Titles analysis for Shutter Island, Sherlock Holmes and Godzilla

1. Titles Analysis

2. Shutter Island
• This shot shows that Shutter Island was directed by Martin Scorsese, he also directed movies
such as The Wolf of Wall street , Mean Streets and Taxi Driver.
• His name appears in the very first shot of the opening credits which suggests that he is very
important, as he is responsible for all creative aspects of the movie.
• The red colour of the font suits the low key lighting in the shot as it gives an impression of
danger, the size of the font doesn’t particularly stand out of the shot as it is quite small in
comparison to the frame of the shot. The style of the font is simple and easy to read which
helps the viewer to focus on the shot rather than the text.

3. Shutter Island
• In this shot the audience is shown the names of the two producers of Shutter Island
‘Micke Medavoy’ and ‘Arnold Messer’ whose jobs were to plan and coordinate
various parts of film production such as writing scripts and financing. Micke
Medavoy had previously worked on films like Holes, Pathfinder and Black Swan.
• The red colour of the font in this shot carries over from the last one and helps to
retain the impression of danger, the positioning of the text has changed to the left
side of the frame which doesn’t divert attention form the spiralling staircase, the size
and style remain the same and don’t attract too much attention.

4. Shutter Island
• The text in this shot uses the same red colour from the previous two shots, this seems to
link to the darkness that is shown in these shots.
• The text size remains the same as in the previous shots, the text is large enough to read
clearly however it doesn’t take up to much space in the frame.
• This shot credits ‘Laeta Kaldgridis’ for the screenplay in the film as she was the main script
writer for Shutter Island. She has worked on films such as Avatar, Terminator Genisys and
Pathfinder.

5. Shutter Island
• The colour of the text changes in this shot to white, this makes the text stand out more as
it contrasts the dark red from the last shots, this could have been done to make the
creator of the novel ‘Dennis Lehane’ appear more significant in the opening credits.
• The style of the font stays the same as in the previous shots.
• ‘Dennis Lehane’ has also worked on TV series The Wire, and novels Mystic River and The
Drop.
• The film is based on the novel that Dennis Lehane wrote, which means that he is the
original creator of the story.

6. Shutter Island
• The colour of the font remains white in this shot.
• The style remains the same in this shot
• This shot credits the director of photography for the film ‘Robert Richardson’ who has
worked on films such as JFK, Hugo and Django Unchained.
• A Director of Photography’s(or Cinematographer) job consists of being responsible for all
photography elements of the film.

7. Shutter Island
• The colour of the text stays the same as in the previous shots.
• The style of the font stays the same in this shot.
• The text gives us the name of the first actor that appears in the film ‘Ben Kingsley’.
However the credits do not mention his role as an actor in the film and instead they
simply give his name, this is effective as most of the audience already know who he is,
as well as adding to the film’s mystery.
• Ben Kingsley has appeared in films such as Gandhi, The Dictator and Iron Man 3.

8. Shutter Island
• The colour of the font stays white like in the previous shots.
• The style and size of the font stays the same in this shot, however the positioning changes
from the last shot.
• The text in this shot credits ‘Leonardo DiCaprio’ who plays the protagonist in the movie.
Like in the previous shot the actor is not given a title that notifies the audience of their job
role.
• Leonardo DiCaprio has appeared in films such as Titanic, The Wolf of Wall Street and The
Great Gatsby.

9. Shutter Island
• The colour of the text stays the same as in the previous shots.
• The style and size of the font stays the same in this shot.
• This shot continues to show the name of another major actor in the film ‘Mark Ruffalo’, he
has also appeared in films such as The Avengers, Zodiac and Now You See Me.
• Mark Ruffalo appears in the opening credits after both Ben Kingsley and Leonardo DiCaprio
which hints at his their higher significance as they appear first.

10. Shutter Island
• The colour, size and the style of the text stay the same as in the past few shots.
• The text in this shot credits ‘Thelma Schoonmaker’ for editing the movie, she has worked
on films such as Raging Bull, The Aviator and The Departed.
• Film Editing consists of taking raw footage and creating it into the final product in post
production.

11. Shutter Island
• The colour, size and the style of the text stay the same as in the past few shots.
• The positioning of the text changed again like in the previous shots.
• The text in this shot credits ‘Robbie Robertson’ for the film’s music, he has also worked on
other films like The Departed, The Wolf of Wall Street and Raging Bull.
• Robbie Robertson’s role in the creation of Shutter Island was to oversee all music related
aspects of the film and also to combine music and visual media.

