In film opening sequences, different aspects are expected to be portrayed depending on the film. Aspects could include the extent of dialogue used, key characters introduced, how much of the plot is unveiled, a number of locations included and titles and credits. Many film opening sequences incorporate elements of mise-en-scene, which helps clarify basic contexts of the film, including the era and genre. The style of which these aspects are presented may vary depending on the film and the film's genre and some may not even be included whatsoever. For example, within one film, it may cut straight into the action with much dialogue and many characters introduced whereas in another it may be slow paced and have no dialogue or plot involved at all but mainly focus on lengthy credits and appropriate music.
I looked at four different examples of feature film openings to familiarise myself with varied film opening aspects. The three films had very contrasting plots and genre, so it was interesting to see how this affected the opening two minutes of a film.
Forrest Gump (1994, Robert Zemeckis)
The first film opening sequence I watched was Forrest Gump, which features a wide shot of a large town, focusing on a small, white feather fluttering in the wind and descending into the town. The feather eventually lands by the shoe of a man, who picks it up and places it in his briefcase. There is no dialogue featured, but only an original, instrumental score playing over the top of the footage. From this short, 3 minute clip, you can interpret that the overall mood of the film is more light-hearted than it is dark, however, doesn't come across as a comedy but rather a drama or family film because it was simple and appropriate for an 'every age' audience. There are no overwhelming, explicit or extravagant features to be appropriate to only one age of viewers. A feature that undoubtedly made me think this was the music used, it was soft but moving and inspirational, as opposed to an upbeat soundtrack or a dark, heavy score. This suggests that it is not an excessively light hearted film but neither a dark, heavy film either. Another factor was the lighting and colours, it was overall neutral lighting, incorporating only natural light sources, and had no extravagant colours but basic tones you'd see in everyday life. It has neutral light exposure - it's not overly sunny which has connotations associated with extremely light-hearted films. It's also not dark, which has eerie or mysterious connotations associated with dark genres, such as horrors or thrillers. The footage doesn't reveal much about the plot, however, pans across a town, which perhaps establishes a prominent setting within the film. The feather included may be symbolic of something within the film, whether it be a prop physically featured or a represent something abstract surrounding the film's theme or plot etc. Feathers have pure and light connotations, which also adds to the concept of it being a more light-hearted film as opposed to a dark film. The text on the screen is a traditional, simple font, therefore isn't too extravagant and overbearing, it also suits the neutral film throughout the sequence. A character is introduced at the end of the sequence. He is dressed in a light suit paired with a pair of running trainers. This allows the audience to infer something about the character, for example, a suit is smart and formal or professional, this perhaps indicates something about the character's tastes or job. Contrariwise, he has paired running shoes with the suit, which suggests that he enjoys running. Moreover, it's an eccentric fashion choice and expresses the character's uniqueness. He opens his suitcase and it's filled with clothes and memorabilia, which indicates to the audience that the character may travel frequently. On top of the suitcase is a box of gift wrapped chocolates, which gives an indication as to what may happen. He could be on his way to visit someone, as he's carrying a gift to bear. Despite no dialogue being incorporated and the character only receiving a short time onscreen, the audience can infer much about him based on the way he is dressed and his possessions. This goes to show how incorporating elements of mise-en-scene can really add so much context and detail to the film, even if its subtle features such as attire or a singular prop. The following video shows the opening sequence to Forrest Gump:
Juno (2007, Jason Reitman)
Another film opening I looked at was Juno. This features a young girl, assumed to be in her teens which already suggests the film is directed at teens. The girl is walking along a suburban street, when as she walks behind a tree, which on one side was cartoon and the other realistic, she seamlessly transforms into a sketch style cartoon, where there is no depth to the images, it is all completely flat. The opening follows her, as a cartoon walking through the streets showing different shots. The way it shows her walking is reminiscent of a choppy animation. At the end of the title sequence, the background she walks onto is realistic and she momentarily transitions from being the cartoon to real again. The music playing over the top is a contemporary song as opposed to a score and is upbeat. It, therefore, shows that the film is lighthearted as it used happy music to create a fitting mood. Using modern music also appeals to younger viewers, and therefore a target audience is established within the first few moments of the film. Know who the film is aimed at will help determine what the film is like. Similar to the previous video, nothing occurs to develop a plot and create a progression, however, establishes a location and character, and other elements of mise-en-scene which help the viewers determine what kind of film they are watching. For example, the girl is dressed casually, which shows something about her as a character. It could be inferred that she is perhaps disorganised and irresponsible based on the stereotype of a scruffy teenager. Moreover, she is carrying and drinking from a bottle of Sunny D. Sunny D is a drink typically consumed by young people, and is therefore associated with innocence and youth. She is walking along what appears to be a suburban town in America, therefore establishing what may be the prominent setting throughout the film. Suburban areas are typically uneventful, which may lead the audience to think that this is a lighthearted film due to the nature of the location; it is a bright and happy place. The font appears handwritten, which ejects an unprofessional and scruffy appeal, which correlates with the character who also appears scruffy. The lighting is neutral and natural, therefore is not intense or exaggeratedly contrasted, which prevents it from being intimidating as opposed to lighthearted. When it transitions to a cartoon, the colours are solid and light, with dark outlines to create a contrast. It has a playful appeal. Furthermore, the text is handwritten in a similar style to the rest of the drawings, it looks amateur and unprofessional, like a child's drawing, again linking it to childhood and innocence. It is clear, just from viewing these opening few minutes, that this is an upbeat comedy, most likely directed at teens.
