Conventions of Opening Sequences

Conventions of Opening Sequences

Film opening sequences are created to grab the attention of an audience and make them interested and engage with the content of the film. As well as causing them to wonder what is going to happen as the seqence continues. They may also get an idea of what the film is about and the ways in which the film was produced to create a certain affect. Every opening seqence varys in the way that film producers and directors use techniques to present the ideas of genre, themes and narrative approach. The opening sequence should be clear to identify the genre of the film along with possibly giving a location or setting that has relevance to the film's genre. Additonally, by the directors using conventions of multiple opening sequences, they are able to create a successful opening  that would be enaging for an audience. 

The main conventions of opening sequences would be: the use of credits, institutional logo, the title of the film, music/sound (usually non-digetic), introduction of characters, narrative engima, mis-en-scene and loaction. 

Firstly, opening seqences should focus on the credit titles, these can give away the genre. Most, if not all films include opening credits to inform the audience who will be within the film and those who were part of creating the film, such as the director. If someone see's an actor/actress/director they are fond of, they are going to immediatley have a better response to the film. The audience may also be aware of directing styles and previous films created by the dircetors so will be apprehensive of what they may expect to see. For example, in the new James Bond film, "Spector", within the opening seqence the main actor, Daniel Craig, is named so the audience may be aware that the film they are watching is action packed. 

Furthermore, opening seqences should also entail narrative enigma so the audience is consantly thinking and wondering what is going to happen next or what the storyline is about. For example, in an opening seqence we might experience narrative enigma such as "who is the man in the mask?", "will she get away?". The theorist, Roland Barthes, believes that all media texts contain codes which audience can interpret to help them understand the narrative. Other techniques such as editing, whether it be fast paced editing, slow paced editing, montage, transitions and cuts, they all help to build suspense within an audience and help the audience get ideas about the genre of the film. For example a horror film may use a 'jump cut' which is when the camera suddenly cuts away to to create a dramatic point which then shocks the audience and makes them jump which is what a horror film aims to do. 

Another convention of opening seqences is the use of displaying the title of the film before the first scene begins. The name of the title can tell the audience what the film is about and what they might be expected to see. Some directors choose to 'mix' up the order in which they layout the opening sequence as many titles are now seen at the end of the opening sequence. This influences and encourages the convention of engima codes and gets the audience to think off their feet and use their imagination to think of what they think the film may be about. The way in which the title is presented may also give an indication of what genre the film falls into. For example, the 'Monsters Inc' title name gives the impression that the film is targeted towards children and that its going to be a joyful and fun family film. Due to the bright colours and the quirky font. 

Moreover, another convention that is vital to an opening sequence is the introduction of one or more major charcaters in the film. This allows the audience to figure out who the main characters are and figure out what part they have to play in the film and how the story will be narrated. By intoducing the main characters early in the film it enables the audience to build an emotional connection with the protagonist and antagonist. Another extensive part of the opening sequence is the Mis En Scene: what props, lighting, location, costume etc. have been used to create a specific mood or connote specific genres? By production designers choosing particular objects to be placed within each set, the auduience can determin the genre of the film and prehaps what may occur. 

The use of sound whithin the opening sequence allows the director to create emotions and feelings within an audience. The dialouge and voice overs may also give the audience more of an idea about what the film may be based on. A very famous voice over is Morgan Freeman, his undeniably cool are harmonious voice is the reason he is chosen to voice over many films. For example The Shawshank Redemption and Bruce Almighty. The sounds may allow the audience to interpret various aspects of the characters. For example, if the charater has a deep low mysterious voice, they may be percieved as the antagonist. Music can also be used to create the identity of the film, such as the music used in Jaws, it is used to signify a heartbeat and it getting faster and faster as the tention builds.