Opening Sequences: An Overview

Opening Sequences: An Overview


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


There are a number of ways of presenting opening sequences:


- Opening credits overlayed onto picture.
- Opening credits break up the montage of picture.
- Straight into picture (first scene) followed by opening credits.


Conventional features:


- Introduce the main character of the story.
- Introduce the setting; the main area/location which the film will centre around.
- Contain referential codes; credits notifying audience of the production company, actors etc. This would give the audience an idea of what kind of film to expect, as certain actors and directors are well known for particular styles.
- Opening sequences are use like introductions to the film and its storyline, so the audience gets a stong idea of what the film is going to be about.




What narrative functions of opening sequences can you identify?


-There is always some form of equilibrium at the very start
-The protagonist is always introduced
-There is an obstruction which the protagonist must resolve
-It never has any closure as it is just to set the scene, leading on to the main part of the film.


What do audiences gain from watching the opening sequence?


- Audiences immediately will gain an understanding (hopefully) of what themes the film will be based around.
- The Audience is also introduced to the main charcters, time and setting of the film.
- The audience should be able to identify the genre clearly.
- Clarity, interest and mystery should ultimately determine whether or not the audience wants to watch the rest of the film.


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


By having an opening sequence, film makers draw in the audiences attention. They do so by establishing genre, characters and style. An opening sequence provides the introduction to the plot which if successful, should set up a mystery to make the audience want to watch the rest of the film.

Applying 'Levi-Strauss' & 'Barthes' Theory:

Applying 'Levi-Strauss' & 'Barthes' Theory:


'Die Hard' (1.0):


There are many pairs of binary opposites to be seen in the opening of 'Die Hard' and 'Pale Rider'...
- Happy vs. Sad
- New York vs. LA
- Together vs. Apart
- Contrast in musical themes
- Good vs. Evil
- Life vs. death
- Prepared vs. unaware
- Novice vs. Experience
- Differences in approach, e.g. Bruce Willis walks into hotel and asks for direction, whereas bad guys enter and kill everyone along the way.


'Pale Rider':


- Cuts between Good guys vs. bad guys.
- Contrast between soft guitar playing and loud horses running.
- Everyday experience vs. spiritual experience.
- Riders vs. Man alone.
- Anger and fear vs. Calm.
- Water vs. Flame.
- Rich vs. Poor.
- Survival vs. Death.


Applying Barthes Theory to the opening of SPEED:


Action Codes:
The opening of SPEED is very clear in showing the audience the main characters, when we see the villian kill the guard it is immediately clear that he has evil plans. Once the police teams are called in we are introduced to the skyscraper where the situation is taking place and straight afterwards to our main characters with the police who will ultimately saved the day. We can tell that the film is set in the present day.


Semantic Codes:
The character of Keanu Reeves clearly represents bravery and does all he can to save the hostages. His viewpoint; "shoot the hostage", which he mentions to his partner also determines his actions when his partner is taken hostage, as he shoots him in the leg.


Enigma Code:
The situation in the building with the lift set to explode is discovered by the two main charcters and they do not hesitate to proceed in adverting the potential disaster. Mystery is set up as we are curious to find out more about the villain involved in these actions of terror and why he is doing it.


Referential Code:
Information is revealed most obviously through the opening credits which seem to go on for an age! The mise-en-scene makes use of lighting contrasts e.g. it is bright on the ground floor of the building, the police staging area, but as they enter unknown territory it appears darker. The lift which is where the hostages are is almost pitch black as the power has been cut.


Symbolic Code:
There are many symbolic codes in the opening sequence of SPEED, e.g. police uniforms symbolising authority and crime stopping. There is also symbolism in the characters emotions such as bravery and fear.

Applying Vladimir Propp's theory to, The Matrix

Vladimir Propp was able to create a theory for almost all fictional stories by deconstructing and analysing Russian fairytales and folktales. His theory was that all stories had up to 31 functions, which would happen at some time in the story, and in the order stated. He concluded that each story and fairytale would have only 7 main characters:

1) Villain - challenges or opposes the hero
2) Donor - gives the Hero a magical object and prepares him
3) Helper - helps the Hero during the quest
4) Princess and her Father - marries the Hero, often sought for during the story, rewards the Hero
5) Dispatcher - sends the Hero off into the journey, often makes the 'lack' known
6) Hero - reacts to the donor, marries the Princess
7) False hero/Usurper - takes credit for Hero's actions, tries marrying Princess

Propp's theory in The Matrix

Characters

Villian - The Agents
Donor - Morpheus
Helper - Trinity
Princess - Trinity
Dispatcher - Morpheus
Hero - Neo (Thomas Anderson)
False Hero/Usurper - Cypher

