Overview on Opening Scenes

What forms can opening sequences take? Can you list the conventional features of opening sequences?

Opening scenes introduce the film, they give the audience a little taste of what the film is going to be like.

they:

- introduce the genre
- introduce the characters
- establish the setting
- make the audience want to carry on watching the film
- give hints as to what events will happen in the film

the opening sequence sets the foundations for the film, you are always able to tell whether you will enjoy the film or not from the opening scene. the format of the opening scene can change depending on the genre.

comedy: Wedding Crashers




In comedy opening scenes the mood is usually happy so that we are able to tell that the genre is comedy, the lighting is good and the colours are bright so the overall mood is cheery.

This opening scene includes all five features that an opening scene should include. We know its a comedy due to the bubbly character of the two men we can see and due to the jokes they make.Styraight away we are able to tell that the main characters are these two men, they way that the camera is focused on them and the way that their voices are the more dominant. We are also able to pick up that they will be together throughout the film due to the way they're working together in their job. It also establishes the setting for the film, we are able to grasp that its a working enviroment and these two men work in the same building. The audience is intrigued by this opening scene as we are introduced to the relationship between these two men, they seem like they've known eachother a long time so people wanting want to carry on watching so they can find out what has happened in the past and what will happen in the future. This scene also drops us hints as to what happens in the film, the opening scene is about a married couple divorcing, but the two men start to talk about weddings and how amazing they are, which is a hint to what will happen in the rest of the film.

Thriller: James Bond- Casino Royale



In opening scenes for thriller films there is usually alot less comedy and laughing involved. the scenes normally have alot of violence and introduced the main characters in the film both the heores and villians. the lighting is normally dark to create a mysterious vibe and the sounds are loud and bold.

In Casino Royale opening scene there is alot of violence and blood, the main character is introduced quickly and the background noises and music are loud and exciting. In this scene the first few minutes is done in black and white to show it is a flashback and to also create a mysterious tone to the scene. The audience is encouraged to watch on to find out the link between James Bond and the maen he just killed.

Conventional features in Opening Scenes

- Lighting is important depending on the genre
- The main character are introduced
- the mood of the film and genre is introduced
- The music involved has the same tempo and beat as the film e.g. upbeat for thriller

Applying Roland Barthes Theory to 'Phonebooth'

Roland Barthes Theory is the theory that 5 different codes are linked together in every story. these five codes are put together in order to make a narrative. These codes are:

The 5 codes
1. Action code: depicts the events which take place in the narrative - the who, where, when of the story. Action codes are sequential.
2. Semantic code: refers to character and characterisation. The actions in the story are explained by the characters viewpoint on events.
3. Enigma code: involves the setting up of a mystery, its development and resolution.
4. Referential code: involves explaining of information. Mise-en-scene is a referential code.
5. Symbolic code: involves the reading of the connotations of signs which transform them into symbolic representations.

These codes in 'Phonebooth'

Action Code
- in the beggining the man is multi-tasking to give a sense of how busy he is, he is walking and talking on the phone, he is rude to his clients to give a sense of his character.
- he then takes off his wedding ring when walking into the phonebooth and calls an unknown girl, he clearly feels guilty about talking to this girl.
- a pizza man comes and offers him a pizza saying it has already been paid for, the man is very rude to the delivery man, insulting his weight and showing him little respect, we get the feeling now the man is not nice.
- then he finishes his phonecall to the girl and the phone rings again, his temptation makes him pick it up.

Semantic Code
- The use of the city in the beggining shows and urban lifestyle
- many people walking hurridly on the phone shows that the lifestyle is a very busy one.
- the man's attitude towrdas people tells us that he is very arragont.

Enigma Code
- Where is he walking to?
- whats the relavance of mobile phones to the film?
- who is this girl he's calling?
- who ordered the pizza for him?
- who's the man on the phone?

Referential Code (Cultural code)
- Pictures of the new york landscape
- Picutres of New Yorkers talking on their phones
- Facts about Mobile Phones in New york

Symbolic Code
- The Satelite in space showing the movemtn of the mobile signal
- Blue lighting used to indicate the film's a police thriller
- people on mobile phones, hinting the film's about phones


What narrative functions of opening sequences can you identify?

Normally in opening scenes the main character is heavily involved, what he is doing depends on the genre, e.g. with thriller he will be doing somthing violent or dangerous, or with comedy he will be making jokes with the other main characters. Narrative functions set the scene and let the audience know everything about the film they should know at this stage without them the audience wouldn't be as interested or as connected to the plot.

What do audiences gain from watching the opening sequence?

The whole point of a film is to entertain the audience, the opening scene of the film does just this, as it is not the main part of the film is can't give away the story-line so it has to use other techniques. these techniques are used to intrigue the audience to keep watching.

They firstly drop hints about what will be in the film, by doing this the audience is able to have an idea about what is going to happen in the film, when they know this they know whether they wan't to keep watching or not.

The opening scene will also give any information that is important to the audience about either the characters, the setting or the past. this information can allow the audience to become much more involved in the film and therefore they will enjoy it more.

Finally opening scenes introduce the main characters, this allows the audience to know all about these characters so that they're are able to know whether they like them or not, or whether the are the hero or the villian.

What do film-makers gain from including an opening sequence?

The whole point of making a film is to get their audience to watch it, if the opening scene is not good, or is not interesting or does not represent the rest of the film the audience will not want to carry on watching and the film-makers will loose both credit and money.



this opening scene is very interesting, there's not alot of action, but it sill makes you want to keep watching due to the original way it been filmed, buy moving from security camera screne to security camera screne, this film's opening scene is a good example of an opening scene that interests the audience and gives them hints to keep watching.

Applying Levi Strauss theory to the opening of 'Pale Rider' and 'Die Hard'

Claude Levi-strauss, a french anthropologist, who recently died at the age of 100, considered how story telling is used as a means of coping with the fundamental contradictions and irresolvable difficulties of a society. Levi-strauss said that story elements which give meaning will usually appear in pairs. For example a story will typically be organised into opposites such as:

hero/villian
rich/poor
male/female

Applying levi-strausses theory to 'Pale Rider'

peace-violence

peaceful music-harsh tones of horse foot

still-rushing

man alone-group of riders

smiling-crying

calm-anger

dominance-dominated

burning flame-bucket of water

have gold-want gold

christian-no respect for christ

friendly-aggresive

atrractive-ugly

Applying Levi-Strauss's theory to 'Die Hard'

togetherness-lonliness

life-death

policeman-criminal

happy-sad

atrractive-ugly

funny-boring

young-old

experienced-rookie

missed-moved on

male-female

exciting job-ordinary job

married-divorced

peace-violence

drunk-sober

not aware-determind

japanese-american

party-criminal mission