Conventions of a title sequence

The main convention of a title sequence is to introduce the film, and tell the audience/viewer who is starring in the film and who the main people involved in creating the film are. This is to show the viewer all of the different roles that people had in the build up in creating this film, and how many different roles and responsibilities there are when creating a film. They try to give a brief understanding of what the film will be about, without giving away too much information about the film, leaving a sense of mystery keeping a viewer interested and asking questions. This is a key convention because if the viewer is not interested after seeing the title sequence, they may not watch the film, as they do not feel interested by it after seeing making it an unsuccessful title sequence. It is important that an opening sequence leaves the viewer asking questions because that means there is a sense of mystery and questions are being asked about the film as the viewer will want to know what is going to happen next, or what has already happened depending on the situation that the characters we can see are in.

Brick opening

Title of then film:
The title is in a big, bold, white font in the centre of the screen, so it is the audiences main point of focus and it stands out compared to everything else on the page.

Setting/location:
From what we see in the opening sequence the film is set in an urban environment. We see this first through a long/estbablishing shot of our main character standing over the dead body of a girl who we gain an understanding that he was very close to her.

Costumes and props:
All of the characters that we see are all dressed reasonably casually to represent that they live in a suburban area, but this also represents the age of the characters, that they are all quite young. There is a brace;et on the girls arm which we see an extreme close up of when she is dead, but then it cuts to another shot of the bracelets on the girls arm putting a note in someone's locker to help show that it is the same girl.

Interesting camerawork/editing:
I think the close ups of the dead girls different body parts when she is dead, such as, the bracelet on her arm, her hair covering her face and legs was very effective because we gain the understanding straight away that she is dead, but we do not know why or how this has happened.

Title and font style:
The font is in a big, white font contrasting on a black background, like most other thrillers, and is in the centre of the screen so it's the main focus of the audience.

Story:
We see a guy, the main character, staring at the body of a dead girl. We undnerstand that these two used to have something between them as the boy looks really upset looking at her dead body. The viewer wants to find out what has happened to the girl, which means many questions are being asked so it will have intrigued a viewer so they watch the rest of the film to find out what has happened.

Genre:
The genre of the film is clearly thriller because from the very first three shots you see that somebody has been killed but we do not know how of who by, which creates a sense of tension. This works because the audience do not know what has happened so there is also a sense of mystery which works well with the genre of thriller.

How characters are introduced:
The two main characters are first seen with the guy standing by the dead girl but they are introduced with name when they are speaking on the pay phone. This is important because it establishes to the audience who the main characters are and what role they have in this film.

Wallander opening

Title:
The title is in a very different format to most others because although the font is big and bold, it is black on a yellow background, unlike most others that have a bold white font contrasting on a black background. The colours of yellow and black could be used to represent the danger in the film.

Setting/location:
The setting/location is first seen through an establising shot, which is seen as a point of view of either a plane or helicopter. It begins by just showing the sea but then pans up to show the land ahead of the plane/helicopter. This is effective because you know they are right by the sea instanly, and you begin to ask questions asking whether the sea will play a later role in the film.

Costumes and props:
We only see costuming of the two girls as they walk away from the cab. One of them is dressed in a very gothic style, with a leather jacket, jeans, and we see is covered in blood holding a knife. The other is also fressed in balck but is just casual, with a jumper. This is effective because the colour black can help represent that the two characters are dark characters.

Interesting camera work/editing:
The piece of editing I thought was the best and most interesting was when we see the girl on the left drop the knife, and the title credits then come in. I thought this was effective because it all seems like one motion in which she drops the knife and the titles come in once she has dropped it. It is clear that the shapes in black on the yellow background is the outline of the knife as it enters from the top of the screen, with the point first, and falls in the shape of a triangle which is used to resemble the knife.

Title and font style:
The title and font style is very basic it is a black font that is reasonably bold, on a contrasting yellow background. This is done to make the font stand out on the page and be the only thing that the audience's attention is on.

Story:
The story is kept very secret to an audience member. All we understand from this opening sequence is that there is a cab driver who has been severely beaten by two girls, and later we see one of them drop a knife which then the viewer immediately understand that this driver has been stabbed during this assult. This does what any successful title sequence does, which is leave the audience asking questions, such as, why have they stabbed him?, what did he do to motivate this?, who are these two girls?, why did they do this?

