Structure of Film Openings

Structure of film openings; the four types

There are four main ways in which films uses a type of opening to introduce their film. For these films, thrillers especially, the type of opening it includes will have a huge impact in the audiences first initial thoughts and perceptions of the film. The four different types of film openings are; discrete, traditional, credits over a blank screen and stylised editing. All these types of openings can be very well identifiable, with just 15-20 seconds in it can nearly always be know what type the film opening is. 

DISCRETE title sequence- Arlington Road:
Discrete openings tend not to give a lot of information away to the audience. It usually includes fast jump cuts and might appear blurred in the viewers mind. 

Arlington Road is a 1999 American drama'mystery thriller about a man who moves into a new town, suspects his new neighbours are terrorists and tries to foil their plans. The film see's the protagonist to become obsessed in his findings, but the nature if the film and the secretion of the characters personality means that a discrete opening will be the right one to make the link between the two. 

Here is the discrete opening of Arlington Road

As we can see from the opening credits nothing is made totally obvious to the audience. There are lots of images that have been edited negatively to the light and colours, and these appear to flash and jump cut into other images of objects moving. The opening uses close ups and sound to suggest the uncertainty and disturbed nature of the film. It introduces some elements of character and mise en scene, for example the American road sign, Arlington Road, is always referred back to that suggest the events in the film has or will happen in that location.


TRADITIONAL tile sequence- Panic Room:
The traditional film opening is probably the mostly used type. It consists of of pictures and images that have credits/title running throughout, sometimes along with the image seen.
Panic Room is a 2002 American thriller about a mother and daughter just moved into a home in New York, which had been equip with a panic room and money and experience a night of robbery in the room. 

Here is the traditional opening of Panic Room

As seen from the title sequence establishing shots are used throughout and this tells use about the mise en scene, where the film is based in New York City, which is famous for its tall buildings and city skylines. The credits type/text of the cast and crew hang from the sky and sort of balance on air  to make it seem like its part of the image itself. The type is in capital letters, silver (fitting the colours of the building) and are rounded with a sharp end, suggesting the twist to the tale. Even though the credits are traditional it still creates a suspending belief as it takes something that could be of human interest into a tale that halts beliefs in what could happen next, which is a good technique to use. 

CREDITS OVER A BLANK SCREEN title sequence- Dead Calm

This tile sequence literately uses credits over a blank screen, which in thrillers the screen is usually black, though however simple it may seem it can be used to great effect.

Dead Calm is a 1989 Australian based thriller about a couple on a boat tricked by a man on another boat that it was about to sink. The couple gets slit and one if left with the trickster killer and they must both return to safety.

Here is some screen shots of the blank screen opening of Dead Calm

The opening for this film shows how blank screens can be very effective. The title, Dead Calm, passes/over lapses each other making reference to the sea water featured in the films location. The redness of the words suggest danger and fear. The credits fade into the first scene towards the end of the opening and this screen is al black. The music is crucial in these types of openings as it sets both the tone and mood of the film.  

STYLISED EDITING title sequence- Mesrine

Stylised title sequences sees the images and pictures specially edited to make it fit in with the theme of the movie. This can be used to create great effect of action.

Mesrine is a 2008 French film based around a man's criminal actions after his escape from prison.

Here is some screen shots of the stylised editing of Mesrine

As seen the opening for Mesrine is very stylised as it uses 2+ slit screens (some smaller than the others), with the same person, but at different angles and at slightly different times. This looks like a very complicated but sophisticated way to an opening sequence and shows off the skills of the extent that editing can go to.  

All four of the types of title sequences can all be used to create a specific effect on the audience and to generate a feeling within them right from the get go. The types of openings that I particularly enjoy is the traditional and the stylised openings as I think if they were done in the right way they could both look very professional and effective.