Amores Perros (2000, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu)
I found this opening sequence interesting to analyse because it is a Mexican film, and therefore gives an idea as to what global cinema is like as opposed to only Hollywood films, like the previous two. The opening sequence begins with a black background with the title in red and white, in a large, bold and very apparent font. The font being bold and thick shows that it is a heavy film, as opposed to light because of the connotations associated with large letters, they are not so overbearing that the initial thought would be horror, but they are a little more subtle and judging just by the font design I would assume it was a thriller or heavy drama.
The title fades away to a black screen before momentarily cutting to fast paced shots of the road, scenery, and traffic going past very fast. The camera is clearly travelling so it is evident that it is set inside a fast-moving vehicle. Over the top of the footage are people shouting in panicked voices. Speaking in Spanish, the words were incoherent to me, however, from the tone and volume of the voices, it was clear that they were panicking, which notifies the audience something bad is happening or has already happened. The camera pans to a bleeding dog in the back of a vehicle, and a character trying to maintain the dog's wound, meanwhile another character steers the vehicle. It is then revealed that the characters are being chased by a large monster truck, which is often associated with gangs and allows the audience to try and figure out what is going on, however, nothing is revealed to the audience so all they can do is make an assumption. The chase progresses, but the car breaks suddenly causing the dog to fall off the seat. This causes panic within the audience, and therefore the film jumping straight into action allows the audience to feel something straight away rather than building up emotion like a film that begins slowly. This is effective because it is more memorable as an opening. The people inside the car chasing the focal characters is wielding a gun at them, the main characters quickly drive and outsmart the chasing car, however, it soon catches up. This toys with the audience's emotions because they would feel relief that they've gotten away, and then tense once again when the truck gains on them again. The scene is building up the tension and creates shock when the focal car suddenly crashes. There is no music used in this sequence, however, the sound effects and dialogue are overwhelming and therefore effective. The audience is unaware of the context of the situation, for example, why the characters are being chased and why the dog is injured. This makes it engaging for the audience because they are compelled to find out why and therefore continue watching the film. Having such a fast moving, opening containing plenty of action can be engaging for the audience because it is exciting, however, if too much is going on it can be overbearing and chaotic. The camera shots flick around erratically, which I think portrays a theme of chaos and adds to the opening. There are no credits over the footage, probably because it is quite chaotic and the audience would be distracted. There is also a more range of shots than the others, I think this is because of the fact there is so much happening there is more to capture, the others maintained simplicity. From the explicit images and chaos occurring in this film opening, I inferred that the target audience must be for older people as opposed to children or teenagers.
Napoleon Dynamite (2004, Jared Hess)
Napoleon Dynamite was interesting to analyse because it was so contrasting to all the other film openings. In this film opening, physical objects are used to show the opening titles, including stationary, items in a wallet, food, drawings etc. Even though nothing occurs to develop the plot whatsoever, nor is a character physically introduced, it still conveys so much as to, not only what the film is like, but what the main character is assumed to be like too. For example, the inclusion of things such as school books, stationary, and a high school identification card suggests that the main character is young and in education recognise a song they like. It's soft and cheery music, which sets a lighthearted mood for the film. The overall appearance of the film opening is quite childlike appearing, which I think is effective because it establishes what the film is set around and also plays on the audience's nostalgia. It's not a sophisticated film opening, but it's not too tacky, which is effective because it fits the theme of youth. The simplicity and originality make you think that it's an indie film, and therefore establishes what the film is going to be like to the audience. I like this film opening because it's unique in the way that it involves the titles in the original footage, as opposed to adding them in post production, as well as giving you insight into what the character's like without physically introducing them.
The next analysis' will be on past productions by AS Media students.
