"A Knight's Tale" Opening Title Sequence Deconstruction
- 2. Background Information “A Knight‟s Tale” is an Adventure Comedy Film released in 2001, based on the story of „William Thatcher‟ – a peasant masquerading as a knight in the world of Jousting. It follows him competing in tournaments, and gaining friendships with historical figures such as „The Black Prince of Wales‟ and „Geoffrey Chaucer‟. The Opening Title Sequence gives us various hints towards the theme of the Film.
- 3. Production and Marketing Companies The first title to appear on-screen is the Production/Distribution Company, "Columbia Pictures", followed by the two other Production Companies, "Escape Artists" and "Finestkind ".They are likely to be in this order because 'Columbia Pictures' is a very large, very well funded Production/Distribution Company, and were the main reason for the Films success - however the smaller Production Companies would have been more 'hands on' with the Film, because this would likely have been one of the largest Films/TV Shows either company had produced at the time.
- 4. Names The first big "name" to appear on screen is the Title of the Film. This is common in large production films from big companies. We're then shown a succession of Actor Names, again following conventions by having the Main Protagonist's name (Heath Ledger) first, which is in the center of the screen - suggesting he's the most important; and it's very clear to the Audience straight away. Then there are more Actor Names placed in the center of the screen, however they're not held on-screen for as long as the first, and quickly come one after the other suggesting that they're not playing as big a role as 'Heath'. Shortly after - as you'd expect - there are a few names onscreen together, showing that they're still important (because they're in the Opening Title Sequence) however they're not as important as the other Actors. Then we're shown 'behind the scenes' names, among which are the Casting Director, Costume Designer(s), Editor etc. This is because without them, the film wouldn't have happened at all - so they credit of their own. The last of these 'behind the scenes' names to appear is the Writer and Director - most likely because he is the most important of all the other Crew Members (harks back to the phrase, "saving the best until last").
- 5. Title Font As you can see from the Screenshots, the Title Font heavily links to the Theme of the Film. It consists of a Yellow Colour in an almost "handwritten" format. It strongly hints at the Viewer that the Font is in the style of Medieval handwriting, reinforcing to the Audience the Context in which the film is set. You could also argue that the Editor has purposefully chosen to use a Handwritten Font to engage the Audience into the Film directly, as if the Titles are being written to them on some form of Letter - which was one of the only forms of communication in that era.
- 6. Narrative Clues Throughout the Sequence we're shown portions of Armor and Weaponry, which gives heavy clues toward the Narrative in that the Film is likely to contain a lot of fighting - which rings true because the Main Plot of the Film is centered around Jousting. Adding to this there are large amounts of crowds 'gearing up' for some form of Fight to occur, which would have been common in that time period; whereas in today's Society, fighting is generally seen as bad, in those days, it was encouraged as a sport.
- 7. Target Audience and Production Values The Target Audience are likely to be younger males aged 12 - 17, as the film has a lot of Modern Comedic values, despite the fact that the film is set in a Medieval part of History. You could argue that this Setting could be a way of educating youngsters some aspects of Culture within Medieval times. The Production Values of this Film are likely to be higher because it has a very large, and very well known Production/Distribution Company Marketing and selling the Film - as well as the fact that the film has three Production Companies, it suggests that it had a lot of backing and a large sum of funding. Furthermore, the Main Protagonist was playing by a moderately well known Actor at the time, thus appealing to the Audience and drawing them in - hence why you could also argue that the Film was aimed at younger females as well, because 'Heath Ledger' was seen as a "heartthrob" .