Conventions of an Opening Sequence

Conventions are 'ingredients' or 'elements' that we expect to see in a media product.

Titles

This wordle is used to show the key points of the use of titles in opening sequences. Titles are used to make it clear who was involved in the making of the media product but they also enhance the mood through the use of font type, colour and size.

A title that has a serif font and has been written in a dark or cold colour symbolises that the media product is a serious and dangerous film.
A title that has a sans-serif font with lighter colours emphasises that the prosuct is a comedy.

Examples:
Bridget Jones' Diary
The titles have been written in a sans-serif font. The font is a bright, yellow colour. These show that Bridget Jones' Diary is a comedy and is not serious. The font looks like handwriting which links back to the title 'Bridget Jones' Diary'.

Titles during the opening sequence of Bridget Jones' Diary

Breaking Dawn Part 2
The titles have been written in a serif font which emphasises that the film is serious with little comedy. The colour changes from white to red which represents the theme of vampires in the film and the change that Bella went through from human to vampire.

Memento
The titles in 'Memento' are written in a serif font which shows the audience that it is a serious thriller film. They are also in a dark, yellow colour which makes the film seem sinister for the audience.

Close-ups and Extreme Close-ups

This wordle is used to show the key points of using close-ups and extreme close-ups in the opening sequence of a film. The use of close-ups and extreme close-ups give the audience clues but not answers, therefore encouraging them to watch more of the film.

The clues are given by highlighting specific detail to characters or objects and is usually seen in thrillers or action/adventure films.


Examples:
Spiderwick Chronicles
The use of close-ups and extreme close-ups on the specimens in the opening sequence of 'Spiderwick Chronicles' gives the audience clues that the film has quite a sinister and magical theme, due to the fact that some of the specimens seen in the close-ups, we rarely or would never see in everyday life.

Memento
In the opening sequence of 'Memento', close-ups and extreme close-ups are used to give the audience clues at what happened which was someone being murdered. The audience know that someone has been murdered by showing specific detail to objects such as the bullet and showing detail to the blood on the wall.

Brick
Close-ups are used in the opening sequence of 'Brick' to show features of the dead girl. This provides the audience with clues but not answers as to who the girl is and what had happened to her.

Soundtrack

This wordle shows some of the key points of using a soundtrack in an opening sequence of a media product. The use of the soundtrack enhances the mood of the film by building up tension to a climax or by matching the mood of the characters on screen.
Thriller and action/adventure films will use a soundtrack that builds up the suspense to make the audience feel nervous and uncomfortable at what is about to happen in the film. A romantic comedy will use the soundtrack to match the mood of the characters on the screen at the time that the soundtrack is on.

Examples:
Brick
The soundtrack in 'Brick' creates the sorrowful mood that the character is feeling as he is looking at the girl who had died. This soundtrack makes the audience feel sorrow and despair along with the character. Even before the audience sees the body, they know that something must have happened due to the slow pace, low volume and low pitch, which makes the film seem quite sorrowful.

 
Spiderwick Chronicles
The soundtrack in 'Spiderwick Chronicles' builds up from the beginning when the character runs in and starts to finish the book. The soundtrack also matches his mood which is quite erratic and the audience know that he is in a hurry due to the fast pace, high volume and high pitch. The soundtrack switches between a high and low pitch which shows the audience that there is going to be a battle between good and evil in the film.


 
A Series Of Unfortunate Events
The soundtrack in 'A Series of Unfortunate Events' sets a sinister and evil mood to the film. The soundtrack is very slow, quiet and switches between a low and a high pitch which shows the conflict and fight between good and evil.

 
Establish mood/theme

This wordle shows the key points of the analysis of what is used to establish the mood and theme. The mise-en-scene and soundtrack can be used to establish the mood and the theme.

Low-key lighting is used to make the film's mood more dangerous and daunting. The audience know through the use of low-key lighting that something sinister will happen during the film. This contrasts with high-key lighting which shows the audience that the film will be calm and a bit humourous. The soundtrack is used to establish the theme or the mood because a low pitched, slow and quiet sound represents the idea of danger whereas high pitched, quick and loud music can represent the idea of either a character being in a hurry or a happy, safe theme.

Examples:
The Sixth Sense
'The Sixth Sense' establishes the theme of a supernatural activity by the use of low-key lighting and the diegetic sounds of something which cannot be seen moving around. This makes the audience feel nervous for the characters in 'The Sixth Sense' because they do not know what will happen to the characters during the film.

Bridget Jones' Diary
The mood and theme are established in 'Bridget Jones' Diary' by the use of a slow, sad soundtrack. The song 'All By Myself' is used to show the audience that the main character has lost all motivation and is feeling very sorry for herself. This makes the audience feel sorry for Bridget Jones and they also think that she looks quite pathetic when she is in her living room.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
The mood is set in the opening sequence by the use of low-key lighting when the planes are flying over London. This, along with the low-pitched, loud and slow soundtrack sets a theme that is full of danger and the audience automatically know that the main characters are in danger which builds up the tension.