Secret Intelligence Service (2013, Bazza Arts)
This is an overwhelming opening because, although not much of the plot is revealed, there's a lot to try and figure out. It begins with a man at a computer desk, typing up what appears to be an official document. Meanwhile, it begins to merge footage of the man typing and separate footage of a bus travelling through a city. Two locations are established within this first section of the opening: firstly, inside someone's house, made clear by the informality of the setup and the baby monitor beside the laptop, secondly, a city. The man typing hears a baby cry over a monitor and then gets up, it cuts to images of a bus exploding, which creates a sudden shock in the audience. In this first section, there is tense instrumental music over the top, as well as extremely muffled voices, which sound like they're panicking. This is unusual because the scenes of the bus travelling before it's exploded and the man typing were quite calm, which creates an effective contrast and I think foreshadows what will happen. There's only one character introduced by this point: the man. You do not see the man's face, but the audience is given hints as to his age, occupation etc. Firstly, he's typing up an official document about suspected terrorist attacks. This suggests his occupation is something to do with government intel and that he has a very important job. Moreover, it suggests his age because a young man, or a teenager, would not typically be in such an important role in the government. When the baby monitor goes off and he gets up, assumedly to tend to the baby, it suggests that he has a child. This implies his age is fairly older, according to the typical age a person would have a child. There are a variety of shots during this section, many are artistic, which gives the opening a pristine and professional appeal. There is a black and white filter over it, which creates a gloomy mood through the use of dim colours. The lighting in the house is quite dark, involving the artificial light of the laptop. Dim lighting is effective in order to portray a gloomy mood too.
The scene suddenly cuts to more black and white images of the national news reporting the London Bombings in 2005. This clarifies that the bus from a few moments ago was involved in the famous terrorist attack and that the city is London, certifying a definite location. I really liked this section because the voices of different news reporters are played over different news reports, creating a montage which is quite moving. The voices are slightly distorted, creating an old effect that is very touching. There's also music in the background, to make the scene more dramatic and evocative. The news report fades to a man getting out of bed, this time in full colour and therefore defining the previous scenes as flashback sequences, which is useful to the audience because it makes it easier to understand. The next part is a compilation of different artistic shots of a man (assumedly the one from before because of the photos of the baby and the gun which a government agent would possess, however, this information is not clarified) getting ready. This is where the titles and credits begin to form on the screen. A white, simple font is used for this, which is effective because it contrasts with the dark background and therefore they stand out. The simplicity of the text is powerful because it creates an essence of professionalism and immaculateness - it is not too extravagant, overdone or distracting. The music over the top is quite tense, however, it is subtle too. More is implied about the man, he wakes at five, showing organisation and resilience. He exercises, reinforcing the idea of resilience. There seems to be a routine being performed, therefore conveying organisation. He also wakes up in bed with a woman, and by the nature of his family-oriented photographs on his bedside table, it can be assumed that he is in a committed relationship with her (although there is no sign of a wedding ring). The man then makes his way through London, showing a compilation of different artistic shots which are well captured and professional appearing. The title then appears ('Secret Intelligence Service'), and the man enters a building. The range of shots of London, including the CCTV style recording of the man, make it very interesting a refreshing. Overall, I was impressed with this opening sequence as the cinematography is seamless and professional. The quality of the footage is very high as well, so it is clear that expensive equipment has been used. The opening is a little confusing as so much is going on, I even had to break it down into two or three sections to analyse it. It's hard to see the correlation between the man and the bombings, but this could have been incorporated to intrigue the audience and make them want to watch more. There was a fair bit of plot introduced, only one focal character was introduced, and there was no dialogue, so despite how simple it is, they somehow managed to make it quite hard to follow.
Hemlock (2016, Jemimah Oconnell)
This is a very simple film opening, yet the simplicity is rather effective. The concept (burying a dead body) is very unoriginal and basic, however, they executed it quite well. It begins with an artistic shot of a lake, which I found irrelevant to the entire piece, however, I think it was just a nice background to put the title on. The title is in a large, thin, basic white font and contrasts to the dark, bluey tones of the image below. It's quite simple and there are no connotations of the title's font etc. that link to a particular genre. The simplicity can be quite effective because it's not overbearing or tacky looking. It cuts from the title to somebody wheeling what appears to be a dead body in a wheelbarrow down a desolate road. There aren't a variety of shots because there's quite a few tracking shots that follow them as they go down, these last a fair bit of time. I like the tracking shots, however, I think they should have made them shorter and incorporated a larger variety of shots to make it less boring. On the contrary, the music over the top is quite flat, repetitive and consistent, which rather suits the consistently long lasting shots. The credits are of a similar fashion to the title in the way that they're plain and white, but it contrasts with the dark background so it stands out quite well making it easier to read. The person steering the wheelbarrow arrives at their desired location, and places a body in a grave before shovelling dirt back on them. In this section, a larger variety of shots are used and it looks a lot more interesting. I really like the last shot where dirt is shovelled onto the camera so its from the perspective of the dead body. It eventually blackens out the screen and it ends. All the footage has a blue hue over which adds a moody appeal and correlates with the music over the top. The lighting is quite limited which makes everything quite dim. A definitive location is not established, but the location used is quite rural and isolated, which suggests its set in the countryside. Only two characters are introduced and you learn absolutely nothing about them, not even how they're related or how it came to be that they're in the situation they're in. The only thing that gives clues as to what it's about is the title, which refers to the poisonous plant, hemlock. This suggests that the dead character may have been poisoned, but this is only an assumption based on the title and not the footage itself, its not directly hinted to at all throughout the opening. This could be seen as effective though, because it impels the audience to watch the rest and learn the answers to the questions the opening left open. The overall genre suggested is a thriller, however this is only based on the plot and not how it has been executed. This is because the overall mood is sadness based on the blue, depressing filter and the emotional music as opposed to the mysteriousness or eeriness a thriller would create. Moreover, the target audience would be for older people because the explicite content (a dead body) would be inappropriate for younger audiences. Overall, I wasn't entirely impressed with it as an opening sequence.
