Following on from the last post where I gathered screenshots from 'The Ripper's title sequence as the primary source for my inspiration, I've created some similar examples of my own, albeit in the form of static images rather than a smooth transitioning animation/collage. I've used real cases with photos and articles from them to create these collaged images in Photoshop before painting over them with sketchy and textured paintbrushes. On the second one I also added a sepia filter just to imitate the old school aesthetic I'm aiming to achieve.

One of my favourite title sequences I've come across while looking for inspiration was the opening to 'The Ripper' on Netflix. It's a classic example of the typical detective/crime/thriller opening credits. I love the tones of the imagery and how the images and text intertwine with one another, using the different layers to get an almost projector type appearance as if the imagery was being projected directly on to the base photograph. I want to achieve something simialr to this in the sense that I shall use some of my own photographs combined with drawings and other imagery in this same layered fashion, having all the elements moving and transitioning in to one another, possibly with those retro overcast colours and grainyness. 

Having now looked at a couple of interesting true cases, I feel like I can write my own short story as a basis to form my title-sequence from.

Brief summary;
I want it to be a sort of vintage/retro account of a 1950's/60's murder spree in which a cold-blooded killer targets several young women in vicious acts of violence, leaving a clue behind at the scene of each crime. The murderer leads a detective on a wild goose chase, and with each murder that follows, the authorities get increasingly more anxious to find the killer, who's taunting them along their way with cryptic messages written on notes found on the victim's person. 

This is basically an adaptation of all three of the cases which I briefly covered previously. Similarly to the imagery I included before, I want the aesthetic of my title sequence to be rather old-school, with high contrast imagery and lots of hand-written text. I'm thinking of going down the more collaged, chaotic route with articles and photographs or sketches all combined together in a random assortment to create that sense of mystery and confusion relating to the case.

I shall develop a title for my documentary later on in my development process as it's quite a complex thing to be thinking about at such an early stage.

Having researched a selection of examples now, I'm starting to understand the structure of these types of films/series'. It seems that in most cases, there is always a protagonist character which you follow throughout the story, which for the most part would appear to be a detective of some sort. Alongside this, the opposite is that there's also a strong focus on the antagonist character too, which would be the criminal in this scenario. There is often equal importance in both roles as they go against one-another. 

I'm not looking to create a whole story just for a short title sequence, however I do feel it is important have a basic plot in place before developing any imagery or text. Since my topic of choice is True Crime Documentary series, it might be interesting to research an actual case to base it off. I've gathered here a small collection of cases together, outlining the key details from each of them before I develop my own story from them. Since the animation will obviously feature lots of imagery, I have also included some of the crime scene photos and articles of each case below in the hope they will inspire me to come up with a

Case of William Heirens;
William Heirens, also known as "The Lipstick Killer" was a serial killer responsible for three murders in 1946.
He maintained his innocence until his death in 2012, claiming he was the victim of an "abusive and overzealous" police force who were growing increasingly determined to pin the blame on somebody.
"The Lipstick Killer" alias came from the fact that at one of the victim's houses, the murderer had sprawled a chilling message across one of the walls in red lipstick. The message read "for heavens sake catch me before i kill more i cannot control myself".
Some images and articles from the case are featured below;

Case of the "Freeway Phantom";
The case of the "Freeway Phantom" is an epithet for an unknown serial killer known for six murders of black girls and teens in the early 1970's. 
In the pocket of one victim was found a note in which the killer dubbed himself the "Freeway Phantom". 
The killings only lasted 17 months before they abruptly stopped, however the case remains unsolved. The case was subject to such systemic racism that the original DNA samples and other evidence has since been lost as authorities cared significantly less about the victims purely because they were black.
Some images from the case file are featured below;

Whilst researching other title sequences for my inspiration, I came across Netflix's True Crime page, with all their featured films and series' on. I noticed they each have a brief synopsis which I thought could be of some inspiration for myself in creating a storyline. I've gathered a few examples here and included the title's of each film/series as well;

White House Farm;
Based on true events, a detective delves deeper into a seemingly straightforward case after a misunderstood woman is accused of murdering her family.
Starring: Freddie Fox, Mark Addy, Stephen Graham

The Ripper;
In the late 1970s, British police struggle to identify — let alone capture — the serial killer known throughout the world as the Yorkshire Ripper.

Making a Murderer;
Filmed over 13 years, this real-life thriller follows the unprecedented story of two men accused of a grisly crime they may not have committed.

I am a killer;
Death row inmates convicted of capital murder give firsthand accounts of their crimes in this documentary series.

Unbelievable;
After a young woman is accused of lying about a rape, two female detectives investigate a spate of eerily similar attacks. Inspired by true events.
Starring: Toni Collette, Merritt Wever, Kaitlyn Dever

Zodiac;
A political cartoonist, a crime reporter and a pair of cops investigate San Francisco's infamous Zodiac Killer in this thriller based on a true story.
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr.

The category of short film I have chosen for this project is 'True Crime Documentary series'. Below are a selection of similarly themed title sequences from various other films/series' which could be of some inspiration to me.

For this project, the brief is asking for a short 25-45 second title sequence for a film, created using our own ideas inspired by one of the categories provided, which in this case are as follows;
​
- YA SciFi TV series
- Costume drama
- True Crime Documentary series
- RomCom film
- US dramedy
- UK sitcom
- Reality TV/Fly on the wall series
- Hospital drama
- Specialist with a quirk
- Supernatural horror
​- Scandicrime

As well as being between 25-45 seconds in length, the title sequence must also obviously feature the film's title and the names of at least 3 of the actor's whom play a part in the film/series.

For this task, we collectively came up with a selection of words relating to our recent lockdown and how it may have made us feel etc. Here are my creations based on the words I chose. From left to right, they each relate to the following;
1. Anxiety
2. Caffeine
3. Snacking
4. Time
5. Facetime
6. Food
7. Exercise