Genre:
It is clear that it is a thriller because we are kept asking questions as to why this event has happened, but also we have seen that there has been a murder which is iften incorporated in most thrillers. It also leave's questions being asked and having a lot of tension which most thrillers do.

How characters are introduced:
The characters are introduced in a very negative way, the two girls instantly a shown as being very negative, bad characters as they have killed someone and are just walking away casually as if they have done nothing wrong. We are introduced to these characters in a very negative way so we do not really like them but also cannot understand why thye have done this.

Double Indemnity opening

Title of the film:

The title of the film appears in a big, bold, white font with a silhouette in the background. This is so that it stands out on the page and is the viewers main focus point.

Setting/location:

It begins with an establishing shot of a car speeding down a road, showing it is a big city that this film is being set in. To avoid any confusion as to where the film is set there is a film to the left of the picture that says: 'Los Angeles' on it.

Costumes and props:

The costunming that we see from the characters is quite smart. As we see the the main character step out of a car in a big coat, but underneath he is wearing a suit. This shows that he is part of an upper class society in the city, but that his job is very good and he earns a lot of money. We also see the man in the lift in a suit which indicates that the workplace is very big and successful, regarding the time that the film is set.

Interesting camerawork/editing:
The shot that i thought was very effective was where there was the silhouette on crutches coming towards us slowly, and when it eventually reached the front of the screen there was a blackout and the shot faded out into the opening shot. I thought this was effective because it flowed very well and seemed continuous which made it seem very good. I liked this because although it is a very simple transition it is very effective.

Title and font style:
The font in this opening sequence was the sane as the others, in just a large, bold font on a contrasting black background. This is effective because it is seen in every title sequence for a thriller, so an audience may now expect to see this, and it makes the font stand out on the page so it's the audience's main focus point.

Story:
The story is kept very well hidden which keeps the audience in suspense and make them want to keep on watching this film s othey find out what has happened. It basically shows a car speeding down a road which immediately asks questions from an audience perspective because they want to know what has happened and why this car is speeding down the road. We later find out the man in the car works for s big ensurance company and is obviously a big name there as he is recognised straight away. We see a gunshot sound in his shoulder and find out he has killed someone so again questions are raised as to why this has happened and what happened leading up to this.

Genre (thriller):
The film is clearly a thriller because from the beginning there is no explanation to what is heppening and why this is happening. We want to know why he is speeding in his car, why he has a gunshot wound in his shoulder and why he has comitted a murder. There are questions asked and there is a tense atmosphere as we want to know what has happened and why.

How character are introduced:
The main character that we see in the car we do not know anything about them until they step out into the office. We find his name out instantly, Mr. Neff, because he must be big and successful at his work to be known instantly on a namen basis. This created an image in out head that this character is up to something, or has done something, but no-one suspects it because of the image he has already built to other characters in the film.

6th Sense opening

Title of film:

The title appears way into the opening titles in a bold, blue font which makes it stand out on the page as it contrasts with the black background behind it.

Setting/location:

The setting appears to be in a normal everyday house. We discover this later on because at first we see a woman in a wine cellar, but then a long shot after she has walked up the sairs into a hallway and a front room. We see this from a long shot as it is inside and would be difficult to do from another angle.

Costumes:

The costuming is also very basic we see in woman who appears to be in reasonably smart dress looking as if she is going to be celebrating a special accoasion, because she is deciding upon a bottle of wine to drink. We then see the man who is dressed in very also dressed in smart casual clothing, which gives a very small indication to what the genre of the film could be.

Camerawork/editing:

There is a lot of good camerawork because altohough the first shot we see of the woman is a mid shot, it is very mach like it is a point of view of one of the wine bottles that she is walking over to deciding upon which one to choose. It then adapts into a long shot where she walks to and up the stairs and back into the front room still in a long shot view. It then remains int he view of a long shot until the begin to read the certificate where there is a close up of the object and the two people reading it. There is no real editing used, except for the reflection on the casing on the certificate which could be seen as editing because because it is being shown through a different perspective.

Title/font style:

All of the titles in this sequence are in a bold, blue font on a black background so that tey stand out and are the only thing on screen so they are the audiences main focus. The font style is very basic and has been chosen to be bold so it is clear and very obvious to a viewer what it is saying.

