To assist my group and myself when we come to create our own film opening, i have made three opening sequences timeline's from three films produced large institutions.
Taking the time to do these will help me when when making our film opening as we will know roughly what order our titles should be shown in, it will also help us on deciding when our main film title should be displayed. In addition to this, these timeline's will assist us when choosing how long each title shown be on screen for. By doing three, we can start to notice trends between them all and their placing of titles, we can use the knowledge we have gathered from these timeline's to apply to our own opening sequence.
Juno was disributed in 2007 and was produced by Fox Searchlight Pictures.
The genre of this film is shown well by it's opening sequence, it indicates the comedy genre by it's light-hearted cartoon theme. We are then introduced to the romance genre of the film by the running music track which uses the lyrics of the song to convey their message.
The narrative of the film is certainly not given away by the opening sequence, although it is quite easy to guess what it is about, it's obvious that the film follows the life of a teenage girl. I think this opening gives away just the right amount of information to the viewer about the films story line.
In regards to introducing us to the characters in the film, this opening introduces us to one character, and allows us to establish that she is the main protagonist in the film. The whole opening sequence follows the teenage girl, but almost nothing is revealed about her life or personality.
The opening connotes a happy, casual and calm atmosphere, by the way that nothing eventful or dramatic happens in the opening. It is very simplistic by how it is just following a girl walking on a pathway, which is classed as a normal thing to do, so it is verisimilitude to reality, allowing the audience to relate to the movie before it has even started.
What we can establish from the opening is that the girl is walking to get somewhere, so the setting changes throughout the clip, but what we can notice is that there is nothing unusual about the setting we see, it just looks like a normal street she is walking down.
The font of the titles in this opening is clear and readable, the font matches well with the cartoon theme the opening is based around. The writing is of a good size as it's easy to notice that it's there but it doesn't intrude on the action taking place.
No narration is used throughout the opening clip, but this is replaced by the song with lyrics that is played throughout. The lyrics are said slowly so they can be heard easily, and the audience can build an opinion about the film. The song adds a great deal of interest to the opening sequence.
Se7en was distributed in 1995 and was produced by Cecchi Gori Pictures and New Line Cinema.
In regards the the genre of this film, i believe it can be identified straight away. The eerie music track, the font of the titles and the action on screen, all allows us to create an opinion right away about the films genre. It was obvious that the film was something along the lines of a thriller, crime or horror movie.
This opening sequence has a lot of impact and includes a lot of action, although it seems like a great deal is revealed, i do think the narrative is still not at all clear. The clip poses questions for the audience as they are dragged into the action, but are still left guessing what is to come in the movie.
Horrific and bizarre themes are clearly displayed in this film opening, by the use of fast paced, confusing editing and the strange images.
In this opening sequence characters are not introduced to the audience in any way, i think the title creator wanted to focus more on getting the themes of the film across rather than giving the characters their introduction.
A dark, mysterious and disturbing atmosphere is conveyed by the opening sequence, this opening sets the tone for the rest of the movie, and with all the short clips it displays, it has a taster for what is to come.
Setting is not showed at all in the opening of Se7en, it could potentially be set anywhere, from someones house to a police station. Th e opening leaves it to the viewer to create their own opinion of whats about to happen when the film starts.
The youthful, unstable font of all the titles in the opening, match the genre of the film well. The font which almost looks like a child's handwriting, adds a sense of mystery to the opening. They have also made the writing move and flash quickly, maybe giving the audience a representation as to what is to come in the movie. The main title, Se7en starts out the same size as the other titles, then takes up the whole screen, to then returning back to it's original size. This gives the movie title huge impact, and allows it to stand out from the other titles.
The powerful, chilling soundtrack that runs throughout the piece, is in my opinion, as important as the motions images in this film opening. The confusing music that uses unexpected screeching, adds a great deal of intensity of the opening and reflects the theme well.
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2011 - crime, drama, mystery, thriller)
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo was released in 2011 by Columbia Pictures. I believe genre is shown in a good way in this film opening as you can tell the genre, but it's not overly obvious and in your face. The music, flashing images and fast paced opening clip indicated to me that the film is a dark mystery thriller.
The narrative of the film is not given away, but the opening does give a sense as to whats to come in the film. This opening sequence allows the audience to guess the narrative, as a lot is shown in the clip, but you can't tell what is relevant or not, it poses more questions than it does give answers.
