COMPUTER ARTS BLOG ARTICLE

Use of Text

Opening Credits (Grease Opening)

Brief Description	In these opening titles it’s all animation showing all the characters in the film. I think they have used the animation so that they can over exaggerate each characters personality. The animation uses all different colours and gives of a very cartoon effect. I think this looks good like everything is out of a comic book as the film is set in America and all about teenagers so they are going for that look purposely. The look of the cartoon animation is quite old looking and very much looks drawn with jagged movements I think this is because of when the film was made and how old it is. It looks like a flip book of pictures all put together going through each school student and their lives and what they do before school. This is to give you an idea of the film straight away and what each character is like so you have an idea what to expect. When I see this opening sequence I expect to see a cheesy fun film with lots of songs because of the upbeat music and all the animated exaggeration.
Techniques used	The whole of the opening titles are animation with a cartoon looking effect I think this style works well because of how the film is and what time its set in. I think the technique looks like it’s been drawn and then animated because of the jagged look it has to it going to different shots and parts of it.  The whole of this opening title are visual effects because none of its real however it’s all things that can happen in real life just more exaggerated. The reason they have used visual effect is because they want the title to look real like all the peoples real lives but they want to do more things that can be done in real life without animation and visual effect. The title has kept all the colours things would be normally in real life so they have use colour rendering to make all the images the colour they are meant to be. There are computer graphics used to create the moving 3D animation in this title. It works because we are seeing each person so are meant to think this is what they are like and always do. Also they have used it because it makes it more memorable using computer graphics because the film hasn’t got any so it’s a massive change to turn into real people. The whole title has movement all the way through it as it skips through the different stories of people.
Advanced Techniques	Opacity is used in this because when it switched from moving images to just a picture and the actors name the moving animation stops and fades out which is the opacity being turned down so that we focus on the picture and who it is. As the actors names are faded in they a sharpened technique is used so that it comes clear what it says.
Technical Comments	The video format used is NTSC this is because the film is old so would not be in HD and it’s an American film. Because the film is old the screen ratio is the standard 4:3 the screen resolution shows the ppi isn’t very high but this doesn’t matter because everything’s meant to look like it’s a cartoon. The frame rate for the title is 23.976.

Use Of Text	Interactive menu (Finding Nemo DVD Menu)
Brief Description	The while interactive menu is animation all the images background and words. They have used animation because the film is also in animation. It gives viewers an idea of what the film is about just by looking at the opening sequence because the camera goes underwater in the sea and the titles then appear. We see things that you would expect to see in the sea however they are all in animation. We see the top of the sea and the sky them we are taken underwater past coral and other sea life things and then the camera stops but all the sea life are still moving then the interactive titles pop up. At the start above water all the colours are very warm and almost the same light blue for the sea and light pink for the sky so everything blends, however then straight away underwater the blue sea is very bright and everything is in very bold bright colours. Because this film is aimed at kids I think this is why the colours are over exaggerated and bright and also to show that it’s a happy film because of the positive colours. They have had the menu set underwater to show that the film is about sea life and so it’s a good way to show what the story is about.
Techniques Used	The whole of the interactive menu is animation this is because it’s a kid’s film so they can do more things using this technique, also because the whole film is set underwater so it’s much easier to do so using animation. It is computer animated because of all the effects added and how clear the picture is. It’s all visual effects because you wouldn’t be able to get a picture like that so everything’s done and animated like the real thing but effects been added to it to make it move while on the interactive menu page. Colour rendering has been used in this interactive menu because everything is much brighter and bolder but still the same colour they should be just exaggerated. Only a few of the things in this use graphics for example when the camera goes underwater and the coral keeps moving once the camera has stopped and the titles come up this shows the 3D graphics.
Advanced Techniques	The sharpened technique is used for the images that are closer to the screen so that we focus on them and also to make everything look 3D and like it’s actually underwater. When the camera is going down underwater where the rays of sun come through the sea its blurred which is to give the effect the sun is really coming through and like the animation is real.
Technical Comments	The video format is in NTSC because which shows the interactive menu in standard definition. The screen ratio shows the interactive menu is in widescreen. The resolution is 240 × 240 pixels I tried to look for the resolution and pixles for the DVD but couldnt find them so I have found all the technical comments for the YouTube video I viewed it on. MPEG4 is the codec used for the YouTube videos a good point baout this is it shows good image quality at low data rates however a bad point is the standard is still being designed.

Use of Text	Sting ("A Different Kinda War" E4 Dancing Soldiers Ident / Sting)
Brief Description	There is a white background and just the E4 logo in the background in their colour purple. I think the background is white because they want us to focus on what is happening in the sting so then viewers remember it and remember that it’s for E4. Some toy soldiers come up on the screen and mix and match between colours doing little dances which catch the audience’s attention for such a short period of time which is what a sting is meant to do. It looks like the sting its lots of pictures put together of all these little toys moving slightly more each time.
Techniques Used	Animation is used in this sting all the way through especially on the logo which is always animated. I think they have used it because it’s easier to make the toys which are inanimate come to life and move to make this sting. There aren’t any visual effects used because it’s all done with animation and stop motion animation. Colour rendering has been used in this sting because when the same soldier toys figurines are used the colour is changed to give the sting more effect and look better. I think it works because all the colours make it more fun to watch. No Graphics are used in this sting.
Advanced Techniques	The sharpened technique has been used on the E4 logo to make it stand out behind all the toys. This works because you know what the channel is straight away but so remember it as well as focusing what’s going on in the sting. In the sting the little toy soldiers do spin around when they are switching and meant to be shooting each other this is the sting using rotation.
Technical Comments	The video format for the E4 stings are HD because of how short they are they want them to look good and because it’s all animation it’s a lot easier to be able to have it in high definition. The resolution for all the E4 Stings are 1280×720.

Use Of Text	Ident (Wallace and Gromits Runaway Sled - Wallace abd Gromit BBC One Christmas Idents)
Brief Description	I can see the BBC logo in between two snow slopes which are positioned in a circle which is keeping in with the theme BBC have using circles like their early idents with the world. Wallace and Gromit are going up on one side of the slope on a sledge and we see them close up, I think this is to establish who they are so it will attract people straight away because of the well-known characters. Once they get to the top the sledge goes over the edge and does a full circle then carries on doing so with Gromit on the sledge representing a circle around the BBC logo, which is red because that’s BBC’s colour.
Techniques Used	The whole of the Ident is animated however the characters are plasticine so the snow and animated logo and slopes have all been added around them. Throughout the snow keeps falling this is a visual effect. The colours used are all pale and light like the white snow, pale sky but then the BBC one is in bright red and bold to make it stand out against everything. The graphics used in the are all the background bits added on top of Wallice and Gromit. The snow is falling through the whole 30 seconds. The main BBC logo is also a graphic and the main one. There is always movement constantly as Gromit keeps sledging round.
Advanced techniques	There is rotation used when Gromit keeps sledging round representing the globe/circle for BBC. The sharpen effect is used when the camera is close up on Wallice and Gromit go on the sledge so that they look real. It looks like blur is used when the snow is falling to show it there and different to just the normal snow.
Technical Comments	The resolution is 240 × 240 pixels. The video format is in HD because its shows everything clearly and all the animation and graphics are very high.