Conventions of an opening sequence...

Conventions of genre 


To entertain the majority of their audience, films need to follow the conventions of whichever genre they are producing. If they stray from these conventions, people will not appreciate it, as it will disrupt their idea of what a film of that genre is suppose to be like.


Our Genre (Social Realism)

• Gritty, realistic story lines.
• Local locations, not big cities.
• Trying to escape from something/situation.
• Low budget.
• Focussed on a cultural/social issues. (eg racism)
• Focussed on the working classes. 

Setting up audience expectations.

Plot - what do we immediately think the film is going to be about? Things in the opening sequence should give us some clues to, if not outrightly demonstrate this, including the style in which it is shot and the media language, particularly mise en scene, lighting and editing to show the environment in which the film is being set. 

Introducing characters.

Usually the main character is introduced in the first few minutes of the film so that we immediately connect to that character and are intrigued by them. Sometimes, we are introduced to the main antagonist in the same way, but instead lead to fear them, not engage with them. Usually, we are only introduced to central characters at this point, not the whole cast of the film so we are not overwhelmed. 

Setting up enigmas. 

The setting up of enigmas in the opening sequence is basically what stops people from getting up and leaving the cinema, or turning the film off. Enigmas drive the narrative, and keep thee audience hooked, awaiting answers. Without them, the film would be very boring.

Initial Equilibrium.

This is natural balance that most films have at the beginning which will later be disrupted by an event or person. This disruption is then what has to be solved or fixed in the rest of the film. Sometimes, a film can open with a disruption, so we are immediately thrown into the action, this is one way in which conventions can be challenged. 

Introducing themes/ideologies.

Themes and ideologies are generally clear from the outset, weather it be a gritty film that is trying to challenge an ideology, or simply the theme of something being 'war,' or 'romance.' If these are not set up, (again though media language etc) it would be difficult for people to tell weather or not they want to watch the film because they would not know weather or not they are interested in it. 

Establishing place/time. 

We usually establish place and time by where a scene is shot - showing us weather it is day or night and through establishing shots where we are. This is also sometimes done with captions telling us the place and date, or voice overs, explaining what is happening. This is also a convention which is most easily manipulated to create affect. For example. if we do not immediately know where a character is, it creates suspensions and makes up want to find out more about their surroundings.