Closing Credits: Stranger Than Fiction

We're continuing our examination of cinematic closing credits and how certain movies are able to continue the "high" from the climax through to the very end. As stated in a previous post, this can only be accomplished if the film itself actually creates a "high", but assuming it does, then the critical element in retaining the audience is in the right choice of closing credit music. Next is a creative title sequence that begins at the conclusion of the last scene (rather than at the start of the film).

Image via Wikipedia

The 2006 comedy Stranger than Fiction directed by Marc Forster is an outstanding example of how it is done. Written by Zach Helm, the film stars Will Ferrell as IRS auditor Harold Crick and Maggie Gyllenhaal as Ana Pascal, a tax-delinquent baker whom Crick is to audit. The film succeeds not only with a tight well-written plot that is both humorous and heartfelt, but with superb performances by both stars and the strong supporting cast of Dustin Hoffman, Queen Latifah, and Emma Thompson.
More in depth plot summary at Wikipedia.

So the film is a winner. How does it extend the audience's high spirits into the end credits?  First, it continues  with the use of well-chosen indie punk and rock songs that it exquisitely utilized throughout the movie.

Whole Wide World - by Wreckless Eric at a crucial turning point in the film:

Video posted by lantzn

At the conclusion of the final scene, we're immediately hit with the upbeat The Book I Write by Spoon as well as a dynamic animated sequence which includes various images and numerous mathematical motifs (referencing the linear thought processes of the Crick character) that occurred throughout the film. Both these end titles and the opening sequence to the movie were created by MK12 Studios. See them both in HD at The Art of the Title Sequence.

Ending title sequence also seen below:

Video posted by MK12

MCC Gets Mention in Milwaukee Journal

The Mad City Chickens documentary received a mention in a recent article from the Milwaukee Journal. While it is currently illegal for residents of Milwaukee to keep backyard poultry, that didn't stop folks at the Urban Ecology Center from holding a class last Monday night on how to raise city chickens. Over 100 people showed up.

St. Louis Chickens Tonight!

Mad City Chickens is returning to St. Louis tonight, March 29th, 2010. The film played in the Gateway City last November to a very enthusiastic audience. This public screening is presented once again by Slow Food St. Louis--start time 7:30pm at the Schlafly Bottleworks, 7260 Southwest Ave.

Interstate 70: Two More Screenings in Next Two Days

Mad City Chickens: Colorado Springs and St. Louis!

~Sunday March 28th, 2010 Colorado Springs, CO - Public Screening sponsored by Springs' Chickens - 3:00pm Penrose Library, Pikes Peak Library District, 20 North Cascade Ave.

~Monday March 29th, 2010 St. Louis, MO - Public Screening sponsored by Slow Food St. Louis - 7:30pm Schlafly Bottleworks, 7260 Southwest Ave.

MCC Screens in Bend, Oregon this Saturday

~March 20th, Bend, Oregon USA - Mad City Chickens Public Screening presented by Celebrate the Seasons: Your Backyard Farm Center - Doors open 5:30pm Second Street Theater.

"Chickens" in Storey Publishing Film Fest Today

Mad City Chickens screens today at the Farm Film Feast in Williamstown, MA. Sponsored by Storey Publishing, it plays at 11:30 am at Images Cinema. Admission $5.

Mad City Chickens Screens Tonight in Calgary!

Mad City Chickens screens tonight in Calgary as part of the efforts by CLUCK: Calgary Liberated Urban Chicken Klub to get the city's ordinances updated to allow for backyard poultry. Come to the viewing and see live baby chicks. Now you can't beat that!

7:00 pm at the Plaza Theatre, 1133 Kensington Road NW in Calgary.

Mad City Chickens Returns to Baraboo Today!

Our Mad City Chickens documentary plays in Baraboo, Wisconsin today at the UW's Campus Theatre. The screening, sponsored by the Wisconsin Humanities Council, is part of a larger event called Wisconsin: Making It Home. The focus is to get folks thinking about their food supply and to consider the idea of keeping chickens in the backyard.

