Film Opening Conventions

The purpose of a film opening is to show action and catch the audiences attention so that they are immediately hooked to the film. It must clearly show what genre the film is and should introduce a main character - whether it be the protagonist or the antagonist.

A film opening will quite likely introduce the pre-plot of the film or will be a narrative of a character's story. The director can do this in many ways:

F L A S H B A C K

A narrated view of a past key event

E S T A B L I S H I N G   S H O T

To set the scene and let the audience know where the film takes place by

using the landscape

N A R R A T I O N S

Giving past information of what has happened or who the key characters are.

Overall, giving an insight to the rest of the film

A C T I O N   S C E N E

A fast paced scene will automatically hook the audience as well as introduce

the film genre

C H A S E   S C E N E

Similar to an action scene, it will automatically hook the audience and intrigues

the audience as to why this is all happening

C O M P I L A T I O N   O F   P H O T O G R A P H S

Photographs can be used to portray the theme to the audience and the

relationship between the characters

T E X T

Gives the audience information - a lot like a narrative - to set the scene

for the film

Most of the time, the opening to a film will contain the production company and director. It will occasionally introduce the main cast too. During this normally some action will take place and the music is likely to be balanced and unnoticeable yet influential on the way the audience interprets the introduction.

Shots that are frequently used within film openings are close ups and medium close ups. This makes the audience realise that these are key characters.