Story:

From this opening sequence all we learn about the story is that the man is a child psychiatrist, because they are admiring his certificate and are celebrating him being recognised for his achievement in his profrssion. We gain to develop that he is a very work based man because of what the characters are saying to each other about him, and that this means a lot to him. This does not really set up a storyline but indicates that his profession will be of major

relevance to the film and that big events will happen because of what he may have done to help certain patients.

Genre:

Although there is not a lot to make it clear what genre this is we gain anunderstanding that it is a thriller because there is eerie music (non-diegetic) constantly being played in the bacjground while the woman is choosing a bottle of win. Also the very first shot we see is of a light bulb flickering, which adds tension and shows that something is wrong.

How characters are introduced:

The woman is the first character that we see, but we know that she is not the main character because there is no big introduction to her and we find nothing out about her, we only see her choosing a bottle of wine. However, before we even see the man we have a focus on his hand on the certificate saying this means a lot to him and is one of his greatest accomplishments in life. We hear the two characters read off the certficate and we find out instantly what this mans profession is; this hints that he will be the main character because we are already learning about his personal life.

Special effects/shots:

There are a couple of clever shots used to help make this opening sequence more interesting. For example, one of the shots in the wine cellar begins as a long shot from across the room, but it develops into a close up of the woman walking up the stairs of without the use of a cut, it's all one shot. This is good because it has two different shot types incorporated as one without the camera doing anything. Another clever piece of shooting I thought was good was when they filmed the certificate but in the reflection had a close up of the two people reading off of it; this was like an eyeline match because we could see they were looking at this object but it managed to have them in the shot as well as the object.

Kiss Me Deadly opening sequence

Title of the film:

The title of the film appears across the page way into the title sequence after there have been many other titles; it seems as if they have put the title the wrong way round because it is presented as: 'deadly kiss me'. This could confuse a viewer, but it adds a good effect to the sequence because it gives a different audience interpretation of the film title and what it could be about because it now seems as if it more menacing or perhaps scarier with this new layout.

Starring/location:

The first name wee see is Ralph Meeker, which gives the audience this could be the main character of the film, despite the fact that we see a woman first running down the road. It then says with and several other names inducating that he is the big star of the film. All we see location-wise in this title sequence in a long stretch of road, which adds a sense of mystery to te film because you want to know where this piece of road is, what the woman was running from and where does it lead to.

Costumes:

The costumes are very basic but with one character very effective; this is the woman running down the road because all she has on is a large coat, which creates an impact on the audience, because we see that she is panicking about something and has run a long way to get away from somewhere. The man driving the car, from what we see is wearing a coat, which does not create a great effect from an audience perspective, but just shows he is an average everyday guy just incorporated into this part of the film as an introduction to his characer. The costuming for the police in this opening sequence is good because it's cleear from what they are wearing they are police officers which makes it easier for a viewer to understand what is happening in this scene.

Camerawork/editing:

The camerawork and editing is very basic in this opening sequence but does incorporate quite a good veriety of shots. They begin with a mid/long shot of the woman running down the road to help set the scene without needing an establishing shot, which worked to good effect because it is a different way to begin a film; this also helps show the fear on the womans face and makes an audience want to know what she is running from. There is however a long shot used while she is running which helps show the location of this opening sequence. We then see another mid-shot when we first see the man in his car after she stands infront of it in a desperate attempt to make him stop. During the title sequence when the credits are scrolling across the page we have an over the shoulder shot of the road infront of them as they drive down it, this is not very noticable because the title's are covering the whole of the page but it gives an indication that they are moving and what direction in. There is a good piece of editing here when the police are asking around about the escaped woman, and she grabe the man's hand asking for his help, because there is a match on action used so we see her grab his hand. There is a very minimal amount of close-up used here because se only see it used when the two of them are in the front of the car talking so we can see who as saying what to who.

Title/font style:

The font style used is just a big, bold, white font that scrolls down the page. This is effective because it is the main focus of the audience as it stands out, is clear and the only thing noticable that is on screen.

