Salford City CollegeEccles Sixth Form CentreBTec Level 3Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production

Unit 64 – Motion Graphics and Compositing VideoHA1 – Motion Graphics Now – Task 3 AnalysisSequence: Breaking Bad Title Sequence

Type of motion graphic and purpose:What is its purpose and specific subject?

This is clearly the opening credits for the TV show ‘Breaking Bad’ which is used to both try and intrigue the viewer in watching the rest of the show, and also to try and make clear what the show is about and what it will be surrounding.

Description:What do you see and what do you read from this? What symbolism is there?How suitable is the sequence for its purpose?

In this title sequence we see multiple things, like at the beginning we see a bunch of chemical symbols coming towards the screen out of the darkness. Then the periodic table comes into view with the chemical symbol Br and Ba are made clearer than the others on our screen, by having the rest of the table fade into darkness and move backwards and keeping those two symbols clear in the middle of the shot. Then the words ‘Breaking Bad’ come into our view, but with the chemical symbols as the first two letters of each word. We then also see smoke coming into the screen from the bottom right corner, which goes behind the words, and then the smoke comes in front of the words and the words disappear with the smoke as it moves in front of them. I think a lot of symbolism is used in this title sequence, and I also think it fits perfectly with what the show is about. For example, the use of chemical symbols and the periodic table shows clearly that this show will be somehow related to chemistry, which it is. Also the use of smoke is a clear reference to the fact the show is about cooking meth, which people then smoke, which is most probably why they put the smoke within the title sequence. So overall this title sequence fits its purpose perfectly because it shows us exactly what it will be about, without giving away too much.

Techniques used:Animation, visual effects, colour, audio, graphics, movement.Blur, sharpen, distortion, rotation, opacity.

Animation, visual effects, audio, movement and blur are all used within this title sequence. For example when the chemical symbols come into the screen they are clearly animated, then the chemical symbols move away from the screen and slowly blur out as they are moving away from view. Also when the chemical symbols Br and Ba come into screen they become far clearer and sharped then everything else in shot.

Technical comments:Video Format, Screen Ratio, Resolution, Frame rate, Compression

Use these prompts to develop a written response to each of your three chosen sequences. You can then compare and contrast the results.