I really just want to create something that truly embodies the movie and what it is about. In general it's a love story, with a more unhappy ending to it all. The characters "girl" and "guy" go through a journey of finding love while getting the chance to record a CD. The film was very much an under-budget production, but in the end the writers one a Grammy award for best song, something they never imagined could happen. Below is the scene from the movie (please ignore the spanish subtitles)were you can see the title sequence as it stands now and also the song that I am going to put my design to.

My first idea was to use a cut paper look with piano I want to try and make it look like the keys are playing in a stop motion technique. I want the names to appear above the keys separately and then the keys fall apart and downward to revel the title of the movie. 

My next idea came after I watched the movie this weekend and saw the title sequence it has in place. They really didn't do much except have the names of the 2 leads and the the title falls in to place once the movie actually stars with the guy singing. I wanted to almost play off of that and start with the guitar strings coming down and his name appearing. Then the piano keys are created showing her name and finally the guitar head is created to make the title image. I want this version to have a very flowy line quality to it and also for it to go along with the music exactly.