This has probably been discussed to death somewhere on the forum but I can't find the relevant thread.
The original title sequence - is the rider a young Treguard on his way to liberate Dunshelm from the Gruagach? Or just a knight on his way to tackle the challenge of Knightmare Castle?
There are parallels between this animation and Gandalf's ascent of Minas Titith in the Return of the King film. Someone with more time and better video editing skills than me could probably re-edit the sequence to the KM theme tune. Maybe someone has!
This observation led to a daydream about what a S9 title sequence could be (with unlimited budget) - a shot for shot live action remake of the original! The only change I'd make - the creature behind bars would be a goblin and the accompanying sound effect would be a goblin horn (original of course!).
Well, that's my Tuesday night Knightmare fantasy (partially caused by boredom; bread week on the bake off - never my favourite )
I'm pretty sure that it's just a representation of a dungeoneer on the way to the castle to begin a quest. Portraying the challenger as a knight was probably just a nod to how dungeoneers would be portrayed in an ideal world in which the budget extended to a full suit of armour. Not really possible for all manner of reasons, including that armour needs to be made to fit the individual - with about ten dungeoneers a season, that would get expensive, and cause a lot of delays.
If the figure were meant to be Treguard in his novelised youth, then Folly would appear in the sequence as well.
Chris wrote:The original title sequence - is the rider a young Treguard on his way to liberate Dunshelm from the Gruagach? Or just a knight on his way to tackle the challenge of Knightmare Castle?
I'm inclined to regard the title sequence simply as variations on the theme of 'knightmare'. In fact, knightmare may have been the gist of the animators' brief. If bli is still contactable, he might be able to shed some light. Having said that, the description of Dunshelm's location in the first book seems pleasingly to be based on the cartoon castle.
HStorm wrote:I'm pretty sure that it's just a representation of a dungeoneer on the way to the castle to begin a quest. Portraying the challenger as a knight was probably just a nod to how dungeoneers would be portrayed in an ideal world in which the budget extended to a full suit of armour. Not really possible for all manner of reasons, including that armour needs to be made to fit the individual - with about ten dungeoneers a season, that would get expensive, and cause a lot of delays.
If the figure were meant to be Treguard in his novelised youth, then Folly would appear in the sequence as well.
I'm of the same opinion. Couldn't visualise it being Treguard. Plus for the s6 to s8 sequence a dungeoneer was used.
wombstar wrote:What's the monster that appears and spits out the word 'Knightmare'?
I don't like that part.
That part used to scare me as a child, I had to look away. Especially with it being accompanied by "Psycho" like strings in the theme music (series 4-5).
Though it doesn't spit the word out, it just appears in front of its eyes.
I always thought the monster was to stop people trying to gain access to level 3 and "cheat". The only way in is to start from the castle at the top and work your way down.
It's some kind of demon/apparition as far as I can tell. I think it was meant to imply an illusion, because once the title has settled into place on the screen, the creature has mysteriously vanished. Probably an attempt to underline the "Nothing here is real" concept, so that the show is scary without being horrifying.
HStorm wrote:It's some kind of demon/apparition as far as I can tell.
Really? The rest of us thought it was human.
Anyway, it happens in a cave way underneath the castle. Notice the camera zooming in on the tunnel as the knight rides by.
As fluttermoth says, it doesn't vanish. The next we see the knight and horse, they are much higher up on a ledge, and about to jump a chasm. Obviously forced up there because there are monsters such as the one we have just seen, blocking caves and other entrances to the dungeon.
Thus forcing adventurers to make their way to the castle and start their quest from the top, as intended. Makes sense to me.
Hmmm, will have to watch the sequence more closely - my interpretation was always that the monster burst from the ground. thereby creating the chasm that the knight then jumps over.
The creature (looks like something out of Ghostbusters) bursts out of the ground. He doesn't create the gap, this happen at ground level inside a tunnel (over grown thorns) The title comes up, and the next time we see the knight his further along the path and about to jump over the gap.
It's always the cracked ones that let the light in
fluttermoth wrote:The knight has clearly moved on; the creature hasn't vanished.
If you look, the creature manifests in a tunnel, but after the title disappears, the knight's on the edge of a chasm.
That 'tunnel' is actually a canopy of trees surrounding the ledge. It's true they've disappeared afterwards, but the hole in the pathway is still directly ahead, where the demon appeared - hence the horse has to leap over it - so I don't think he has moved on.
Ariadne's Layer wrote:Really? The rest of us thought it was human.
I was answering Wombstar's question, when he asked what the monster was. Is it a problem for you that it's even being discussed?
wombstar wrote:The creature (looks like something out of Ghostbusters) bursts out of the ground. He doesn't create the gap, this happen at ground level inside a tunnel (over grown thorns) The title comes up, and the next time we see the knight his further along the path and about to jump over the gap.
The thing is, when the demon appears, the horse rears up, and it's still doing so after the title has vanished - you can see its front hooves dropping back onto the pathway.
A hole appears in the path and the horse rears up. Then a few moments later it comes to another hole in the path and it rears up again? Well, it's possible of course, but I'd say it looks a lot likelier that it's just the one hole, and the disappearance of the trees is just an animation mistake. (Or perhaps they were part of the illusion of the demon?)
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