General Codes and Conventions of Film Openings - Due Nov 3rd

As mentioned, your coursework will consist of you developing your own 2 minute opening sequence of a feature film. In order to do this, it is essential you understand the conventions of film openings so you may apply these to your own work.

TASK:
Undertake research to establish the codes and conventions (elements you usually find) of opening sequences. You should reference a minimum of 6 feature length films. Below are some sequences you may choose to use.

Legally Blonde Opening
Amadeus Opening
Pride & Prejudice Opening
Hulk
Cabin in the Woods
Kung Fu Panda

You may choose additional title sequences - but be careful not to use trailers or ending credits. It must be the first 2 - 4 minutes of a feature film.

As you watch, make notes on the usual elements that are found in an opening sequence. You should consider:

• CONVENTIONS OF CREDITS - what information is given in the text and what order does it tend to be in (e.g. production company? Actors names? Writers? Director? etc...)
• NARRATIVE - what is introduced to us in these first few moments? Are we dropped straight into the action? Is the setting of the film established? Are we introduced to main characters?
• STYLE OF FONTS - is any consideration given to the print style of the fonts? Does it fit with the genre or tone of the film?
• SOUND - consider how sound is used in an opening. Is music used? If so, how is it used/what purpose does it serve? Is dialogue used? Again, think about how and to what purpose. Is a voice over used?

As always, you should be considering carefully how to present your findings. There are many ways you may wish to approach this task - annotated screengrabs from the various films (see below), a Prezi using the 4 areas you have been asked to look at as your headings, a talking heads video (you speaking to camera and using inserts of your screen grabs) etc...

EXAMPLE:

 Having watched a variety of film openings, I have found one common convention to be displaying the production company's logo at the very start of the film. Furthermore, the production company logo appears to be used in such a way as to establish the genre and tone of the film.

 For example, the Dreamworks logo to the left starts with a Chinese style figure jumping on the moon. This turns into the familiar DW logo. This indicates the martial arts aspect of the film - but also an element of fun.

ETC....





OR a PPT with grabs and text boxes:

Here are some screengrabs from last year's students:

This is the opening of a Prezi presentation

This student used screengrabs