Story:

The opening gives you a very brief understanding of the story, because at the very beginning we see a woman running but we do not know what from, so we develop an understanding she has escaped from somewhere and is running away from someone/thing. We can tell from the sound of her heavy breathing she has been running from it for a long time and that she is clearly afraid of them/it. We do not get much reveald to us from this which is good because it keeps a sense of mystery, so the viewers are always watching wanting to find out what has happened. We eventually find out that she has escaped from a institute, but the man helps her get away which again adds to a sense of mystery and makes an audience member wnat to know why this is as well.

Genre:

The genre is clear that it is a thriller because there is a great sense of mystery because we do not know what the woman is running from or why.

How characters are introduced:

We are only introduced to two characters which develops an understanding that these are going to be the two main characters. The woman is introduced to us running down the road breathing heavily looking afraid, so we understand she is scared of something and the audience wants to know more about her. The man however, is introduced by the woman puttong herself infront of his car, in which he shouts at her 'you almost wrecked my car' which gives the audience an impression he is quite a mean character and does not care much for other but just himself.

Special shots/effects:

There aren't really and used except for the match on action that is used when the woman grabs the man's hand in the car as if she is pleading for him to help her.

Memento opening sequence

When and where does the title of the film appear:

The title of the film appears after we see the production companies, and the main actors in the film. It appears as the rest of the titles before it do, with it coming on screen and then slowly spreading outwards. This is efective because the title is building up on screen and slowly getting bigger which makes it stand out and the audience sees it for a considerable amount of time.

When and how is the setting location revealed:

We get a first glimpse if the main setting of the film mid-way through the opening sequence with a long shot, after we have just seen the main character of the film. I think they have chose to do it like this because so that the audience can get a basic understanding of what the main caracters lifestyle is like and give the audience a basic opinion about him. I feel that they chose a long shot because that is how all settings are first introduced in the majority of films because it enables an audience member to get a clear and full understanding of what the setting looks like and have a rough idea where they think that the film is going to be set.

Key props:

There are not too many key props used in this opening sequence, just the camera we see, and gun which he has just used to shoot someone and a photo of the person he has just shot. All of these props are seen through the use of a close up to enable the audience to have a clear view of what is in his hand, what it is being used for and it gives a clear understnding of why he may have it. I feel the use of the close up is good to reveal props because you usually want the audience to know what the prop is and what it has been used for, so in my opinion I feel they have been successful in doing this.

Title font, placement and style:

All of the titles and font are the same style, and are all placed in the centre of the screen. They have chosen to do this because the font is bold so that it stands out off the screen so the audience see's clearly what is presented infront of them and know what it is for. They begin with the production companies involved and the main actors names ni a reasonably large bold blue font so that is what the audiences attention is immediately drawn to. However, they choose to have the title of the film presented after this in an even larger font with an effect on it so that it enlarges and spreads across the whole of the page. They have probably chosen to show the film title like this because it is the main aspect of the title sequence and have added an emphasis on it to show that this is the most important part of it and thr audience should remember this over everything else shown in the title sequence. In my opinion I do believe the font used is quite effective becauseit stands off the page and is more likely than not to catch the attention of an audience member because it is so bold and is a contrasting colour to the background (dominantly black background with blue font colour).

Overall camera work:

In this opening sequence there are 3 main shots used that you would expect to see in an opening sequence; establishing shot to set the scene and all0w the audience to know where the film is going to be set. Mid-shots when we first see some characters or when there is some dialogue incorporared in the scene. However, the main camera shot used is a close up because it gives us a clear view of all of the props in this opening sequence and what they are going to be used for. Close ups also enable us to see the facial expressions of the characters, such as when the main character is confused as to where he is and what he is doing. However they do vary the shots a bit more because when we first see the main character in his room we see him from a high angle shot which gives the impression that he has low status at that current moment of time and it intrigues an audience member as to why this might be.

Does the opening sequence relate to the rest of the film:

I think that the opening sequence does relate to the rest of the film because it does give us background information about some of the characters that we are going to see in this film which gives the audience a better understanding of what is going to happen in the film and builds a relationship with some of the characters because straight away it gives us an understanding of what their personalities are and how what has hppened in their past to influence what is going to happen in theis film. Also it relates because weseem to see some of the key moments in this opening sequence over and over again which means they have some relevance to what is happening in the film and they affect the ending or the build up to the end.