Famous Opening Sequences

Forest Gump
Opening sequence:

•  Institutional elements – paramount
• Text- has credits (director, actors, title)
• Text is at the centre of the screen, highlights importance
• Typography text is in the same font
• Sound – music is soft and gentle
• Non-diegetic
• Refection of character
•  Links with narrative and also with the images on the screen
•  Highlights it will be a slow sweet film
•  Adaption of a book so you may already know the story line
• Camera angles – tracking shot
• No establishing shot when the film starts
•  Focuses on a feather  - white which highlights innocence and also shares a link with the audio
• The music stops at the end showing that the film is about to start
• The main character is established – protagonist
• Sat alone which links with the narrative

Toy story

Opening sequence:

·         Institutional elements

·         Typography – doesn’t start until soundtrack is played

·         This allows viewer to remain focused on the start of the film and start to understand the narrative

·         Text for the title is bold and centre screen

·         Stands out and is clear that that is the title

·         Colours are bright, fun and childlike

·         Highlights genre of the film

·         Credits come after the institutional elements, showing the order of importance

·         Soundtrack is recognisable and fits well with the film

·         Dialog of a child playing with toys shows narrative

·         The non-diegetic sound is also to create mood and atmosphere, wen her is playing with toys, letting the audience know how to feel and how the “character” feels.

·         Establishes main character

Bridget Jones Diary

Opening sequence:

·         Typography – same font for most of the credit apart from title which is bold and stands out

·         Colour scheme is the same

·         The writing changes place

·         Setting is different and allows you to see narrative

·         Establishes main character

·         Music also highlights narrative

·         Has comedic value

Easy A

Opening sequence:

·         Has credits at the beginning

·         Shows different shots of the surrounding area.

·         Focuses on mainly place which are relevant to the film later on

·         Fitting popular music

·         Voice over, giving insight into the main characters thoughts.

·         Has some comedic value from the get go. (Comical portrayal of character quickly revealed as misconception.)

·         Tracking shot of school trying to establish main character

The Breakfast club 

Opening sequence:

·         Typical of its time

·         Voice over give off impression of how characters feel

·         The sound track playing in the background is recognisable and is associated with the film

·         Introduction of characters highlights the stereo types that were in society at the time

·         The camera shots focus on the school and other areas where the film takes place and shows their significance. 

Girl with the dragon tattoo

Opening in sequence:

·         Institutional- Columbia

·         Sound – non-diegetic

·         Music fits in very well with the film, has some link with the narrative

·         Highlights the genre

·         Images are unique allowing you to recognise the film easily

·         Colours are very dark but have flashes of brightness which changes focus

·         Typography – all same font and colour

·         Has different placements on the screen meaning you can always have you main focus on the images in the background

21 Jump Street

Opening sequence:

·         Comedic and stereotypical music played to relate with main character

·         Highlights characters importance to the film

·         Suitable comedy for both genders

·         Shows how relationship of characters changes over the years, originally awkward.

·         The title at the start are cop lights, hinting at what is about to come in the film

10 things I hate about you:

Opening sequence:

·         Typography is typical of its time

·         Starts off as an animated drawing before coming into focus.

·         Has credits at the beginning, bold writing, popular during this time.

·         Aerial view of surroundings (tracking shot)

·         Focuses on characters, then pans out and focuses on school

·         Focuses on one particular area before continuing with movie.

·         Pop music plays inn background and changes suitably when introduced to one of the main characters

·         Highlights that this character is important to the movie and music reflects personality

·         Quick to start after the opening sequence


Zombieland

Opening sequence:

• Voice over explains narrative
• Quickly sets genre and target audience
• Starts off with just showing the one zombie then shows how life has changed
• Typography is big bold.
• Colours are significant as they show that is a horror film. They are bold and stand out on the screen. 
• Music fits in well as it highlights narrative and engages the reader

Learning Comment:

During this task I was able to get a better insight in to the structure of an opening sequence, which will help me when producing my own. I have learnt that there are certain thing that must occur in an opening sequence, for example they typography must reflect the genre of the film. This is effected by the colour and font of the text, this can give the audience insight into the genre of the film and the narrative.

Another helpful convention of an opening sequence is that most of the sound starts off as non-diegetic (usually music and sound effects) and will either remain that way throughout the rest of the opening sequence or will gradually turn into diegetic sound which starts to reveal the narrative. Just as the typography did the sound used in an opening sequence can have important connotations about the genre and narrative of the rest of the film. Sounds can be used in different ways, fast paced music and explosions are usually found in action films, due to the fact that they keep the audience engaged and highlight and intensify that there is an element of danger. This helps to reveal parts of the narrative along with the mise-en-scene that takes place. I have also noticed that most of the opening sequences I looked at strated to reveal the narrative but only slightly so that the audience would want to know more. They do this without completely spoiling the plot and making the film predicable and boring.

My favourite opening was Bridget Jones Diary. This is because of how funny and relatable it was. It has a clear target audience (girls and women as it is a chick flick) and demonstrated what the film was going to be about. It didn’t reveal much of the narrative but from what was show I could tell that it is entertaining to watch because who hasn’t sat in their pyjamas singing at the top of their voice feeling sorry for themselves. The character is also quickly introduced and you start to make connections between her life and your own.

I also found the opening sequence to Zombieland, extremely humorous. This is due to the fact it took a genre of film that I would normally find unpleasant to watch and turn it into something funny and enjoyable. The sound track also fits well with the narrative of the story as there is a zombie apocalypse taking place. I also find the effects used to create the opening sequence relent to the film and overall produce a high quality opening sequence. You also get to know a little bit about the protagonist and how he views what going on along with how the rest of the people are effect by it.