Deconstructions of Existing Openings - The Mummy

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor 

Click Here to watch the Opening of The Mummy

In the above image you can see the Opening title sequence from the film 'The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor'. Click on the link above to view the video version. As a group we have decided to do this film as it is horror in genre and it is a little different from the other choices that we have made previously.

In the first clip of the sequence, you see three red dragons that look like they have been painted onto a black screen which could be a canvas of some sort. They pop up from the bottom right corner, as soon as they pop up the music starts. When the bright red dragon pops up onto the screen for the first time, the name of the director also pops up which would be Rob Cohen. After Four seconds the writing then disappears and the dragon moves and flows into the next scene like a wave. This  animation continues with the rest of the film opening but it is used in different ways to create different effects.

In the next scene of the opening, the animation changes from a black background and turns white. the dragon the turn into a "snake like" animated animal moving across the page slowly then rushes across the screen over the writing that says that Simon Duggan is the director of photography. The Red dot appears by the snake and the snake slithers over the dot in a sinful way.

In the next camera shot the animation moves from writing to show a mountain.There is an aeroplane that appears in the background and it flys over the top of the mountain. In this shot their is the same sort of features that are shown here as in the Shot before. When the aeroplane flies past the camera it flies over the writing and covers it. There is then black paint streaks that cover up the scene in order to make the opening to continue to progress and that if is fluent. The transaction between the two clips are fluent and in my opinion, the best transaction throughout the entire piece.  

In the fourth and fifth screen shots, they are using the same features as in the previous shots but they do the effects in different ways to create different emotions while viewing them. they do this by changing the scene from two black cliffs which are coloured in their entirety you can then see the white paint strokes that graze the screen, which then move the scene along into the next one. you also see the image of an animal which is silhouetted on the screen. it then scratches away at the screen, which then progresses that scene and onto the next one with one ripping transition.

The next few screen shots are all the same but with a few differences in the images that are shown on the screen. they all have a different way of transitioning into the next scene. At the end of the opening you see a dark animal figure which the camera moves towards to show a completely black screen then the film starts.

If we did this type of film genre we would also have to use animation in some way. this opening is very complex because it is all done with the use of animation and this would be very difficult for us to do. we do not have the technical equipment available to produce and create some spectacular scenes of animation. This is why that if we do use any particular animation then it will be either badly made by us, or will be a piece of animation that has been specifically made for us, to be used by us and no one else. if we choose to use animation created by and for someone, then we could be done for copy-writing their idea and creation.