There will be a post-film discussion with the audience lead by two teenage girls, Maia and Lydia. They are the two who spearheaded the movement last year in Baraboo to make backyard chickens legal. Their efforts were successful!

See the previous posts on Maia and Lydia's efforts in Baraboo:

5.29.09 Baraboo Screening a Success: Girls Moving City Closer to Allowing Chickens
6.04.09 Baraboo Girls Stand Up to City Council in Support of Chickens
7.15.09 Chickens Come Home to Roost in Baraboo

Closing Credits: Emperor vs. Enchanted - Part II

In regards to closing credits sequence, Enchanted. excelled where Emperor's New Groove failed--in both the visual animations (Emperor really had none) and in the choice of music.

After the climax of Enchanted where Giselle (Amy Adams) has rescued her true love, Robert (Patrick Dempsey), from the clutches of the evil Queen Narissa (in dragon form), the final shot is of Giselle, Robert and his young daughter Morgan in their NYC apartment dancing together, having fun and living happily ever after--a fairytale ending.

Image courtesy Walt Disney Pictures via IMDB

To maintain this happily ever after flavor, an amazing visual sequence was created by yU+co, a three-time Emmy nominated creative design studio. The film ends with the closing of a (fairytale) book, and with a quick zoom in on the cover, the yU+co animated sequence kicks in. We see a swimming mermaid, a Cinderella carriage, a Thumbelina fairy and other recognizable fairytale imagery. All of the animations are in silhouette with colorful backgrounds, reminiscent of the superb work once done with cut-out figures by filmmaker Lotte Reiniger.

 

All images copyright Walt Disney Pictures

Accompanying the the silhouette animations is a musical reprise medley of all the songs that appeared in the film. This insures the same emotional ambiance that the audience would have felt at the end of the story and thus prolongs the time they will bask in the glow of the fairytale ending. A well thought out and artistically executed closing credit sequence on all levels.

View the animated sequence on the yU+co site...without the original Disney copyrighted music. (Click on work, film, title, and then enchanted.)

See a 2008 millimeter write up on Enchanted closing sequence and it's creators.

Closing Credits: Emperor vs. Enchanted - Part I

Let's compare the closing credits of two films from Walt Disney Pictures. The Emperor's New Groove (2000) and Enchanted (2007). Both have a solid story with well executed acting and good editing. Both go for the "wow them in the end" finale as well, but only one continues that feeling into the end credits.

In Emperor's New Groove, the movie ends on a high note with a humorous scene featuring Kronk, the lovable comedic relief character teaching a group of scouts (and Yzma, the villain who's been turned into a cat) how to speak "squirrel".

Image courtesy Walt Disney Pictures via IMDB

The scene gets a laugh and ends well, but this feeling quickly dissipates as the end credits appear accompanied by a most subdued musical number performed by Sting. We've seen the film a dozen times, but only once have we sat through the entire end credits, and that was because we had to for research for this blog post.

We think Sting and his music is world class, and so must Disney because they hired him to create the soundtrack for this film. The song in question, My Funny Friend and Me, was even nominated for an Academy Award. But the making of The Emperor's New Groove was not without its troubles. Director Roger Allers (The Lion King) quit the film half way through, and the story was completely rewritten with new director Mark Dindal in charge. Sting's songs, related to specific scenes that were now gone, all had to be dropped--except one. It seems to us that My Funny Friend and Me might have been created for a possible montage scene in the story. Instead, it was thrown over the credit roll. It unfortunately fails to maintain the jovial feeling created in Kronk's last scene and thus sends the audience from their seats to the exits sooner than it should have.

This is an example of how corporate dictates interfered with artistic ones, and as a result the closing credits leave you feeling flat and uninterested.

Tomorrow, we'll examine how the creators of Enchanted did things a bit differently.