Major Project: End Credits Development & Decision

How Will our End Credits Look?

As discussed in my previous end credits blog post, my research has led me to believe that mockumentaries either have a simplistic black and white rolling credits, or have an end scene in which the credits roll at the bottom of the screen.

As I wasn't sure what seemed the best option, I decided to experiment and create two version to see which seemed the best. I first began by creating what I was originally going to create before researching. As you can see, the credits simply roll down the screen at a slow and steady pace, enabling the audience to clearly see whom is involved within the production. This runs parallel with the extra scene as previously discussed - it provides the viewer two perspectives of viewing, as if they aren;'t interested in the credits, then they have something else to view. This remains simplistic whilst at the same time still remaining entertaining which is vital as the end credits are still a part of the prediction, so we don't want our viewers to then become disinterested at the end of the pilot episode.

A basic roll downwards and the same font was chosen for the credits

Print screen showing how the title was created

Moving on, I then created a version which consisted of running the clip full screen and having the end credits at the bottom part of the screen - following a similar approach as Modern Family and The Office (US). Although this may make it look as if those being credited aren't getting the full creditability because they're not the main attraction, this approach visually seems the most entertaining as it helps to keep all of the audience's attention, as they won't know its another scene until the end credits appear.

Which Style will be Used?

Between the two, I've decided to use the second style as this generally looks better and seems more appealing and modern. I have enabled a couple of seconds per group of credits so that the audience have enough time to view whom was involved within the credits, which after adding everyone in gave just about enough time to show each group every two seconds. Likewise, I've decided to use the same font used for the sub-titles purely so that it matches our logo and creates a consistent branding throughout. Nonetheless, to me this seems visually appealing whilst clearly remaining conventional for the mockumentary genre.

Below are a couple of screenshots to give you an idea of what this looks like as the credits progress, and how I came across to create them.

A section credits those who have helped the production of DownStage, including
crediting the school (Invite Grammar School) in which our main locations were based at. 

Print screen showing how this title was created and structured. The font was a basic white sans serif font that had a thin black outer stroke that helps to make the font easier to read against any background.