Evaluating Opening Sequences

1. S
Real Media Research
By Daniel Richards

2. Mission: Impossible
Genre: Spy/Thriller
Opening Sequence conventions: The film opens with the production
company credits.
Genre conventions: The dark colours connotate the mystery of a thriller.

3. Opening Sequence Conventions: Pictures of different people are shown
with their details beside their pictures, with connotations that somebody is
looking at lots of people’s personal information. The viewer will want to find
out who is looking at the information.
Genre conventions: Again with the use of black and white theme
highlights the spookiness of the film, and a sense of mystery.

4. Genre conventions: Crucial detailed personal information is showed
alongside a picture of a man. The details show the man is an agent of great
importance, and would make the viewers
Opening sequence conventions: The viewer is immediately drawn to the
top of the screen, as it says “top secret” in bold red, implying a sense of
danger.

5. Opening sequence/Genre conventions: The close up of the man shows
a worried/anxious looking on his face, without showing the audience what
the man is looking at, creating suspense and putting the viewer on the
edge.

6. S Genre conventions: The use of this effect creates suspicion
for the viewer as they feel they don’t know that person fully as
they can’t see much of them.

7. S Genre conventions: A spark/flame is used at the beginning of
the opening sequence. Fire has connotations of emergency,
giving the viewer a sense of danger.

8. Opening sequence conventions: The title of the movie is spelt out in
individual letters, and then put together. The letters are in a bold font in
front of a black background making it stand out even more.

9. The Dark Knight Rises
Opening sequence conventions: The sequence starts with the Warner
Bros. logo.
Genre conventions: There are dark clouds in the background, which
sometimes lead to thunder and lightening, having the connotations of being
scared/worried.

10. S Opening sequence conventions: The name of a production
company appears with the logo.
S Genre conventions: The music begins to add in the drums,
giving it more of a tense feel. Also, the background is all black
with dull colours used for the font and logo, giving it a sense of
spookiness.

11. S Opening sequence/genre conventions: The logo for DC
Comics appears, which tells the viewer that the film will
be about a superhero. Again a dark background has
been used, creating a sense of mystery.

12. S Opening sequence conventions: There are credits within
the opening sequence, giving the biggest names in the
movie, informing the viewers who will star in the movie.

13. S Genre conventions: The picture of the police man and
police car show that the movie will involve crime.
S Opening sequence conventions: There is a hand sorting
out all of the pictures, and this is one of them. The viewer
doesn’t know who’s hand it is, and will be keen to find out
who has hold of all the pictures.

14. S Genre conventions: The big bold letters saying
“CONDIFENTIAL” brings the viewers to be alerted, and will see
that it is about a man, perhaps a suspect they are looking for.
S Opening sequence conventions: This will leave the viewer with
many questions to ask, which is the purpose of an opening
sequence. Also, the whole opening sequence was in black and
white, very dull and formal colours. Giving the impression there
is a sense of seriousness in the film.

15. No Country for Old Men
Opening sequence conventions: Firstly we are
introduced to the two companies that produced the
movie, Paramount Vantage and Miramax.

16. S Opening sequence conventions: The next thing we see is
the name of the film. The background is black, making
the bold white font stand out more. The dark background
gives a mysterious feel to the film.

17. S Genre/opening sequence conventions: The first scene is
of a dark, plain landscape, a panorama is used to show
the setting. The viewers will not know where it is, as it’s
hard to see exactly. The connotations of this are creepy
and mysterious, which is what we expect in thriller
movies.

18. S Opening sequence conventions: We are then
presented with two characters using a long shot, with a
much lighter setting. The viewers presume that one is a
policeman due to the uniform and the police car, and the
other is a criminal.
S Genre conventions: This shows that the film will feature
crime, which is a convention of a thriller movie.