12. Shutter Island
• The final shot changes the colour of the text to red much like the first few shots, this could
relate to the symbolism of danger on ‘Shutter Island’.
• The size of the text has increased and is finally positioned in the centre of the frame which
helps to emphasize the film’s title and setting.
• The style of the font still remains the same, this helps to make font more recognizable.

13. Sherlock Holmes
• The first shot in the Sherlock Holmes opening shows us an Warner Bros. logo embedded into the ground, the use of the
Warner Bros. logo in the first shot is effective because WB is so well known for film, television and music, which
definitely encourages people to watch their movies as they are trusted for good quality due to their reputation.
• The use of the logo in the ground helps to reflect the world that the film is set in and makes the logo more interesting
than the original version.

14. Sherlock Holmes
• In the second shot we are shown the logo for Village Roadshow Pictures who helped to produce the movie, the logo is
embedded into the ground just like the WB logo in the previous shot.
• Village Roadshow Pictures is a co-producer and co-financier of major Hollywood motion pictures, some of the films that
they helped to produce include The Matrix Trilogy, The Great Gatsby and American Sniper.
• This shot also embeds the logo into the ground like the previous shot, this helps to make the logo appear more
interesting and also reflects the dark atmosphere that is used in the diegesis of the film.

15. Sherlock Holmes
• The final logo shown in the opening sequence is the logo of Silver Pictures.
• Silver Pictures is an American production company that has produced films such as V for Vendetta and The Matrix
Trilogy.
• This logo also continues the pattern from the previous shots as the logo of Silver Pictures is also embedded into the
group through the use of animation, this helps to make set up the dark mood that is shown in the following scene of
the opening sequence through the use of dark colours and low key lighting which also reflects how the ground is part
of the story.

16. Godzilla
• The first shot in the opening for Godzilla shows the names of the distributing company
Warner Bros. and the production company Legendary Pictures, both of these are presented
in the same white colour, font and size.
• Legendary Pictures is an American production company that has worked on films such as
The Dark Knight Trilogy, Man of Steel and Pacific Rim.
• The use of white font contrasts the dark image in the background allows the text to be seen
more clearly, the text is also positioned on the left side of the frame which helps to
emphasize the image of the creature in the background.

17. Godzilla
• This shot reinstates the involvement of Legendary Pictures as the production company that
worked on the movie.
• Like in the previous shot the text continues to use the same white colour, style and size of
the font which stand out from the background and imply a classified information effect on
the text as some of the text is crossed out in order to emphasize the production company.
• This shot also uses a background image that shows classified information which reveals a
picture of a creature, this means that the image is making a clear reference to the storyline
and therefore is more effective when contrasted by the white text.

18. Godzilla
• This shot introduces the director of the film ‘Gareth Edwards’, he has also worked on films
such as Monsters and Factory Farmed.
• The same style of text continues from the previous shots which establishes the “classified
information” theme that runs throughout the opening.

19. Godzilla
• This next shot gives us the name of the first major actor in the film ‘Aaron Taylor Johnson’
who plays the role of the main protagonist. His previous roles were in films such as The
Avengers, Kick-ass, The Illusionist.
• The colour, size and style of the font remains the same like in the previous shots however
the text alternated to the opposite side of the frame which is effective because it makes
the image of the classified documents in the background appear more important as it
isn’t blocked by the text.

20. Godzilla
• This shot reveals the name of another actor who plays a role in the film ‘Ken Watanabe’ who is known for
his roles in Batman Begins, Inception and Transformers Age of Extinction.
• The text follows the same convention that was set in the previous shots as the text stays white in the same
font size and type, this helps to make opening credits clearer as the text doesn’t change and therefore
avoids confusing the audience.

21. Godzilla
• This shot continues to introduce the film’s cast by naming another actress ‘Elizabeth Olsen’ who has played
roles in films such as Avengers: Age of Ultron and Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
• The font stays the same as in the previous shots which is effective in keeping the viewer’s attention as
establishing a specific style of font helps to avoid confusion.
• The background image used in this shot helps to further establish the same theme from the earlier shots,
this is effective because it helps to set up the story of the film through the use of the headline.

22. Godzilla
• This shot continues to introduce another actress ‘Juliette Binoche’ who has appeared in films such as The
English Patient and Damage.
• The colour size and style of the text remain the same in this shot and carry on appearing similar throughout
the entire opening sequence which continues to set up the intended atmosphere of classified documents.
• The image in the background changes in this shot to a photograph which shows the American flag and a
sailor, this helps to establish the backstory as the photograph appears to look old.