Functions

2) Interdiction - Neo is warned by Trinity that he is being watched.
3) Violation of Interdiction - Neo disobeys Trinity and doesn't climb onto the scaffolding, and the Agents get to him.
6) Trickery - Neo is questioned by Agent Smith, and asked to help capture Morpheus by making him look like a dangerous terrorist and mkaing them look like they are his friends.
9) Mediation - Neo introduced to Morpheus, and given choice of the real world or to stay in the matrix.
10) Beginning counter-action - He choses to enter the real world and join Morpheus, which changes his situation and the story.
12) First function of the Donor - Morpheus tests Neo with the fung fu program.
13) Hero's reaction - Neo tries to fight Morpheus and fails.
14) Receipt of Magical Agent - Neo is given the knowledge by Morpheus that the rules of the Matrix can be broken.
15) Guidance - Neo goes to see the Oracle in the Matrix.
16) Struggle - He goes to rescue Morpheus, beats the Agents initailly and then fights Agent Smith.
17) Branding - Neo is shot and close to death.
18) Victory - Agents defeated as Neo gets up and fights Agent Smith and defeats him.
19) Liquidation - Morpheus freed.
21) Pursuit - Neo fights the 3 agents after he is chases from subway.
22) Rescue - Neo is rescued just in time before the EMP is given off.
27) Recognition - Neo is recognized as the One.
28) Exposure - Cypher killed by Tank.
29) Transfiguration - Neo is given a whole new look at the end, he flies off right at the end showing he is the One.

Critic of Propp's Theory
Altough Propp's theory does have its strengths it aslo has many wekanesses. Because Propp's theory has so many criteria and story points not all of them are always applicable in the modern day fil. Therefore there seems be a break in the story. However the fact that thre are so many points means that multiple points can be applied to one part in the film, as they are so similar.

Applying Todorov to Martin Campbell's VERTICAL LIMIT

1. In Vertical Limit there is a protagonist and an antagonist. The protagonist we first see is Peter Garrett (Chris O'Donnell). This is the case as he already has saved his little sister Annie Garrett (Robin Tunney) by the time the opening sequence is over. And we can see that he has the ability to save a life and change how the story continues. However the immediate opposing agent is highlighted as Annie Garrett who opposes her brother Peter's decision to save her life but kill her father.
2. The state of equilibrium that we can see at the start of the film is the happy relationship between brother and sister. They seem to be close friends and have similar personalities. As an audience we can clearly see that this is the major state of equilibrium.
3/4. The broken state of equilibrium is already evident at the end of the opening sequence. We can see that the opposing agent is unhappy with the protagonist of the film. This state of un-rest increases through the film, alloing us to guess at the hero's journey being to save his sister and make their rellationship stable again.
5. From my knowledge of the film, the equilibrium will be restoreed by the protagonist, when he rescues the opposing agent from a near death situation and risks his own life to do so. She will eventually see that to save multiple lives sometimes you may have to sacrifice one, which is the reason she had a feud with him in the first place.

Dymioti, Opening Sequence Comparison

Opening Sequence Comparison: 'Legally Blond' & 'Seven'
Legally Blond
Shots
Use of CUs on main character getting ready allows us to see the attention to detail she pays, and how important it is to have appearances perfect.
CUs at the start make it obvious that she is in fact the main character.
Tracking steadicam shot allows us to see the environment they live in and importance of materialistic things and what their main priorities are.
Opening establishing shot of the girl on the bike allow us to see the campus itself, it shows everyone as being wealthy due to the pristine surroundings.

Character Information
Stereotypical girl, obsessed with shopping, hair, make-up nails etc. Matched with the stereotypical boys outside wrestling, all perfectly toned, tanned and groomed. Intrested in the tall blonde girl with small skirt.
No one on the campus appears to be studying showing it is a bit of a party campus.
Her popularity is obvious, she is prom queen, everyone wants to get their name on the card and the card is passed through the ranks of the girls to eventually reach her closest friends, like an order of hierarchy has to go through each level.

Narrative Expectation
The use of bright pinks and different shades of pinks suggests that this is going to be a bit of a chick flick.
The photograph of male character on her dresser suggests that there is some kind of relationship between the two. The fact that the end of the sequence ends with a close up of this photo we can see that he is a key figure in the film.

Seven
Shots
Establishing shot of Freeman in opening shot show us he is a solitary person.
The CUs of him getting ready and picking up his equipment show he is set to a routine and almost old fashioned.
LA shot of conversation between Freeman and Pitt highlights it as important.
LS of Morgan Freeman sitting in bed shows that he isn’t necessarily happy, and creates a sense of loneliness.

Character Information
Contrast of Pitt; young, new look, enthusiastic. Freeman; old, experienced, methodical.
Freeman like to completely close a case, his colleague wants to get the job done to the minimum fulfilment.
Freeman is retiring in a week.

Narrative Expectations
‘Monday’ signifies that something is starting, and also makes it clear that the film takes place over a week.
The ticking just before the opening titles shows that something is about to happen.
Images of a precise action taking place during titles, showing that someone is taking real care about information of other people, we are lead to believe that this is a psycho killer of some sort by the crossed out eyes and images of young children.