Opening sequence analysis

What is an opening sequence

An opening sequence is the first part of the film that we see, here the producers need to get the audience hooked into the plot. Usually small plot points are fed to the audience here, they are designed to give a urge to continue watching. Obviously this varies from genre to genre, but for thriller films the opening needs to excite you and reel you into the film.

Other Definitions

the presentation of the 'opening credits' (as an introduction to the audience about the film and including selected important members of the production) is known as the opening credits sequence; sometimes it is superimposed on the action, but often exists as static letters on a solid background; since the closing or end credits usually list the entire cast and production crew, the opening credits sequence is usually positioned to set the mood of the film, and sometimes even lacks any credits except the film's title; aka front credits or beginning titles - filmsite.org (http://www.filmsite.org/filmterms14.html)

Key conventions

Most opening sequences are similar and they follow a similar pattern with similar conventions that could include:Credits for cast, directors and producers

Establishing shots

Narrations

Action scene

Production logos

Times or dates for context

Wall of text

Opening sequence analysis

To get to the meat of opening sequences it would be far more useful to actually analyse some instead of just reading definitions. I will look at 3 thriller films to start with and they will be:Shutter Island

The Hunger Games

Kingsman: The Secret Service

Shutter Island

The genre in Shutter Island is established from the get-go and that tends to be the main goal of an opening sequence, to establish exactly what the main goals of the film are. The scene is very atmospheric, the colouring is greyed to give it a dark feel and it establishes the genre as horror immediately. The opening begins with some production logos and then the title appears in a very clear font, the first part of the sequence is mainly dialogue, but as soon as we catch a glimpse of the island, the soundtrack kicks in scares you out of your mind, the soundtrack builds up to them entering the facility and abruptly ends as they enter. I think that this is a very effective opening to introduce you to the film and the narrative all at once, the genre is established well as well because the island looks isolated and the brief back and forth between the characters confirms this.

Hunger games

The opening to the Hunger Games is a little bit more visual in its interpretation, it shows us the impoverished with quite conventional lighting, camera shots and settings: rundown buildings, dark grey lighting etc. The film starts with the typical logos, but this one starts with a wall of ext to serve as back story and the first few seconds of the film are also related to the back story, the scene roles in and we see the protagonist Katniss hunting which sets the tone and the setting for the rest of the film. Most openings will show the title of the film within the first 6 minutes of the film, but the hunger games drops this convention for a much better flow for the narrative, but that makes it difficult to judge exactly when the opening actually ends. I think that it is an effective opening sequence because a lot of the themes are set from the get-go and a lot of them are mentioned but they are not fully explained which leads us to want to watch the film in its entirety to find answers to those questions

Kingsman: The Secret Service

Ahh, Kingsman the over the top action thriller. The opening in this one is completely mental and differs massively to the other openings discussed. The sequence begins with the typical institution logos and cast credits, but it serves only to lull you into thinking that the next few seconds won't be insane. The start is promising, giving us the classic context by using dates and places, but it quickly devolves into chaos as a helicopter with two agents dangling from the ropes enter a castle and begin shooting the place up in a flurry of gunfire and explosions, the same logos we saw before show up again, but this time, quite hilariously, as the debris from the explosions. It's quite well done and gets you fired up to watch this action comedy flick, the music is well placed as well, it makes you feel very excited and amazed in a way. But it doesn't last, after an explosion claims the life of one of the agents, the lighting and music turns sober as one of the agents explains the death to the grieving wife and child. After this we are brought to the beauty of snowy mountains and the golden text of the title is brought to our eyes.