23. Godzilla
• A new actress is introduced in this shot ‘Sally Hawkins’, she played roles in Made in Dagenham and
Submarine. Her name appears later in the opening sequence which implies that her role isn’t as important in
comparison to the other actors before her who play the main roles in the film.
• The theme of the text stays the same in this shot like in the previous ones as the colour, size and style of the
font are the same as before which again continues the classified information theme that has been running
throughout this opening sequence, this is effective because the audience would already be familiar with the
text and therefore would find the text more appealing.

24. Godzilla
• This shot reveals another actor, ‘David Strathairn’ who played roles in films like Lincoln and The Bourne
Legacy. His name appears later in the opening sequence which suggests that his role isn’t as significant as the
previous actors.
• The text continues to follow the same theme as before which helps to make the opening appear more
secretive as it gives the audience the impression that they cannot see all of the significant information that is
relevant to the story which therefore helps to generate more interest towards the film.

25. Godzilla
• This shot features the name of another actor in film ‘Bryan Cranston’ who appeared in Breaking Bad and
Argo. Bryan Cranston appears last as one of the main actors which reflects how his role isn’t incredibly
significant.
• The text stays the same in this shot as in the previous shots and only changes to show the name of the actor
which helps to continue the same theme that has been shown throughout the entire opening sequence, the
positioning of the text also stays the same as before which helps to make the text easier to read in
comparison to if it moved to a different position in every shot which would likely take away from the
audience’s focus on the opening sequence as they would have to constantly look for the location where the
text moves to.

26. Godzilla
• This shot reveals the names of two minor actors in the film ‘Richard T. Jones’ who appeared in Super 8 and
Vantage point, and ‘CJ Adams’ who appeared in Against the wild and Dan in real life.
• The text continues the same theme as in the previous shots however the positioning of the text changes to
the right side rather than the left side as in the previous shot, this is also the first shot to introduce two
actors in the same shot which implies that they played minor roles in the film and therefore weren’t as
important in comparison the previous actors.

27. Godzilla
• This shot gives the name of another actor ‘Victor Rasuk’ who previously appeared in Jobs and Haven.
• The text continues to use the same classified information theme as in the previous shots which helps to
imply that the storyline of the film likely contains documents that will reveal further information that
relate to the story, the positioning of the text changes from the previous shot and instead moves to the
left which helps to make the image in the background appear more clear as the text doesn’t obstruct the
image.
• The image in the background shows a sign which implies that a laboratory is being used for an unknown
reason, this helps to reinforce the story of the film as the audience still hasn’t been shown the main focus
of the film which is Godzilla.

28. Godzilla
• This shot gives the name of another actress ‘Sarah Halley Finn’ who previously played roles in films such as Guardians of
the Galaxy and The Seven Psychopaths. In this shot the opening begins to give the names other of those who had major
roles in the production of the film instead of continuing to list the actors.
• Her job consists of being the casting director who during pre-production needs to select the appropriate actors to play
particular roles in the movie, this would be an important job role as finding the right actors can help to improve the film.

29. Godzilla
• This shot gives us the name of the film’s costume designer ‘Sharen Davis’ who also worked on films such as
Django Unchained and Looper.
• The role of the costume designer is to create the characters and balance the scenes with texture and colour.
• The text in this shot stays the same as in the previous shots which gave the names of the actors, the name that is
used in this shot is slightly larger than their job role which helps to emphasize their importance during
production.
• The image used in the background of this shot relates to the story of the film as it implies that the ‘Project
Monarch’ is set within the film’s diegesis due to the aged look of the image which appears to be similar to some
of the previous images.

30. Godzilla
• This shot reveals the name of the visual effects supervisor ‘Jim Rygiel’ who is well known for working on the Lord of the
Rings trilogy.
• The job of the visual effects supervisor is to achieve the creative aims of the director and producers through the use of
visual effects.
• The text continues to follow the same theme in this shot as previously through the use of the same style, size and
colour of the font, the name of the Visual effects supervisor is made larger than the title of his job role which helps to
signify his importance during production.
• The image in the background also changes in this shot which continues to set up the story of the film by adding another
image which looks aged, this helps to imply that an important event occurred previously during the story.

31. Godzilla
• This shot reveals the visual effects producer ‘Allen Maris’ who has worked on Prometheus and Men in Black.
• A visual effects producer is responsible for ensuring that both visual effects artists and the visual effects supervisor
achieve their goal during production.
• The text in this shot continues the same theme as seen previously, this helps to carry on the classified information
theme which was established at the start of the opening sequence. The positioning of the text also stays on the
same side of the frame like the previous shot which helps to add focus to the background image as the text isn’t
blocking a significant area of the image.
• The background image in this shot changes a black and white picture of a submarine which implies a relation to the
storyline and also continues to hint at the possible backstory to set up the film’s storyline. This is effective because
it helps to retain the audience’s attention during the opening sequence as each shot may contain a different clue to
the story.

