Purpose of a Film OpeningJay, Sneha & Kanaiya

Purpose of the Film Opening/title sequence● The purpose of the film opening/title sequence is to firstly credit the cast and

crew. It is usually the most important roles such as the main actors, director and screenwriters etc.

● They also show the institutions involved, usually with an ident in the very beginning.

● Film openings also help determine the genre of the film which can be done through the setting. For example, if the opening scene is an establishing shot of someone in a high school then the genre could easily be identified as a teenage drama film.

● The pace is usually set in a movie opening which entices the audience and makes them curious about what will follow and if the pace will change.

Film opening actionIn a film, the opening credits are usually superimposed on the imagery shown.

This could be whilst showing that particular actor/character or just above or below the action.

In a film opening, characters are introduced and there is some sort of action/ event occurring that has some sort of enigma.

Sometimes, in a film opening there is some sort of narration of text to help the audience understand what is going on or explain a back story. An example is Star Wars.

There is also most likely to be some sort of sound. The majority of the time it is non-diegetic background music or a voice-over. If not that, then there is a sound effect (like a race car) or there is dialogue.

The importance and need of a title sequenceA title sequence is important because it helps to establish the genre

of the movie.

It also highlights some important elements of the film without giving the story away, keeping audiences quite enticed.

A title sequence usually creates questions for the audience which are consequently answered.

Finally, the use of a title sequence has the the ability to set up the expectations for those who are watching.

Title sequence and audience attractionA film opening can attract the audience because it sets the moods

and emotions, as will as create an orientation with where they are, when they are in time and what has happened or will be happening.

A film opening can also attract audiences because key actors/actresses are introduced, making their fans feel increasingly excited.

Furthermore, the use of plot estimations create audience pleasures as they are able to link back to the title sequence as the narrative continues.

Another reason why audiences are attracted by the film openings is because it establishes rhythm and pacing, as well as setting a specific time frame.

Types of Film Openings: BlankThere are four key types of film openings.

The first is: Title on a blank screen.

As the name suggests the title is displayed on a blank screen and is relatively cheap which is an incentive to use this. It is simple and can display the key bits of information (Institutional information) without overwhelming the audience. This was the most common type of film opening in previous years, however the number of uses has diminished, but not entirely.

Examples of movies include Psycho and Pulp Fiction.

Similar to the previous opening the title is featured on an image, however rather than being blank, the image is a visual picture. This opening is a Title on a still image and is often paired with music and incorporates text with visual cues to indicate and hint at the type of film/genre it will be.

Examples of this sequence include: Wimbeldon by Kyle Cooper and Howard Hawk’s His Girl on Fire.

Types of Film Openings: Still image

Types of Film Openings: Moving ImageThe penultimate opening is the most commonly used one in more contemporary times and is a Title over a moving image and speaks for itself. The title of the movie and the opening credits is overlaid a video, that typically features and introduces the main as well as the auxiliary characters. Often dialogue is not used however this is not a strict rule that should be followed.

An example is Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window.

Types of Film Openings: AnimationThis opening is a Title through the use of Animation can utilise cartoon animation or stop motion. It is a fairly difficult process, especially cartoons as they have to be drawn frame by frame. Therefore, it is costly and requires modern technology however will very aesthetically pleasing when completed.

Examples include Casino Royale and Catch me if you can

Types of Film Openings: FavouriteOur group likes the Title over a moving image as it isn’t as time consuming and demanding as an animation and is also more developed and creative than still images/blanks. It allows us to tell a story before the actual story, like a backstory or even a little short sequence showing what genre it is by giving the audience a feel of what the story will be like. We feel that this type of opening is fairly simple to do but requires some skill to manipulate and execute efficiently.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UA7YC88ap5Y

We liked this film opening as it gives us some backstory to resident evil in a significantly short amount of time. It’s aesthetically pleasing and sets up the atmosphere of the movie: dark, horror, creepy, as implied by the rain and low key lighting. The red shoes connote danger and her standing still not moving shows that she is lifeless, almost dead. The music is intense, pauses to build up to the climax of the opening, and then is replaced by a loud growl and screaming. The zooming out to give a bird's eye view helps us see that the infection of zombies spread throughout the city and possibly the world, as the lights go out starting from where the woman was, then spreads out.

This thus tells us that from out of the blue, a mysterious infection of some sort infected one person, which in turn lead to a large pandemic, and eventually lead to the plot of the film.

We liked how so much was given away by simple things like weather (pathetic fallacy), costumes and music in such a simple way, which is why we felt that a title over a moving image would be best.