Captain America: Civil War Title Analysis

Captain America: Civil War, (dir Anthony and Joe Russo, 2014)


http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/captain-america-civil-war/

In the opening of Captain America: Civil War, the Superhero AA genre is signalled through the extensive use of imagery with the shadows of familiar characters in the background, thus creating interest in the audience as well as the desire to learn more about what will happen to these characters in the rest of the film.

In order to display the titles, the titles are displayed in capitals in a whitish – light grey colour which stands out against the darker backgrounds, and as well as the fact that the titles are positioned in the centre of the shot, this captures the attention of the audience, thus making the main focus on the titles as there is little action happening in the background in order to promote the importance of the titles. This is very much the same with the Production company as when the Production Company is displayed in the centre of the screen, the dark colours of the background darken further whilst the Font for the Production Company becomes brighter and is displayed in slightly bigger text to highlight its importance to the audience.

Mise-en-scene is very effectively used in the extract because of the fact that the backgrounds represent crumbling walls with deepening cracks, which is extremely relevant to the general ethos of the film, which is two friends and important powers falling out, thus leaving ‘cracks’ in their relationship in the same way that these cracks are being physically displayed on a wall in the title sequence. This tense atmosphere is further represented by the dark colours of the crumbling wall, as the uses of matte and mottled grey colours creates a feeling of dread and fear, thus linking to the confrontational theme during the film.

The sound used throughout the opening contrasts the bleak visual codes of the crumbling walls as it is relatively upbeat orchestral music, but this is contrasted with very dramatic fast paced orchestral music under the slow, patriotic sounding trumpet blasts which represents the Action Adventure genre due to how it invokes excitement and tension in the audience, as well as the patriotic trumpet music which relates to the character Captain America, who has long been a patriotic icon who 'fights for the American way', thus further exemplifying the familiarity the audiences have with the characters in the film.