32. Godzilla
• This shot reveals the sound editors for the film, ‘Erik Aadahl’ who worked on Transformers: Dark of the Moon and
‘Ethan Van Der Ryn’ who worked on the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
• Their job consists of assembling sound recordings for the final sound mixing.
• The text stays the same in this shot and retains the same classified information theme that has been used previously
throughout the opening sequence which continues to help make the text appear more interesting than an ordinary
font that would be more boring in comparison, the positioning of the text also remains in the same area of the frame
as in the past two shots which helps to make reading the text less tiring especially as the opening sequence lasts a
long period of time.

33. Godzilla
• This shot shows the name of the music supervisor for the film ‘Dave Jordan’ who also worked on Guardians of the
Galaxy and Avenger Assemble. This job role consists of overseeing the combining music and visual media.
• The background image changes in this shot to another black and white picture which implies some form of relation
to the story of the film as the picture shows a child being helped by the armed forces which have been shown in
previous shots during the opening sequence. This is effective because it suggests that the story is more complex
than originally anticipated as the audience can now see that the story involves civilians.
• The text in this shot continues to use the same theme as previously, the position of the text changes to the left side
of the frame unlike the past few shots which positioned the text on the right side, this would have likely been used
in order to emphasize the child in the image because they could be significant in comparison to the story.

34. Godzilla
• This shot reveals the film’s composer ‘Alexandre Desplat’ who also worked on the Twilight Saga and The King’s Speech.
The job of the composer is to create original music for the film.
• The background image in this shot changes to another black and white picture of a soldier with children which
continues the same impression as the previous shot because the image appears to relate to the storyline and helps to
set up the present story by showing images from what appears to be the past in the same diegesis.
• The text in this shot retains the same font, size and position as in the previous shot which helps to both emphasize the
image in the background and also make the text stand out in comparison to the background which is effective in
maintaining the audience’s attention on the credits.

35. Godzilla
• This shot reveals the film editor ‘Bob Ducsay’ who worked on films like Van Helsing and The Mummy. The film editor is
responsible for the post production process .
• The background image continues to us the same black and white filter to imply that the image is old and was taken in the
past, this is effective because the audience would instantly know that the image is meant to represent the past in the
diegesis of the film.
• The text stays the same as it was previously as it continues to use the same theme which makes the text appear significant
by making the text look like classified information, this is effective because the opening sequence had established a
particular style for the text which would instantly stay in the audience’s mind.

36. Godzilla
• This shot reveals the film’s production designer ‘Owen Paterson’ who worked on the Matrix trilogy. Production
designers are responsible for the visual concept of a film.
• Unlike the previous shots the background in this shot is shown in colour rather than black and white, this could
possibly signify the sense of time passing in an attempt to get closer to the present day in which the diegesis is set.
• Like the few previous shots the text remains in the same area of the frame and also stays in the same font, colour and
size which continues to stand out against the background even when the image uses colour, this is effective because
the text is still easy to read and stays clear even of the image is brighter.

37. Godzilla
• This shot reveals the name of the film’s cinematographer ‘Seamus McGarvey’ who worked on Avengers and The Hours. A
Director of Photography’s(or Cinematographer) job consists of being responsible for all photography elements of the
film.
• The background image in this shot appears to be shown black and white instead of continuing to use colour, however the
limited colour in this shot could have been affected by the dark background and cloudy weather which makes it unclear
whether or not this shot is meant to be shown in black and white or whether it is actually showing colour. This helps to
make the atmosphere feel darker as the lighting in this shot turns low key and contrast the high key lighting in the
previous shot.
• The text continues to appear the same but in this shot it is made more apparent due to the black background that it
overlays, this helps to make the text even more clearer which could possibly imply the significance of the director of
photography and their role in making the film.

38. Godzilla
• This shot reveals two executive producers ‘Patricia Whitcher’ who worked on Avengers and ‘Alex Garcia who worked
on 300: Rise of an Empire. An executive producer is in charge of hiring, managing and organizing a movie, television,
radio, music or stage production.
• The background image in this shot continues to show another picture in colour unlike the previous images in black
and white which helps to establish the passing of time throughout the opening sequence and essentially tells the
audience that the credits are getting closer to present day where the story of the film will begin. The image itself
appears to relate to the story of the film by showing an image of a communication operator which likely relates to
the images of the army that have been shown previously in the opening sequence.
• The text remains the same as it has been shown previously only changing the name names that it credits and also
the name of their role, the position changes to the right side of the frame in order to put more emphasis on the
operator on the left side of the frame.

