RESEARCH: ART OF THE TITLE 'TO KILL A MOCKING BIRD'

In the opening sequence of To Kill A Mockingbird, the company logo of ‘Universal International’ is shown as well as the name of the person in charge of production, followed by the name Gregory Peck; this would support the audience’s choice in seeing the film as well as reaching out to the targeted audience and encouraging people to watch it. The title of the film is then shown in a very creative and unique way, where the child rubs a crayon onto paper to reveal the film name; this creates a visual appeal to the audience. The font choice is a key element in creating visual appeal to the audience; in the opening of To Kill a Mockingbird the font is simple and plain, however this works effectively as it is clear and does not distract the audience from what is going on.

From the opening sequence we do not know much about the genre of the film as we do not see any faces of the characters and we do not learn much about the narrative instead the opening sequence relies on the props to tell the story, however this works effectively as it creates mystery and establishes enigma as it is unknown what we are going to see in the film. We do not get to see much of the setting in the opening sequence as all of the shots are close ups of the objects, however from the images seen we can guess that the child is sitting at home with all of these objects while drawing a picture of a bird. The lighting and colour reinforces this mysteriousness as the film has been purposely put into black and white as it reinforces the idea in which the time period of the film is set, as well as this it takes the audience back to what it would have been like when the film was set to give them a realistic experience. The choice of no colour also makes the film more serious and draws the audience’s attention towards the important information and action in the film and prevents them from getting distracted by the bright colours; although this effective it also may disinterest certain viewers as it is less captivating to them.

The soundtrack is an important part of the opening because it entices the audience into continuing to watch the film. Before we see the first scene music starts to play, it sounds like a child playing random notes on a piano. This idea is reinforced as the music disappears that it is a child in the opening, as well as this we hear the child humming which suggest to the audience that the child is one of the main characters as well as them representing the innocence to the audience. The humming also intrigues the audience as it is slightly eerie and it establishes an enigma. The main part of the soundtrack begins when two marble hit each other and the child says “ding”, the music sounds magical and enchanting which could relate to the child’s mind that anything is possible.

In the opening, technology has been used effectively using different camera angles and transitions. The camera angle in the first scene is a birds eye view of all the objects which are in the box, these objects are then individually shown throughout the opening sequence. Most of the camera angles are close up shots of a variety of objects and different items which works well as it limits what the audience are able to see which maintains enigma and mystery. The camera mainly pans across as it shows the objects, in addition the camera occasionally changes focus to suttley move the viewer’s focus point onto the next object, for example the focus changes form a marble to a whistle which is effective as it leads the audience and is more continuous. The different shots (as well as the credits) are combined together, as the second shot is fading in the first shot is fading out. The moving objects also help with the smooth transitions between scenes as when each one moves it leads onto the next without multiple pauses, this makes the opening more enjoyable for the audience as there is less of a wait between scenes.