Captive (2015, Kieran Panchal)
The film opens with creative shots of a man tied up. The footage is of good quality and already ejects a professional aura. There is no precise location defined, but it seems to be set around a demolished and abandoned building, however there are also security cameras, which suggests activity within the location. The abandoned vibe of the location is effective because it corresponds with the eerie theme of the film opening - it's dark, dingy, with spray-paint along the walls showing a sign of deviance. The set is well prepared, with blood and mud on the floor it looks realistic and chilling. The costume of the man is really well put together - the makeup and blood effects on his face look believable and the blood dripping from his lip adds a shocking, therefore fitting, touch. There's a variety of shots used, including ones performed from angles that look like its CCTV footage, which looks realistic paired with the CCTV overlay. Although not much of the plot is introduced, how the man came to be at this location is implied by the brief images of him photographing the area. There are only two characters introduced: the man tied up and the girl briefly shown walking past the window etc. We learn little about the characters, besides perhaps that the man is daring as he ventured into a mysterious area hoping to get shots. The girl is ghost like and has a mysterious aura to her. The lighting is completely natural, though with little sunlight the footage turns out quite cool and dim, suiting the eerie theme. The bluish hue over the top correlates with the theme too, as the connotations of blue suggest quite negative, sad things. The contrast between the flashback sequences and the present work well, as the footage with the man wielding the camera is bright and cheery as opposed to the dark footage of him tied up. The title credits work well, as although they're in a basic white font, they flicker onto the screen and create a chilling appearance which fits the horror theme. There is little to no dialogue, however the screams of the man is effective because it shakes and disturbs the audience. The music over the top is effective because it slowly builds tension and triggers the same response in the audience in that it makes them feel tense. The shots soon become fast pace, flicking between flashbacks and the present as the music become loud and overbearing, this becomes overwhelming to the audience before it cuts to an anticlimactic black screen and silence, before the title appears. Overall, this is an effective film opening because it builds tension in the audience and makes clear what the genre is: a horror.
One Day (2015, Michael Vodden)
This opening was refreshing to watch in spite of all the thriller/horror themed openings, which already shows originality. This film opening was obviously light-hearted and I could tell this from the first few seconds - showing that it is effective because it already has established a genre. One of the factors that allowed me to guess it was a light hearted film was the upbeat music blaring from the second the video began. Using upbeat music in a light hearted film is effective because it creates a mood for the audience. The credits were written in elegant, swirly writing which is fitting because it has a warming appeal. Using blocky, military-stencil style fonts etc. would not be appropriate for a light hearted film. The opening includes simple shots of London, which therefore establishes a location. It also depicts a split screen shot of two people (in separate shots), one riding a bus and the other a train. This therefore defines two other locations for the audience. One shot shows the female, who was riding the bus, give money to a busker which allows the audience to learn something about her character: she's generous and kind-hearted. The two characters never encounter during the sequence, which shows no link to each other and makes the audience wonder why they're relevant. I suppose this could be seen as effective because it makes the audience feel inclined to watch the rest and gain answers. The lighting is almost completely natural, which has a pure and innocent connotations and suits the playful, bouncy theme. The colour is quite neutral and therefore doesn't comply to any theme. Some of the shots look quite tacky, particularly the one with the split screen, they make it look less professional. No plot is introduced and no dialogue is included, which is quite boring but could be seen as effective because it doesn't overwhelm the audience with too much information. Overall, I wasn't entirely impressed with the opening, however they maintained factors to fit the theme, it was just a little too simple for my taste and it didn't convey a professional look even though it seems that they've intended to in some parts meaning its quite inconsistent.
Overall, it is clear to see that many aspects can have an impact on what makes a good opening. I think the most important part is that they've incorporated elements that indicate what genre is, so if they've conformed to the aspects of their genre it will be effective because the audience understands what sort of film they're watching. In terms of creating a film opening only, rather than an entire film, it is important to make sure the plot is understandable as well as engaging. I think cinematography is important too, as it can help make it look professional or not.
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