DV Filmmaking

Chapter 15. Bringing Your Title Sequence into Your Project

In this chapter

Building Your Opening Sequence in Final Cut Pro

Building Your Opening Sequence in After Effects

Joining Your Opening Sequence to the Body of Your Film

Now that you’ve created some sharp-looking titles, it’s time to bring them into your project. Rather than simply slapping them into the Timeline, you can exercise complete control over the way each title appears to your audience—including how it enters and leaves the screen. Whether you’re working with static or animated titles, you can decide where they appear on screen, whether they pop on at full opacity or gently fade in, and how they interact with other elements of your opening sequence.

This chapter walks you step-by-step through the process of creating the opening sequence of Big Luca, using the titles you created in Chapters 12, 13, and 14. The composites you created in the previous three chapters now exist as separate sequences if you’re working in Final Cut Pro, or multiple compositions if you’re working in After Effects. The following exercises show you how to combine these separate elements into a single, flowing visual montage.

Your goal as a filmmaker and title designer is to draw the audience into your story. How you present your titles and incorporate them into your opening sequence deserves the same amount of care you put into creating them.

Building Your Opening Sequence in Final Cut Pro

This section walks you through laying out your opening ...