Establishing Shot

This wordle is used to show the key points of the establishing shots. Establishing shots are used as the first shot to show the whole setting of the film and what it looks like. This gives the audience an idea about where and when the film was set. It also enhances the mood of the audiene by various uses of mise-en-scene.





Examples:
The Sixth Sense
The establishing shot in 'The Sixth Sense' is used to show that it is set in an isolated house and the dark, dangerous and supernatural atmosphere is set through the use of low-key lighting.

Breaking Dawn Part 2
In 'Breaking Dawn Part 2', establishing shots are used on the forest. The audience know that this is a place where the vampires live and this is made clear by the low-key lighting that is used. During the opening titles, different shots of remote areas are used which makes the film seem pleasant but a bit daunting at the beginning.

Wallander
The establishing shot of 'Wallander' shows a rural area. The audience do not know where it is set but at first the mood is quite peaceful. It becomes more threatening when the shot starts to show the taxi and the two girls walking away from the taxi.

Gives the audience clues

This wordle shows the key points of why clues are given to the audience in an opening sequence.
Clues are given to the audience through the use of extreme close-ups. This is because they provide some of the specific details of what is happening on screen to the audience without giving away the answers of what has happened. This encourages the audience to carry on watching the film to find out the answers.



Examples:
Brick
The opening sequence of 'Brick' provides clues for the audience by using extreme close-ups on the body of the dead girl. This tells the audience that she has died but they do not know how she has died or what had happened before she had died. This makes the audience want to carry on watching the film to find out the answers.

Wallander
The opening sequence of 'Wallander' shows the audience through the use of close-ups that an attack has taken place. The audience are shown close-ups of different objects that link to the attack. They begin to guess who did it through the use of cross-cutting between the van and the two girls but they are not given the answer until the last shot of the opening sequence when one of the girls drops the knife.

Memento
'Memento' gives the audience clues through the use of close-up and extreme close-ups by showing the audience props such as the glasses, the bullet and the blood running down the wall.

Prompts the audience to ask questions

This wordle shows how opening sequences prompt the audience to ask questions about the film and what is happening in it.
The audience are prompted to ask questions by the use of clues given to the audience without answers. This encourages them to carry on watching the film to find out the answers and they prompt the audience to ask questions such as, "Why is this significant?" and "What has happened to that character?"


Examples:
Brick
The opening sequence of 'Brick' prompts the audience to ask questions such as, "What has happened to the girl?" and "Was she important to the boy?"

Memento
The opening sequence of 'Momento' prompts the audience to ask questions such as, "Did he know the man that he just killed?" and "Does he kill for a living? Is he trained to do this?"

Wallander
The opening sequence of 'Wallander' prompts the audience to ask questions such as, "What exactly happened?" and "Who attacked who first? What were their motives?"

Equilibrium

This wordle shows the key points of equilibrium in opening sequences. Equilibrium is the balance at the beginning of films, where everything is normal. This will lead to the disequilibrium where everything goes wrong for the characters.
Disequilibrium can be seen at the beginnning of thriller films instead of equilibrium, which means that something goes wrong at the very beginning of the film.



Examples:
War Horse
'War Horse' starts with equilibrium when the audience first see that Joey was born and then gets sold to the main character. The plot then switches to disequilibrium when Joey is sold and goes off to be a horse in the war.

Wild Child
'Wild Child' starts with an equilibrium which quickly changes to disequilibrium when the main character gets sent to a boarding school in England.

Memento
'Memento' starts with a disequilibrium when the first character shoots another character. 'Memento' is a thriller and thrillers usually start with disequilibrium instead of equilibrium.

 Production/Distribution company logos

This wordle shows the key ideas about Production and Distribution logos. They usually appear at the beginning of the opening sequence before any of the first shots appear on the screen. The soundtrack generally starts to play when the logos are on the screen to set the mood and the theme of the film that is about to be played.





Examples:
Spiderwick Chronicles
The production and distribution company logos appear at the beginning of the sequence before we see the close-ups of the specimens. The soundtrack which is slow, quiet and contrasts between high and low pitched begins to play while the logos are on the screen.

War Horse
Before 'War Horse' starts company logos are put on the screen. The soundtrack begins to play when the logos appear which sets the theme of the film which is quite peaceful at the start of the film.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
The production and company logos appear at the very start of the film. Unlike in 'War Horse' and 'Spiderwick Chronicles', the soundtrack of the film does not begin to play. Instead, the company logos have their own soundtrack which begin to play for the time that they are on screen.