What is the purpose of a title/opening sequence?
- First of all, it introduces us to the type of genre and theme that the film is going to be
- It shows us who made it
- It gives us a hint about the plot and builds atmosphere to get us interested
- First of all, the producers name or company will appear on screen. This is because they hold all responsibility of the movie being shown.
- Secondly, the highest billing person will be credited, which will either be the director or the star(s) of the film (depending on how famous they are).
- Thirdly will be the director, which is usually presented in three lines such as " A _____ film "
- Next will come, the all important film title!
- Then an actors name will appear; the title role, main role or most famous
- Next a few of the main characters will appear on screen
- After a few seconds, the crew members will appear. This includes the editor, production designer, music and so forth
- And last but not least the final name will appear, which is always the director.
The Sequence and meaning
The purpose of an opening sequence of a film is to set the scene, establish characters, genre and narrative. This is done through:
- Visual style of titles
- Use of sound
- Transitions of titles
In my class lessons, we watched a video of James Bond. From the above bullet points, we were asked how the title sequence would establish the film. I thought that the opening of James Bond Casino Royal makes us instantly think of casinos, Gambling and cards. It has silouhettes which adds mystery because you cant see their faces. This will make the audience want to carry on watching the movie. It gives a sense of undercover spies and secrets. Also the silouhettes are shooting guns and blood comes from the suits on the cards, this shows the film is about to have a lot of action.
The opening scenes of a film must also establish:
- The plot
- Characters
- Genre
- The settings
Next we watched 'children of men' and were asked questions about how the film was represented.
WHERE?! the opening showed us that the film was in london. It was being represented as a negative bleak thriller because everyone was sad and crying, the air seemed dull and the environment was grim.
WHO?! the opening established that there would be a hero within the film, however, not just the average hero. He didn't look like one, and by this i mean; he didn't wear a costume like superman! We know that he is most likely to be the hero because he is the main character and isn't crying when the other characters in the film are. This gives us a sense that he is going to be strong and masculine. He doesn't fit the established ideas of a hero because he isn't like spiderman or superman either, he's not "SUPER".
How is the film represented?
The film is first represented as being very dull, boring, sad.. and what i like to call 'bleak'
How can you notice any other social groups or places which are represented?
We see illegal immigrants standing outside the train station along with mobs. We also see other countries shown on a large screen like "britain carries on".
It uses mise-en-scene; giving a sad atmosphere like there isn't a life there.
It also establishes the Genre, as a bleak thriller because of how sad everyone is and the explosives going on.
The narrative structure shows a negative future for the film because of the beginning, it opens up with sad people upset and crying, however it uses enigma by making us have questions but not giving us any answers.
The target audience is targeted to older people, i think this because it would be too complicated for younger people to understand and it wouldn't keep a childs mind interested.
The values and ideologies of the opening sequence are challenging, what is being shown could actually happen because of immigration, the world COULD become over crowded and there COULD be too many people born to cope with.
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