Types of film opening

                      Types of Film Opening                            Kellie Ward

NARRATIVE -  this type of opening is direct and emphasising, it clearly sets the scene and gives background information to the audience. Narrative openings are the best way to set the tone of the film, for example humorous/serious. It is used in order to make the rest of the story enjoyable and easy to understand/follow. This is done by...

• Introducing the environment - focusing closely on camera shots/angles, editing pace, and sound.
• Introducing the characters and their situations- elements such as mise en scene (clothing) are important. 

Some examples of film's with narrative opening sequences are...

The Shining

As this particular film does not include any characters or dialogue in the opening sequence, implications as to what genre the film is and upcoming events are given by other elements such as the soundtrack and camera.

• Firstly, just simply what is on screen is significant to the story. An isolated and rural location creates mystery by bringing rhetorical questions as to why the character's are in this environment. The moving car easily shows the audience that the character's are on some sort of journey, setting up the rest of the story.
•  The music during this opening seems very disturbed, inconsistent, and tense, which creates a suspenseful atmosphere for the audience and proposes that negative things are to come, which relates to the genre of the film (horror) and imperatively sets the tone of negative events.
• Aerial tracking shots are cleverly captured on camera of the travelling car, this imagery gives connotations that the car is being stalked, again reinforcing the idea of horror by typically including a victim (introducing the character's situation early on). We already are aware that whoever gets out of the car is the main character. 

Matilda

Although Matilda also uses a narrative film opening, it is very different to the shining...

• The first big contrast is that Matilda includes a voiceover throughout the opening, which literally tells the audience who the characters are (tells us their names) and the situations they are in without viewers having to figure it out. This makes sure that the movie has a clear storyline from the start.
• Subtle music is also added in the background, however this is for entertainment purposes only and it is not there in order to set the scene, because the voiceover successfully does that directly.
• Many short scenes are condensed into one to form this opening, this allows the audience to see the main character's (Matilda's) past experiences, and therefore gives us a sense of her life.
• Although there are no graphics or text included, the opening sequence does incooperate the main character's name onto the screen, this is by on screen footage which makes it more interesting than just titles over a blank screen. It not only inputs the character's name, but also the actual film title 'Matilda' at the same time.

DISCRETE OPENINGS - These film openings are the most complex and consume the most time to make, this is because just the opening is like a short seperate film in itself, because it shows a whole story and sequence of events taking place without giving too much away. The main thing it does is leaves the audience asking questions before the film has started, because it gives them a glimpse and wets their appetite.

An example of a discrete film opening is...

 Seven 

This is a very visual opening, using sound effects to accompany movements.

• Notice that the shots taken are all close ups, or extreme close ups, which is the reason we can see events taking place, but can't clearly work out the story. It also emphasises every small action and dramatises it as a thriller should be.   
• Camera is also used in a clever way in which it films from the perspective of the main character, often placing the camera at a high angle looking down at their hands, the audience see it just as the character would. Making everything seem as if it is happening right at the moment of watching it.
• As this has a discrete opening, which demonstrates a short story, the slow motion used makes it easier for the viewers to follow and also cooperates in making every single movement significant.
• Unlike most film openings, Seven does not have soundtrack music, instead it uses short and persistent sound effects which are synchronised with the moving images. Added post-production, during editing. (The sounds add emphasis to every slight movement and make them more significant)

TITLES OVER BLANK SCREEN - this type of opening is self explanatory, it requires very little visual/camera input, and therefore in order to make the opening a GOOD one, it must pay extra attention to other elements which are sound and fonts.