Research Art Of The Title '11.22.63'

For my title sequence research, I decided to look at the movie 11.22.63. In this title sequence It launches a series of visual codes all taken from the world of police investigations and the process through which detectives, investigate, record and display their evidence in a criminal investigation.

The sequence is an innovative and fascinating mix of different types of film work, taking in models, newspaper cutting, photographs and live action shots. It begins with a model recreation of the JFK assassination that took place in the Parkland Memorial Hospital, Dallas, Texas, United states on the 22^nd November 1963. This is one of the most well-known unsolved murdered case in history. This them moves through a series of different shot types and mis-en-scene. The progression and fast pace are provided by one significant visual code that becomes a central unifying factor: the audiences eye travels rapidly along a red string that comes from the model car and links all the pieces of evidence to the police board. This is all framed through a stereotypical detective magnifying glass. this visual code signals that someone is investigating the case. 

Certain shots such as the low angle shot from the car of a window are point of view shots, where the red string leads from the car to the window in a building. The effect of this is to get the audience obsessed with the murdered as it shows the thought process of the detective working the case. The manner of the opening sequence does an impressive job at sucking the audience into the action and engaging their curiosity. This is one of the main functions of the opening sequence. 

The editing in the opening sequence is rapid and compelling, occasionally achieved by hard cuts and sometimes by rostrum shots as the camera travels speeded up across the board, like an eye scanning the information and making connections between each piece of evidence found. The visual treatment represents the way that an obsessed, intrigued mind is starting to make deductions about the identity of the assassin. 

There are multiple periods of detail to create a historical quality: revealing a cluster of newspaper articles in close-up establishes this film is about the JKF assassination as the headline that is revealed is ‘KENNEDY KILLED’ with the date. The shot of the sixties diner and the old-fashioned record player is a visual code to the audience which hints at the time period in which it was set. Tension begins to build up as the title sequence unfolds, the audience seems to be following in the footsteps of the assassin as we see his preparations leading up to the kill: an open case lying on the bed lit with a spotlight, his clothes, letters, pens and inevitably, his gun. The theme of guns is continued in the title sequence as an old-fashion barrel of a sniper is pulled in. these visual codes allow the audience to understand that this is going to be an action/thriller movie. 

The title sequence follows all the genre conventions such as featuring th names of the actors, producers, executive producers, directions, novelist, all the creatives and those responsible for bringing the film to the public such as the writer of the teleplay. The soundtrack is gripping and drives the action forward. The rhythmic sound of a xylophone creates a puzzling atmosphere. The music sharpens with more percussion instruments coming into play. Tension is built when a shot of the clock triggers a ticking sound which gets lounder as the mid-shot of the clock transitions into a close up as if the opening sequence had reached the exact moment of the assassination. Finally, the extreme close up of the sign of the rifle triggers leads to a reveal of the title of the film, 11.22.63, typed in a old-fashioned typewriter font. Sustainably, the final dot separating the last two figures is red blood red, like the point of the entry bullet.