Task Two: What is an Opening Sequence?

An opening sequence is the beginning sequence to a film or television series, usually to draw in the audience. The opening sequence sets the scene to the film and usually presents the characters and may hint toward the plot in the film


The Dark Knight
For example, the opening sequence to The Dark Knight is an action-packed heist,  involving masked gunmen and the introduction to the main villain of the film. It includes an establishing shot of the bank in which they will perform the robbery and a dramatic, slow zoom into the villain's mask, creating tension and showing the opening plot to the movie. At first, there are many different characters, however, they slowly kill each other off, with the intention of getting the money for themselves. But the last man is killed by the main antagonist, the Joker. This presents the Joker as being a manipulative and well thought out character, he is seen to be psychopathic but very clever, with no remorse.

Establishing shot of the city bank

Slow zoom to the Antagonist's mask

Se7en
For the opening sequence to the film Seven, there is a constant use of distorted transition between scenes. Also the background music used in the sequence has a slow tempo that correlates with the actions in the sequence. The tempo of the music speeds up and gets louder the further it goes into the video. The music is like a cluster random noises brought together to create tension and give the audience a sense of fear. In the sequence, the unidentified character is performing sadistic acts such as using a razor blade to take the skin off his fingers supposedly so that his fingerprints can't be traced. Every shot is a close up, combined with quick cuts to increase the suspense of what he's planning.

Close-up of the unidentified character's pen whilst writing

Use of distorted images

The Bourne Supremacy

The opening sequence to Bourne Supremacy involves similar scenes to the Seven opening title, however this time it becomes clear that the main character that is being focused on is the Protagonist, in contrast to Seven which seems to be more of an Antagonist. The similarity between Seven and Bourne Supremacy is the distorted transitions and quick cuts between scenes. This also links to the idea for our own opening sequence, as it involves flashbacks o past events which link to the main storyline and give the audience an idea of the backstory to the film. It also involves the use of non-diagetic sounds, such as the narrator talking in the background which creates tension as it leads to the main plot. Once again, this opening sequence uses many close-ups between scenes. The opening sequence is very dynamic and also includes shaky handheld shots to make the audience feel like they are really there.

Handheld shot

Forrest Gump
This time we see something different. The opening sequence to Forrest Gump is very calm and is at a steady pace. The entire sequence is a close-up following shot of a feather falling from the sky and landing on Forest Gump's shoe, whilst this happens, we can see Forrest Gump's home town in the background, therefore it is also technically an establishing shot. The feather landing on Forrest's shoe establishes him as the main character of the film. The feather is also symbolism of forest Gump's calm nature. There is also a panning shot up to Forests Gump's face when the feather lands on his shoe. The entire scene is done in one shot with no cuts or transitions used.

First close-up shot of the feather, with 'Paramount Pictures Presents' in the foreground.

Establishing shot of Forrest Gump's home town.

Panning shot as Forrest picks up the feather.

Mid-shot of Forrest Gump's face to establish him as the main character.

UP
Another calm opening sequence is the one that is used for the movie UP. This movie is an animation using CGI which makes it different to the other films we have analysed. It involves an elderly man who has a flashback to when he was a child. In the scene he is watching a movie at the cinema about his idol. The use of this long flashback is similar to what we want to use in our opening sequence as it sets the tone to the story and lets the audience understand what has happened in the character's past. It includes a close up of the man as a young boy to introduce him as the main character.

Close up of the main character when he was young.

Constant cuts from character's face to the cinema screen.