The document analyzes film opening sequences across different genres to identify key conventions. It finds that openings typically introduce the main character within minutes, establish the narrative and genre through elements like credits/titles, soundtrack and scenes. They also set the mood and atmosphere using techniques such as music, editing, mise-en-scene and cinematography. The analysis of action-comedy films like "21 Jump Street" and "Hot Fuzz" shows they quickly introduce stereotypical main characters and use elements like music, colors and editing to create a lighthearted tone and signal the genre.

1. In depth analysis of film opening sequences in order to identify the key conventions and tools by
which these conventions are established
In order for us as a group to establish the convent ions of opening sequences,
each of us had to analyse films from a range of genres. By doing this, we
were able to establish that across all films there are common element s within
the first few minutes of a film. I analysed five films from a couple of genres
which were; Batman Begins, Forest Grump, Batman the Dark Knight Rises,
American Gangster and Now You see Me. From my analysis, I found that the
following convent ions were filmed
 Start with a big event e.g. in ‘Batman The Dark Knight ’ when the Joker
robs the bank
 Establish the scene and set t ings
 Int roduction of the main character in the opening minutes for example in
‘American Gangster’ the main character is int roduced in an alleyway
torturing someone t rying to get informat ion out of him and ending up
killing the man.
 Soundtrack - This is the use of tone, volume, and tempo, which will
generically start quiet and slow-paced but in some fims it start s energet ic
and encodes to the audience the mood.
 Flashbacks - A scene where the narrat ive goes back in t ime, this is usually
a key event for a couple of minutes that establishes key informat ion.
However, in order for us to create our own effect ive opening sequence within
a specific genre, we needed to analyse, look deeper and ident ify the
specific genre convent ions that exist but gain experience and have good
understanding of the tools being used by the director to connote meaning
and why he/she used these convent ions. For our research, we chose to
analyse four film openings within our specific genre, which was act ion-comedy.
We chose this genre for a couple of reasons: frst ly because it is
common for director to establish the narrat ive and characters within a
couple of a minutes instead of using the whole film which is an opproach in
the romance genre. For our analysis, we chose to look at the opening credit s
and t it les of the films Bad Boys, Hot Fuzz, 21 Jump Street and Men in Bock ll,
which we then analysed and annotated. From our in depth analysis and
group discussion we were able to establish the main convent ions:
 Int roduce the main character(s)
 Establish the narrat ive
 Opening credit s and t it les are inked to the narrat ive
 Set the mood atmosphere
 Establish the genre
These convent ions have been established in similar ways across the films
within our genre: this is in order for the audience to establsh the narrat ive and
genre in only 1-2 minutes. For example in ‘21 Jump St reet ’ the director
established the narrat ive via the use of font which in the opening credit s and
t it les. The red and blue colour scheme was the fink that connoted that the

2. In depth analysis of film opening sequences in order to identify the key conventions and tools by
which these conventions are established
film is going to be about cops and authority but also the flashing effect in the
background which reminded the audience of police siren. When I compared
how the character(s) are int roduced within different genres e.g. in ‘Forest
Grump’ a romance-comedy film and '21 Jump St reet ' which is an act ion-comedy
film. I found that in ‘21 Jump St reet ’ the int roduction of the
character(s) was simple as the director chose to start with a flashback
showing what the characters were like before and after while in ‘Forest
Grump’ the character was int roduced by first showing a feather float ing on
the screen for about 20 seconds before land in front of him. Following what
the director did it would then enable us to employ similar filming techniques
and tools in order to establish our narrat ive.
This essay will explore how the key convent ions of opening sequences wit hin
act ion-comedy are often established by giving evidence from across a
range of films.
Character introduction
Within the genre act ion-comedy, we can broadly state that the int roduction
of a character is important because the director needs to establish the
narrat ive quickly. This is done in a way that makes the main characters stand
out the most . In ‘21 Jump St reet ’ this was done by the use of mise-en-scene in
part icular the choice of costume and colour scheme for the main
characters. The director choose costumes with bright colours for all the actors
in the scene. However, this was not case for the main character as he was
wearing a white t -shirt , a chain, his t rousers were sagging and his hair was
dyed bright blond. This makes him stand out but also connotes that he is an
out sider especially the way he is different to the other student s, but also tells
the audience what they can aspect from him throughout the film which is not
doing what is expected from him. The effect this has on the mood is that the
audience feel comfortable, relaxed and entertained. This is because the
director chose to dress up the character like Eminem, the rapper and
enables the audience to relate to this, as they are teenagers and young
adult s who might have gone through a period when they t ried to look like
one or their idols and in this case, Eminem is the idol of the character.
Next , I looked at ‘Hot Fuzz’ and how the director int roduced the main
character through showing the main character was int roduced immediately:
the audience knew he was the main character as the director created a line
of vision in a form of a t riangle leading to him with the t it les in the bot tom
cent re rows the character at the top. The effect this has on the audience is
that they connote that he is someone important and at the top level as they
need to wait for him to come to them and int roduce himself through the
t riangle that was created.

