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Thecodesandconventions
offilmopenings:
Anopeningsequencegenerallyhasasequenceofcreditswhichintroducestheprincipal
characters,directorsandproducers.
Theysignalthegenera,andtheperiodoftimetotheaudienceandalsofeaturedproduction
companylogos,studios.
Althoughthereareasetofconventionsthatmostopeningsequencesfollow,atitlesequence
isachanceforcreativityandindividuality,therefortheyareallverydifferentindesignand
worksofartintheirownright.
• Artofthetitleistheleadingonlinepublication,onthecreativeprocessbehindthe
productionoftitlesequences,videogames,andfilms.
• IhaveusedthewebsiteArtoftheTitletoresearchthecodesandconventionsofmovie
openings.AmongstthelargercollectionofopeningsIhavefoundthree openingswhich
Ichoosetoanalyseinfurtherdetail:
•TheSilanceoftheLambs(dir.JonathanDemme1991)
•Zombieland(dir.RubenFleischer,2009) *sequencestartsat2:30*
•AmericanHorrorStory(dir.BradleyBuecker,2011)
Narrativecodes:
Narrativecodes:
themainaimofanopeningsequenceistohooktheaudiencesotheycarryonwatching.Whenthenarrativeis
launched,itmustbesufficientlyintriguingandcompellingtopersuadetheaudiencethattherestofthefilmmustbe
watched.narrativecanfollowoneoftwoforms:
• ActionCodes-Thestoryprogressesthroughactions,meaninganactioncanchangethenarrativeofthestory,this
islikeachainreactionwhereoneeventleadstoanother.
• EnigmaCodes-Anenigmacodepresentstheaudiencewithaquestion,theviewercontinueswatchingtofindthe
solution,forexampleamurderiscommittedandthefilmisbasedonfindingtheculprit.
Logos
Filmopeningsgenerallyfeaturelogosoftheproductioncompanyanddistributor.These
areoftennotacknowledgedbytheaudiencehowever,theygiveinsighttothequalityand
budgetofthefilm,forexampleifa20thCenturyfoxmotionlogoisfeaturedtheaudience
isinstantlygiventheimpressionthatthefilmishasabigbudget.
TitlesandTypography
Titlesequencesarekeyintheroleofcapturingtheaudiencesattention,andgenerateaninterestin
thefilm.Fonts,sizeandcolourareusedtovarythetextandarechosentosuitthegeneraoffilm,
andhinttotheaudiencethegeneralthemespresentedinthefilm.ThisiswhatBarthescalled
semioticcodes.
Establishinggenre
• Themise-en-scèneisimportantforestablishinggeneraand
createsanimmersiveexperiencefortheaudience.Lightingprops
andstagingallowsfortheviewertogetlostinthescenery,which
ensurestheyexperiencefirsthandemotionsasiftheywereinthe
film.
• Forexampleinahorrormovie,thekeyconventionpresented tothe
audiencewouldbetheuseoflowlightingandanunsettling
environment,tosuggesttotheaudiencesomethingbadisgoingto
happen,whichgeneratessuspenseandmakestheaudiencealert.
Launchofnarration
Narrationisusedtointroducethemaincharactersandplottotheaudience,generallythroughvoice
overs.
ForexampleinthetitlesequenceforthefilmSnatch(dirGuyRitchie)Narrator(JasonStratham)
introduceshimselfandpartner(Tommy). HisintenseEastLondoncockneyaccent,instantlygivesthe
audiencetheimpressionthattheyareinvolvedinLondonscriminalunderworld.Inhismonologuehe
alsointroducesthetopicofDiamonds,whichiswhatthefilmisbasedon.
SoundInfilmopeningssoundcodesarekeyincreatingatmosphere.Nondiegeticsoundiscommonlyusedasit
instantlyhintsgenera,timeperiodandsetting.Thisinformationgivestheaudienceagreater
understandingtothefilmandthethemesit’stryingtoconvey.Musiccanalsoreflectmoodandallowfor
theaudiencetoexperiencefirsthandemotions.Forexampleinahorrormovieslow,creepy,ambient
musicwouldbeplayedtodrawintheviewerandwouldbefollowedbyintenseviolentmusictosignifyan
attack.
Diegeticsoundcanalsobeusedinamovieopeningtogivetheaudienceanunderstandingofthe
characters,forexampleacharactermightbegivenapieceofdialogue,sotheaudiencecanpickupon
accent,grammarandqualityofspeechtogetaninsightofthatspecificcharacter.

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Codes and conventions of film openings