Media Studies - '300' Title Sequence Analysis

The title sequence of the fantasy action film '300' creates an unusual, bold, unique and exciting intro to the film.  As we can see the whole sequence consists of full animation artwork, eery /sharp sounds and very few colours; the use of techniques gives the audience a vague outline of what the plot of the film will be about (war/fighting) as the minimal use of colours and unusual shapes create bold 'shadows' of figures. The immediate splash of red introduces the audience to a blood and gore film which is greatly effective in showing the audience what the whole main genre of the film will be about, while the animations generally give the scene of a whole battle taking place; from this we now know the film will include a whole number of battles and fights.
     The techniques in camera work used is also very effective to interest and excite the audience; the camera begins with a blank, black screen when the sudden splash of blood is introduced, at this point the camera uses the slow motion technique as the blood tracks across the screen - we soon find out this technique is used a number of times when blood is again introduced. As the camera movement quickly zooms out and slowly pans we can see the animations have more depth while also unusually look 3 dimensional, this makes the sequence look very strong with a lot of quality. The quick zooms are reinforced with rapid background movement of the spears and arrows flying through the air - when the weapons hit and draw blood slow motion is used, again creating a strong and powerful blast of the blood.
     The camera uses close ups of the animations and also a lot of 180° shots, making the scene more 3-D, and one could say, realistic - despite the purpose lack of detail and colour. The contrasts in the bright colours of the background and the black animations creates a strong image as a suggestion of darkness and evil is applied to the black figures. Not only does the bold colours and camera movements relate but also the diegetic sounds. The continuous eery and sharp sounds include screaming, slicing and impact noises, not only does this give the sequence the whole sense and atmosphere but also hits perfect timing with the animations; as a spear hits a figure an immediate scream/slice/impact sound is projected to the audience. This is essential in making a great and effective sequence for this film.
     Finally, we can see the names of the creators are positioned inside the black figures with a red 'blood' font. However, unlike the splashing of the blood, the camera zooms/pans to see the writing already positioned, there is very little movement - maybe even none - of the typography; from this we know it has been done to prevent confusion and make the text clear, easy to read and presentable. The title of the film '300' is very similar to the previous texts as it also has the bold, red 'blood' font, however, it does rapidly splash across the black screen; this obviously draws the audiences attention as the quick change in camera shot brings the audience to focus on its main target - the films title. Overall, by how this has been created and portrayed we can see an effective, quality and dynamic title sequence which greatly relates to the film, its theme and genre!