Interactive Menu Technical Analysis
- 1. Use of text: (Title, Credits, animated captions, stings, idents, interactive menus, web banner) Interactive menu
- 2. Brief description: What do you see? The interactive menu begins with a elderly man, who appears to be the father of Thor talking about the power that Thor’s hammer possesses. With one catapult, the hammer travels through space, journeying past stars and travelling through the milky way and various space landscapes. After he throws the hammer, the text appears at the bottom. It is in a gold banner, with two symmetrical golden wings on either side. This embodies the film and the character of Thor perfectly.
- 3. Techniques used: Animation, Visual Effects, Colour Rendering, Graphics, Movement Animation and CGI play a huge part in not only the movie but the interactive menu too. At the start, prior to the elderly man throwing the hammer, we can see that the background of where he is standing is animated. It, to me, looks like he is stood in a circular room with many exits into space. The animation and effects are there for all to see however when the hammer begins it’s journey. By the fire effect used, we can see that the hammer is travelling at extreme speeds through the galaxy. Obviously the galaxy itself is animated too, and the effects team have done a great job by making it look tremendously appealing to the audience.
- 4. Advanced techniques: Blur, Sharpen, Distortion, Rotation, Opacity The hammer is always rotating during its time on screen, starting out by spinning quickly before gradually decreasing in speed. This technique is used as a way of making the audience always keep their eyes on the hammer as it makes its journey through the distractions that are the space background and various stars and vortex’s. The hammer varies from a sharpened effect to a distorted one. It begins distorted and this is due to the sheer speed of its rotation. However when it begins to slow down the hammer appears more and more sharp and easier to see.
- 5. Technical comments: Video format, Screen ratio, Resolution, Frame rate, Compression The screen ratio is in its average setting for an interactive menu – a widescreen 16:9. The video format is on the highest it can possibly go for this kind of video – 480p. The frame rate remains smooth through out the duration of the interactive menu, even with its many distractions.