Independent Research - Film Openings

Film Openings

A film opening is also known as a title sequence, it is where a scene is used to reveal the beginning of a film. It is used to show the names of key production companies and members, key actors, the producer of the film. The use of the film opening is to establish an opening scene/setting/location for the film.

The use of these title sequences at the beginning is because it outlines which big names will be in the film and who produced this and this will be the first thing that the audience will see. It is also important for the opening to be of a high quality and create interest immediately as the audience will make their mind up purely by those first 5 minutes.

A title sequence is expected to:

• Set the atmosphere/tone 
• Introduce the main characters 
• Show the film title
• Classify the genre
• Uses appropriate sound - Fit for genre
• Introduce the opening to the film
• Allows us to get a feel for what the film is about
• Includes all important people who have something to do with the film
• Sets the scene for the rest of the film
• Shows only one scene
• Often has some kind of theme

A         Here are a few examples of film openings that portray these thoughts

Hitch (2005)

Forrest Gump (1994)

Cameron Eade