RESEARCH: THE ART OF THE TITLE

Blue Valentine centres on a contemporary married couple, Dean (Ryan Gosling) and Cindy (Michelle Williams), following them on a journey of their relationship, by cross-cutting between time periods..

A soundtrack opens against a black screen. A tinkling, humming, pubbing industrial intro from which a whistling note, descending in pitch, identifies itself as a firework, exploding in conjunction with the opening lyrics of the song and illuminating a still image of a young couple embracing. The cascading fears of the firework are pulled out of focus, each ring of falling light a small moving frame behind which still images of the films leading actors appear.

The title sequence tells an abstract story with embedded images within the concepts of the relationship. The abstractions seem to create something less logical and more emotional or even poetic while at the same time leaving space for the titles and even highlighting them.

The fireworks flow throughout the title sequence, the beautiful footage uncovers rhythms of the exploding light. The fireworks are deliberately soft focus so the images are sharp in focus to allow viewers to become enticed by the still shots of cinematography.

A mesmerizing display of celestial colours spread across the night sky with Grizzly Bear’s “Alligator” conducting the atmospherics, elevating the experience of the film to something glorious. “Alligator” fits perfectly into the title opening, the tone to the lyrics to the cinematic quality lends to the sequence, whilst the photos fit inside the fireworks — like memories.

The photographs tell a story of togetherness, apartness, and love, ending with the wedding and ultimately, the little girl (Faith Wyladyka) alone in the field. They fit within the firework explosions. There is an equal amount of negative space within the images to make the titles really pop out so the image and the title could share time together without conflict. Fireworks streaking into the sky and crackling in the distance, muted booms, children laughing, shouting, and screaming… they all help tie the title sequence to the last shot of the film and, in effect, create interaction between the nostalgic past and the present that reflects the structure of the film itself. The fireworks surround sound have been layered in, so that they work with the rhythm of the images and tone of the song — echoing and abstract, lost in nostalgia, sometimes slightly out of sync, sometimes absent and allowing the music to completely take over.

The short fade in and long fade outs of titles, like exploding and disappearing light. The only title that cuts straight in is the main title, super bold with a long fade out.