For my AS Media coursework I have written about the key conventions of an opening sequence.

1. Danielle Duffy

2. Every film will have an opening sequence; the first
scene that serves many purposes. In this presentation I
have identified the most common conventions you
might see in an opening sequence, and linked them to
examples from thriller movies as it is the thriller genre
my project is focused on. This research will give me an
idea of what I could include in my opening sequence to
make it more professional.

3.  Informs the audience of the title of the film
 The style, font size and colour of text and background is
often reflective of the genre
 Credits showing actors and director names – this
information may be more significant to a person who has
an interest in people in this business. For example; we
may recognise a popular director’s name such as
Hitchcock, and subsequently we may raise our
expectations or be more enthusiastic to watch it if we
were a fan of his work
 Production logo – promotes the institution

4. Opening sequence for ‘The Sixth Sense’ (1999)
Dark, black
background connotes
fear, mystery and
death
Simplistic, blue
text – not much
is given away
about the
narrative. This
lack of
information
might link it to
the mystery
genre as there is
a sense of
unknown
Blue is believed to be the
colour of the spirit; linking
to supernatural themes

5.  Are often revealed using an establishing shot
 Sets the scene, reveals the place where the main events
are likely to take place
 Common settings of thriller movies include family
homes, cities and forests
 May give us a clue of the events that could happen (a
film set in a busy city is likely to involve crime and action)

6. Opening sequence for ‘The Dark Knight’ (2008)
The scene of a big city is shown, so we
know that the movie takes place in a city –
therefore we might expect that crime and
action will be involved

7.  One theory that relates to the opening sequence of a film is Syd
Field’s three act structure
 He designed a paradigm (image below) that he believed the majority
of screenplays follow
 According to Field, screenplays follow a three-act structure,
meaning the standard screenplay has three parts: Setup,
confrontation and resolution
 Therefore the opening sequence would fit into stage 2 of his
paradigm: the set up

8.  Sound helps portray the genre of the film; tense music is
often used to thriller to indicate suspense
 Diegetic sound may include the movement of a vehicle
e.g. a car or helicopter, or a scream when an attack
takes place
 Non-diegetic sound especially helps indicate the genre
e.g. Eerie music is used in thriller to raise the tension
and hint that something has happened/will happen

9.  The storyline is usually introduced
 Sometimes an important action will take place (a key
event in the plot)
 Might include a flashback (non-linear)
 Narrator is sometimes used to tell the story/give us
information on previous events
 We will find out if the important action happened in the
past, present or will happen in the future e.g. in thrillers
linked with mystery the murder will often happen
beforehand

10. Opening sequence for ‘The Dark Knight’ (2008)
A robbery takes place as a
gang of masked hooligans
steal a load of money from a
shop. Links to the movies’
themes of crime and the good
and evil.
This is also an enigma code as
the viewer does not know the
identity of the villains

11.  Main/significant characters are often featured in the
scene
 The event that they are involved in may tell us about
them, for example their career
 Relationships between the characters may be
established e.g. friends, family and partners
 We may get to know their personality through their
decisions

12. Opening sequence for ‘Black Swan’ (2010)
In this opening scene we see the main
character performing. This indicates that
she is a professional ballet dancer – she is
likely to be the ‘victim’ as conventionally it
is woman who are in need of saving

13.  Roland Barthes believed that in order to properly
understand the narrative of a text, we need to observe it
from a range of perspectives
 Opening sequences will often feature enigmatic scenes
that will make the viewer ask questions regarding the
narrative, and to find out the answer they will have to
continue watching
 E.g. ‘Who is the killer?’ is a common enquiry to have
after hearing of a murder in the first scene of a film

14. From conducting this task I have gained knowledge of
what typical aspects are included in opening
sequences. This piece of research has increased my
awareness of what I could include in the thriller movie
trailer I will be creating, as a trailer and opening
sequence are very similar as they include many of the
same conventions.