Film Opening Conventions

Production Logo

• At the start of a film it will be introduced with the companies who worked on the films logos and distribution logos.

• The companies will change the theme of their logos to fit the genre of the film depending on the funding of the film.

Warner Bros. Production Logo

Titles

• At the start of a film it will have some sort of titles. Most of the time these titles will include the name of the film and also important names that helped produce the film such as producers, editors and the main actors/actresses names.

• The theme of the titles are different for different films to give it the right feel for the genre of film.

Opening titles to Superbad

Opening Titles to Step Brothers

Establishing Genre

• In the first few minutes of the film the audience should be able to establish what genre the film is. This way they will know if they want to keep watching the film.

The opening scene to Saving Private Ryan:

The audience can see that the film is war based.

Establishing Key Characters

• The look of the main characters can establish what the genre of the film is.

Just from looking at Pete Dunham in Green Street helps the audience know that he is going to be an aggressive, violent character. Which is what the film is based on.

Establishing Locations

• Also the film opening will establish where the film is set.

The opening of Star Wars shows that the film is based out of space and that it contains things such as space ships.

Themes

• The opening of films have different things we expect to see to represent a genre of a certain film. Such as in an action film you would expect to see some sort of combat or a chase. Or at the start of a comedy you would expect something funny said by the character or to happen to the character.

James Bond: Quantum of Solace

This film shows the theme of the film straight away by having a car and gun battle. It lets the audience know that the film is about James Bond who is chasing and trying to capture or kill the criminals.

Sound

• In a film opening we either hear diegetic or non-diegetic sound.

• Diegetic is when the sound is in the world of the actors.

• Non-diegetic is when the sound is over the top of the film and is not heard by the characters. Using non-diegetic sound can help the audience know what type of film it is and it also sets the scene.

Enigma

• Using enigma is a great way of keeping the audience attention. Enigma is usually used in action and crime themed films but can also be used in any other genre of film.