Year 12 – Friday 19th September

LO: Am I able to analyse film opening sequences and identify conventions?

Key Word: Convention

• A convention is an element which you expect to see in a genre.

• For example: In horror films you expect dark settings, tense music and death. These are conventions of horror movies.

Task

• Watch the opening sequences of the films below.

• They are all different genres of film – however, do they have anything in common?

• Sequence 1 Sequence 2 Sequence 3

Task

1) Analyse what do the sequences have in common – think about elements such as titles. What do you think are the conventions of an opening sequence?

2) The purpose of an opening sequence is to introduce the characters and/or main narrative of the film without giving away too much information.

A) How does each sequence do this? B) Does the sequence focus more on character or narrative? Why?C) What genre is the film? What elements in the opening connotate this?

3) Find your own opening sequence from any genre you like. Analyse how it uses conventions and introduces the narrative/characters.