39. Godzilla
• This shot reveals the film’s producer ‘Thomas Tull’ who also worked on Man of Steel and The Hangover. A producer will
oversee each project from conception to completion and may also be involved in the marketing and distribution
processes.
• The background image continues to be shown in colour in this high angle shot of what appears to be the first
appearance of ‘Godzilla’, this image is effective because it finally reveals the film’s main focus as well as retaining
secrecy by not completely showing the entire creature and instead just showing it from a high angle view which is likely
make the audience anticipate the next few shots more.
• The text continues the same theme as in the previous shots and also the same size and colour which ensures that the
text would be recognized as part of the movie which makes it more significant if the audience can recognize it as the
font from the opening sequence.

40. Godzilla
• This shot shows more of the film’s producers including; Jon Jashni who worked on the Hangover, Mary Parent who
worked on Role Models, and Brian Rogers who previously worked on Green Lantern.
• The background image in this shot continues to give another picture of the military in colour which implies further
relation to the film’s story by showing backstory to a particular event in the diegesis of the film which is effective in
building up more anticipation to other events in the film.
• The text in this shot continues to remain the same as it has been shown previously which is effective in making
creating a specific atmosphere and making the font more recognizable with this particular film. The postioning of
the text also stays the same as previously which helps to put more emphasis on the characters that are shown in the
right side of the frame.

41. Godzilla
• This shot credits ‘Godzilla’ and the owners ‘Toho CO LTD’.
• The text in this shot continues to use the same theme as it has previously however the positioning of the text
has changed to the middle of the frame which is effective in gathering the most amount of attention possible
from the audience, this helps to signify the importance of the owners of ‘Godzilla’, this shot also implies the end
of the opening sequence by listing these credits at after all of the previous ones.
• The background image in this shot returns back to the black and white filter which helps to portray that this
image of ‘Godzilla’ is from the past, which again implies that the opening sequence is meant to act as a way to
give some backstory to the events in the diegesis of the film.

42. Godzilla
• This shot shows that ‘David Callaham’ created the narrative for the film, he has worked on The Expendables and
Doom.
• The background image used in this shot shows soldiers who are likely watching ‘Godzilla’ off-screen, this helps to
create further anticipation for the creature’s appearance as the audience isn’t shown what the characters are
looking at in this shot.
• The text in this shot stays the same as it was seen previously and only changing the name of the person it credits as
well as their role in creating the film. The positioning of the text is kept to the left side of the frame in order to
emphasize the soldier on the right side of the frame by making him appear larger than the text.

43. Godzilla
• This shot shows that ‘Max Borenstein’ did the screen play of the film. The role of a screenwriter is to write the script
of the film whilst providing acting instructions and scene direction.
• The text in this shot continues the same theme as seen previously, this helps to carry on the classified information
theme which was established at the start of the opening sequence. The positioning of the text also stays on the same
side of the frame like the previous shot which helps to add focus to the background image as the text isn’t blocking a
significant area of the image.
• The background image itself continues to show another picture of ‘Godzilla’ in order to build up the anticipation for
the end of the opening sequence and also make the appearance of the creature more desired by the audience as
none of the images have shown the entire creature.

44. Godzilla
• This shot introduces the director of the film ‘Gareth Edwards’, he has also worked on films such as Monsters and Factory
Farmed.
• The positioning of the text changes to the middle of the frame which again implies the importance of the person who is
being credited. The director is listed as the last one to be credited in the opening sequence which makes him appear to be
the most significant as he appears just before the film’s title is revealed in the following shot in the sequence.
• The background image is shown in colour and gives a picture of a bomb which is likely related to the backstory of the film
as well as the previous images which have been shown throughout the entire opening sequence. The bomb itself is again
placed in the centre of the frame which also implies its importance in the story.

45. Godzilla
• The final shot of the opening sequence gives the title of the film ‘Godzilla’.
• The text is placed in the very centre of the frame to attract the most amount of attention possible as it is the films
title ‘Godzilla’. The colour of the font also changes from white to black which heavily contrasts all of the white text
used in all of the previous shots, the use of this colour ensures that the text is easily visible in comparison to the
background which this time is much lighter as the background image focuses on the sky. The style of the font
appears to be the same, however the spacing between letters has increased which helps to signify the importance
of the title.
• The background in this shot consists of ash falling from the sky which implies the destruction caused buy the bomb
that was seen in the previous shot, this is effective because it doesn’t divert the viewer’s attention from the main
title but at the same time it manages to keep the background interesting and not plain.