Characters are not revealed in the usual way, the faces of the main male and female characters can be seen if you look carefully, but they are shown as robot like creatures, amongst the quick flashes cuts. this gives connotations to the audience that the characters could be similar to robots in the way they work and act.
The opening sequence of this film conveys to the audience via the sound track and pictures that it has a dark, intense and sinister atmosphere. The use of colours also convey this, with the use of only plain, dull colours such as black, grey and white until the fire is introduced.
The titles in this opening piece are quite small so they are not intrusive at all of the powerful action happening along side them, but they are bigger enough to read. I find with this opening, that it is easy to forget that the titles are even there as you become engrossed in the peculiar scene. The writing is in a readable font, but it's a font that has been used to suit the film and it's genre, the writing has connotations of power and fear.
There is a music track that runs throughout the film opening. The music track that starts out quite quiet and slow, builds up quickly, uses a constant powerful beat and high pitch vocals to create an intense and intriguing atmosphere.
Panic Room (2002 - thriller) Panic Room was released in 2002 and was produced by Columbia Pictures Corporation.
The genre of the movie, is not easily identified by the opening 2 minutes of the film, but it does hint at what it could possibly be. From the music, setting and pace of the opening, the genres i picked up were action, mystery and thriller, but not enough information is given away to give the film a definite genre.
The setting hints at the genre and narrative of the film. What we can establish from the opening, and what is very clear, is that the movie is based in a city, and the city is very identifiable as New York by the yellow taxis and familiar buildings. The opening of this film sets the scene well.
As the audience knows the setting, figuring out the narrative and atmosphere is made easier. City life is fast paced and busy, so we can guess that the atmosphere of the film and the narrative will be fast paced, although the story line is defiantly not given away, as you can only guess what is to come.
Apart from right at the end of the opening when we hear female voices talking, no characters are introduced at all, therefore not giving away any clues to what part the characters will play in the movie and leaving the audience in suspense.
The non-diegetic minor key sound track that runs throughout the film opening builds tension well with its eerie tone. There is no narration, so the music track takes over the whole section, and sets the tone for the opening scene.
the titles are very large and almost take over the screen, but as there is no introductions to characters, and not a lot else to focus on, the titles do not intrude anything, so making them very large is good as it adds to the atmospheric feel. The font of the writing is clear and readable, each title has upper case silver letters in 3D. Which give each title a big impact on the screen. The use of 3D makes the writing almost blend in the the skyscrapers in the background.
A film opening must not give away the whole storyline, but show some indication of all or some of the bellow:
genre
narrative
character
atmosphere
themes
setting
sound
titles
Film openings analysis
The Fall (2006 - adventure, drama)
The Film, The Fall was released in 2006 and produced by Googly Films and Absolute Entertainment.
In regards to the genre of the film, the opening doesn't give a lot away, but by doing this it captures the audiences imagination. The costumes the actors are wearing and the horse could symbolise a western theme, yet, enough is not even away to label the film this genre.
Setting in regards to showing what era it is set in, is highlighted well, but where it is set is kept quite secretive. The whole opening of the clip is in black and white, which of course has connotations to the past, showing to the audience how the film could look if shown in the era it is set. The period costumes all the actors are wearing is a huge indication of the time it is set. Large props such as the stream train, and the lack of large props in the scenery, such as cars and skyscrapers, all indicate the time period and the fact they are in the countryside.
The film opening does a good job of showing us what the characters look like, but it does not tell us anything else about them, such as the characters name, and why they are in the film. Whats good about how the film introduces us to the characters, it that we are shown to so many characters, more then the average film opening, the audience could find it hard to identify the main characters, but i think this is a good twist as it leaves the viewer thinking.
The titles in The Falls opening are quite discrete and not at all intrusive of the action happening in the opening, the writing is of a good size as it is big enough to read easily, yet small enough not to interrupt the scene. The titles are all in a readable, clear font, the font it very neutral and does not give anything away about the film.
The use of silence right at the beginning of the clip adds a sense of anticipation for the audience as they wait for the opening to start. The non-diegetic sound track starts a second before the films title is shown, the clip goes from being silent and not a lot happening, to then moving to a powerful sound track and the films name, the viewer is almost thrust into the movie. The slow yet strong and very interesting music track, plays throughout the film opening, no narration or diegetic sounds are used, so this track has a huge impact on the opening. As the whole of the opening is in slow motion, and the music is quite slow paced, both the action and sound work in sync with each other, this allows the scene flows smoothly.
overall this film opening poses more questions than it does give answers, making it intriguing for the audience.
