Analysis of Napoleon

Dynamite Title Sequence

Institutions
Fox Searchlight Pictures,
established in 1994, is an
American film distribution
company within the Fox
Entertainment Group, a sister
company of the larger Fox
studio 20th Century Fox. It
specializes in US distribution
of independent and British films,
alongside dramedy and horror as
well as non-English-language
films, and is sometimes also
involved in the financing of these
films.

Paramount Pictures
Corporation is a film studio,
television production company
and motion picture distributor.
It has distributed several
successful film series, such as
Transformers, Mission:
Impossible, the Marvel
Cinematic Universe series. It
is the world's fourth oldest
continuously-operating major
film studio, the third being
Universal Studios, the two
oldest being the French
studios Gaumont Film
Company and Path.

Audience and Genre

Like Juno, Napoleon Dynamite is also a comedy film. You can
tell this film is a comedy as there is high focus on use of bold,
vibrant colours within each frame which creates a brighter and
happier atmosphere. You can also tell its a comedy as the titles
are made out of food and other random objects which
automatically tell us that the film takes a less serious
approach.
The target audience for Napoleon Dynamite is teenagers. They
have targeted their audience by using bright colours and bright
lights. The abstract style of title sequence also targets a
younger audience as stereotypically, most adults wouldnt find
the title sequence appealing as it doesnt have a mature style
or flow. However, teenagers would find this sequence relatable,
the title sequence isnt serious, it has a comical feel and uses
props such as the condiments to bring a childish and playful
tone to the sequence.

Narrative
There is little use of narrative portrayed within the opening titles.
The majority of the titles are presented in food, or other basic
objects that could easily be found lying on a bedroom floor of a
messy teenager. The audience arent being clearly told what will
happen in the film, but it gives the idea that the film is rather
random and portrays elements of the comedy genre. On the other
hand, the items featured in the sequence could link to elements of
the storyline, for example the drawings that are shown could be
connected to the main character or represent a love that he has for
doodling.

The first shot of actor credits that we

see in the sequence is a point of view
shot. The name of lead actor Jon Heder
is presented on an insurance card and
strongly implies the comedy genre. This
is a prime example, as it contains irony
and the supernatural. This point of view
shot is only used to introduce the main
character in the film and the only time
we see his face is the shot straight after
the actors credit. Whilst I like this use
of point of view shot, it doesnt allow
the audience to be excited for the rest
of the film. Diegetic sound is also
introduced here. The sound is soft indie
style music and connotes a gentle tone
and upbeat style. It is very similar to
the music used in the Juno title
sequence and seems to be a common
choice for comedy films. With this in
mind I aim to use this style of music in
my own final piece.

Editing
There is very little, basic editing used within this title
sequence. Every shot shown in sequence uses a jump
cut. Whilst this is effective and could possibly represent
how the character jumps through life, skipping from one
event to the next, I feel that more could have been done
to experiment with the use of editing to create a more
emotive piece. When applying this to my final piece, I
will aim to use some jump cuts to go from frame to
frame, however, I would like to be more experimental
with my use of editing. Even if I just experiment with
using more advanced editing for the titles, I want to aim
to show more skill and experience when it comes to
editing each frame.

Mise-en-scene
The mise-en-scene in the sequence also helps to create the
comedic and light-hearted genre. The lighting throughout the
sequence is ambient, which allows the sequence to appear as
if it is happening in real-time and is naturally unfolding. I will
also use ambient lighting in my title sequence, so to hopefully
create the same effect. This shows that the genre is comedy
as the focus of comedy films is to make the audience relate
the events to real life. In my title sequence I will use natural
lighting as this will create a relaxed atmosphere and show
that it is a rom-com. If I come across an issue with lighting
when filming the piece I will use the editing software to
change the exposure of the shot and hopefully still achieve
the same effect

Representations
Its hard to pick out specific
representations from within the
title sequence as we never see
the main character. However
the props that we are
presented with allow us to
make judgements on what sort
of message the director is
aiming to portray. For example
the use of childish imagery
such as the toy cars and
cartoon drawings represent the
characters maturity. These
props connote stereotypical
attitudes of male teens, the
food used signifies how much
teens are supposedly thought
to eat and represents the
image of a growing boy.

The drawings shown also

represent doodles, we assume
that have been done by the main
character and portray a nerdy
personality as they seem to
represent fantasy warrior
characters that are associated with
the geekier, less cool characters
that are commonly presented in
most American films.

Order of Credits
In keeping with my research into title
sequence conventions, the order of
the credits in this title sequence
appears to follow the standard order.
It is becoming increasingly noticeable
that the final credit in every title
sequence is always the director. Their
credit is always very eye catching
and makes a statement on the
screen. This is an important factor to
take into consideration when looking
at the order of my own credits. After
the institutions have been named the
main actor more often than not is
then credited, followed by the
separate departments of the film and
then finally the director.