MC: Analysis of Title Sequence - Alien (Scott, 1979)

Throughout this opening sequence the title 'Alien' slowly appears bit by bit across the top.

The titles shown are:

• 0:04-0:07 - 'a Brandywine - Ronald Shusett production'
• 0:09-0:12 - 'a Ridley Scott film'
• 0:18-0:21 - 'Tom Skerritt'
• 0:23-0:26 - 'Sigourney Weaver'
• 0:28-0:32 - 'Veronica Cartwright'
• 0:34-0:37 - 'Harry Dean Stanton'
• 0:39-0:43 - 'John Hurt'
• 0:45-0:48 - 'Ian Holm'
• 0:50-0:54 - 'an Yaphet Kotto as Parker'
• 0:56-1:00 - music by Jerry Goldsmith/conducted by Lionel Newman/original music copyright 1979 Fox Fanfare Music Inc'
• 1:03-1:07 - 'executive producer Ronald Shusett'
• 1:10-1:14 - 'screenplay by Dan O'Bannon/story by Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett'
• 1:18-1:22 - 'produced by Gordon Carroll/David Giler/and/Walter Hill'
• 1:25-1:29 - 'directed by Ridley Scott'

Typography

Each title fades in and stays for an average of 3 seconds. 

The text is white and quite plain. The font has straight edges and nothing fancy to it. This could connote to the blankness of space.

The titles appear in the middle of the screen with a background of a slowly appearing planet shows. 

The Alien title appears differently to the rest. 1 line at a time the letters appear to finally create the title. It is in bold, white writing similar to the rest of the credits. However, it is spaced out massively and is a lot bigger than the rest of the text that appears. This could show that the 'alien' in the film is big and domineering.

Relationship between text, visuals and content of titles

From my research, I have found that the text needs to link to the theme of the film. It helps to bring the whole thing together and so it is important that all titles link in some way.
The text used in this opening is quite rigid and computer like which helps to link it to the sci fi genre that this film is.
Also, I have worked out that there is a specific order in which the titles appear. The less important people within the making of the film appear first, near the beginning of the clip and then the most important people such as the producers and director appear last, near the end of the clip.

How can I use this research in my research?

Although my production is not the same sci fi genre as Alien, it has made me realise that the texts do need careful consideration on how they link to the film and the connotations of them.

I quite like the idea of using the fade in animation so I might try to add that into my production. I will also place the least important people involved within the making of the film first and the more important ones last.