Codes and Conventions of Opening Sequences

The opening of most movies usually begin with distribution and production logos of the companies that help to shape and put the movie together as a whole. For example, for the movie ‘Along Came a Spider’ we see the logo which is a mountain with stars around it then the name of the company Paramount across the middle. Sometimes logos and such can be edited in order to reflect the story line of a film and appeal to the audience more. However, this all comes down to the budget of the film and if the public and audience have high expectations for the film.

After all the productions logos and such we usually them see titles of the film, firstly with the main stars or maybe the director if the director is of important significance. We will see the titles of the film on a blank dark screen or included within the film and just fading in and out as it continues to play. On the other hand, some directors prefer to use establishing shots to give the audience an insight and a small hint of what the film may be about and where it is being set. Here we see an establishing shot within the movie ‘The Shawshank Redemption, we see a shot of the prison, some cars and then cutting to the main character Andy on a bus as it rolls through the gates.

Some movies revolve around the actors as if it’s someone really famous and a well known good actor they will be the focus of the movie. Star based movie as becoming common and directors use this to draw in their audience as they know that if a certain actor is in a movie they’re more likely to watch it. We can notice this on movies such as ‘Armageddon’ starring the well known actor Bruce Willis and another movie ‘New Moon’ from the Twilight Saga starring the hunky chiselled Robert Patterson. 

Overall, as we know not all movies are the same and they all vary due to their specific genre, theme and ultimately on the director and they have a personal vision on what they want the movie to be like. Some movies will get the audience’s attention by calling it a ‘teen flick’ if appealing to teenager or ‘outrageously funny’ if appealing to people who are into comedies, every movie varies. There is not a set particular order that a movie has to conform to or follow as their target audiences and goals are different.