The Godfather (Dir Francis Ford Coppola US 1973)The title sequence conventionally begins with the name of the production company- in the case of the Godfather this is Paramount Pictures; paramount was the leading production company and wanted to make sure they were seen as responsible for the making of this film and are also proud to be associated with the film. To display that this frame is part of the sequence; the lone trumpet remains playing, thus building enigma code as the audience wants to see what is ‘behind’ the image of paramount pictures image.

To reinforce the cohesion between studio and film; after Paramount’s copyright image fades down into black it then fades up with ‘paramount presents’ in the same iconic font used by The Godfather; making the film and studio appear cohesive. The ‘... presents’ is a connotation of titles within the gangster genre possibly to represent the importance of the film; even if the film is not good, the titles try to give the impression to the audience that the film will be a classic; this probably stems from ‘The Godfather’s’ title sequence as The Godfather is the benchmark of the gangster genre.

The text starts with Black which connotes mystery as we await to see what will appear in the opening

scene. Theme music is also played with only the black background, a theme that will appear throughout the movie; the music is non-diegetic and was obviously composed with the hope of it becoming iconic; the score for this film runs on the cultivation theory as it is a score people will take in over time, perhaps subconsciously. The theme is instantly recognisable even perhaps if it was seen once as it is so unique. Much of the soundtrack is composed by the classical artist Nino Rota who was an Italian and not particularly involved with Hollywood; he studied at the University of Milan and was classically trained and this gives the soundtrack verisimilitude. We then see the Title and symbol of 'Mario Puzo's Godfather', this show's the movie is something of an institution; an adaptation of an important book. The symbol shows a hand manipulating a string puppet which represents The Godfather's influence and control on his community. The title is unconventional for both the genre and the rest of the title sequence as titles are conventionally minimal and subtle plus without image. The Godfather’s titles however break this title by using a memorable image; again this fits in with user cultivation theory as the unique titles leave the audience with something to gradually appreciate over a period of time.The ‘God’ in ‘Godfather’ appears to join up between the G and the D, connoting the power that Don Vito has, he is a God in his community and more powerful than anyone else, even the police. This shows how titles can connote a whole story or character just through imagae and arguably the importance of them.

The theme music first appears coming up over the production company with long periods of black between each title to emphasise the lone austere trumpet and it's somber theme. After the Godfather logo is shown there is a nine second gap until the blackness is lifted and a voice fades up and says "I believe in America" something that connotes and relates to the rise of the Corleone family from Italian immigrants to mafia dons. The titles fade up on to the screen and fade out and are centered in each frame. The titles are sized in order of importance for example the production company is considerably larger than the “presents” beneath it. The font used has very sharp edges which may connote violence and that the Corleone family are not an object you would want to accidentally cut yourself on; this has a threatening connotation similar to the quote later on in the film ‘Let me make an offer you can’t refuse’ which ties in with the conventions of the genre. The titles are never moving image; this is to connote the seriousness and institution of the family and Coppola’s intentions on creating a classic; this is reinforced by the use of Mario Puzo’s name. Coppola himself intends on making The Godfather a classic. The music

contributes to the titles by making them seem haunting; the harrowing lone trumpet combined with the long interludes of black represents a threat. The titles are not like a film such as ‘catch me if you can’ where we get a clear idea of the film through the dynamic moving stories; The Godfather is more traditional and official; the only idea we can get for the story is the hand controlling a string puppet which clearly refers to Don Corleone’s role as the Father (Propp’s law). The titles are punctuated appropriately to reinforce the seriousness of this title.

Goodfellas (Dir Martin Scorsese US 1990) Meeting the conventions of titles in the genre; the title sequence begins

The film begins with the conventional white font on black background. The font used is similar to that of a typewriter which is a convention often used as gangster films are often based on a true story; the typewiter represents the newspapers of the time trying to keep up with the exploits of the gangs of the time. The white on black also represents binary oppositions as a theme of gangster films is gangs vs. police.

The next title we see is the setting and date; the titles appear very small across the vast backdrop unlike the first tite, the font used is a lot more ‘middle of the road’ and average, possibly because the setting is official. This title does not appear for long and quickly cuts to Liotta’s face rather than fading up into it; this dictates the pace of the title sequence.The Goodfellas title sequence opens with the actors names sliding onto the screen like road markings as if you were looking at the ground out of the window of a speeding vehicle; to give this effect a dark title slides on and off the screen from right to left very quickly. The title then reappears on to the screen in bold white font sliding from left to right; there is a small pause of a black screen (a matter of milliseconds)

before the title re-appears in bold white. The fonts are extremely symmetrical and look as though they were uniformed by a ruler; this connotes the effect of a road marking. The titles are accompanied by sound effects of the road, this represents the the convention that a gangster’s life is spent on the road. "This Film is based on a true story" then appears on to the screen with no motion, to represent seriousness. The titles then break as the sequence is then cut to a speeding car with the tail lights clearly lit, the red connoting danger. The car then moves over and the title '"New York, 1970" appears, white font on a black background, this establishes the movie.

The sequence then cuts to the main protagonists opening a car boot, their faces lit in red by the cars tail lights, connoting evil. The boot is opened and one of the man brutally murders a defenceless and visibly bloodied man in the boot with a knife, introducing three conventions of the gangster genre blood, violence and weapons. Another man then shoots the dead body multiple times, introducing guns as a conventions. The camera then freeze-frames on the protagonist, we hear his VoiceOver say "as far back I can remember I always wanted to be a gangster" and glamorous swing music is played. This is used as a direct juxtaposition to the brutal murder that just unfolded, which is not something anybody would desire to do, never mind a young child. The use of moving titles helps to tell the story by showing us that the gangster’s are constantly changing city’s with Liotta’s character ending up in witness protection in Suburbia.The titles use an enigma code by making the names appear in a mysterious way.