3. In depth analysis of film opening sequences in order to identify the key conventions and tools by
which these conventions are established
What learned from this is; that our opening should be except ional because it
should int roduce the main characters very well within a mat ter of couple of
minutes, but also grip the audience. Therefore, we should t ry to make our
opening comic by exaggerat ing the act ion and have blatant parody as we
are aiming for an act ion comedy, which does not need to be taken seriously.
Establishing narrative & genre
In 'Hot Fuzz' the convent ion of establishing the narrat ive was the same as for
the films such as ‘21 Jump St reet ', 'Bad Boys' and 'Men in Black ll'. The director
established the narrat ive quickly this was done by the use of different camera
and edit ing techniques. The audience get the idea that the film is going to
be about a top police officer, through the creat ion of a montage showing
the character in different adventurous situations such as storming into a riot
first and then being stabbed by a homeless Santa Claus. Being stabbed by a
homeless Santa suggest to the audience that the film fit s in the comedy
genre, as the character has survived tougher situations but could not avoid
this one.
Linked to the establishment of the narrat ive and genre are the opening
credit s and t it les as the director uses them to reveal most of the narrat ive via
the use of the font house style, colour movement etc. The most effect ive
opening credit s from the four films I analysed was that of ‘21 Jump St reet ' as
the director used all the ment ioned features of credit s & t it les very effect ively.
The font type used for the t it les of this film is ‘aut umn’ combined with
uppercase let ters which have a funky style. The uppercase used gives a
touch of seriousness and the funky font style takes this feeling away making
the audience feel the opposite. The use of uppercase has been used in
many comedy movies because the director used this feature for this film to
connote to the audience the genre from the opening. The colour scheme of
the opening credit s was effect ive to establish the narrat ive, as the colours of
the t it les are red and blue and from this, the audience decode that this film
will be about cops and authority. The director also used these colours for the
flashing light s in the background, which again link to the element of cops
and authority, as the audience will associate this with police siren light s. The
t ransit ions of the opening credit s with the soundtrack connotes the genre to
the audience. The movement of the credit s was as follows: the text came in
flashing on the screen and stayed for a couple of seconds before moving on,
the pace it came on the screen with was fast . This analysed together shows
that the director used the movement of the credit s and soundtrack by
Eminem ‘The Real Slim Shady' to establish the genre to the audience. He
achieved this by using a rap song which is generally chosen to be used in
act ion-comedy films such as ‘Bad Boys’, when the audience hear the
soundtrack the effect it has on them is that they will associate it with act ion-comedy
genre.

4. In depth analysis of film opening sequences in order to identify the key conventions and tools by
which these conventions are established
From this I learned that all directors in general use opening credit s and t it les in
the opening minutes of a film to establish the narrat ive and genre as it is
easier for the audience to decode the narrat ive without needing to watch
half of the fim. This will help my group in the creat ion of our film as we now
know how to establish the narrat ive and genre effect ively.
Mood/atmosphere
This convent ion is created through mise-en-scene, light ing, set t ing, music etc.
In the opening of ‘21 Jump St reet ' music played a big part in set t ing the
mood and atmosphere, the director used non-deget ic music very effect ive.
The music started with a heavy rhythmical drum beat , this set the overall
mood of being act ive and energet ic as it added to the act ion and fast -pace
edit ing. The music used has a connect ion with the main character as it
mocks him for not being the ‘Real Slim Shady' and the director used the
audience's knowledge to make him ook like a joke but to make the film
appealing and let them know what they can expect . This creates a warm
and light hearted mood from the beginning. The warm and light hearted
mood has also been established through the use of a colour scheme, the
colours are very bright , vibrant and warm such as the bright red, light blue,
yellow etc. These colours have a psychological effect on the audience as it
can create happiness or a joyful atmosphere which reveals the genre of the
movie.
In addit ion the mood is created through edit ing t echniques such as ‘freeze
frame’ at a point to focus on an important or funny moment . This has been
used both in ‘21 Jump St reet ’ and ‘Hot Fuzz’. However in ‘Hof Fuzz’ it was
superior as the director applied this to scenes full of act ion but he also
combined it with the use of a narrator who narrated the opening scene with
a serious and deep voice. This created a good-humoured atmosphere as
everything narrated was of act ivities that were over-the-top e.g. "Quickly to
improve in advanced cycling". However ’Men in Black’ established the mood
and atmosphere through the use of camera movement s and the
t it les/credit s. The mood through the opening scene is mysterious and
suspicious, this has been achieved by the font style which is thin, st retched
and abnormal which goes with the ‘Scooby Do' like music that creates an
atmosphere of suspense. The director also created a funny comedy like
atmosphere, by using a narrator expressing everything in a sarcast ic way
about the ‘Men in Black’ e.g. “One of t heir st ories t hat ‘never happened’”.
The audience decode this as funny and sarcast ic because of the genre of
the film which is Sci-Fi and comedy.

5. In depth analysis of film opening sequences in order to identify the key conventions and tools by
which these conventions are established
From this analysis I am able to conclude that during the opening of a
comedy film the director established the mood, he achieves this through the
use of mise-en-scene, light ing, set t ing, music and edit ing/camera techniques.
Conclusion
From analysing the films in our chosen genre, I can conclude that I learned
the following:
 The director let the audience use their previous knowledge about films to
establish the genre and narrat ive effect ively and quickly. The use of
soundtrack, opening credit s and t it les play a big part in the establishment
of these.
 The int roduct ion of the character has to be simple, yet effect ive. The
director uses mise-en-scene to create a stereo type, because this is the
quickest way to int roduce a character.
 Establishment of mood is important as it gives the audience a glance of
how the movie is going to be.