Conventions of an Opening Sequence

The first convention of an opening sequence is reassuring the audience by indicating the conventions of the chosen genre. For our film the genres are Crime, Thriller and Film-Noir. These genres are exhibited through the use of props, characters and the style in which the film is shot. Our film is shot in black and white which is one of the main conventions of film noir. The use of a police badge and guns show that it fits in with the crime genre because one of the characters is a police officer and the other is a criminal, lastly the barbaric murder of the protagonist conveys the reasons behind the film being a thriller. Opening sequences set up audience expectations for the rest of the film. Because our opening sequence is actually the last scene the audience are still unaware, so the rest of the film is intended to shed light on their confusion.  The death in the first scene gives the audience a thirst for knowledge; they automatically want to know what has made these two characters hate each other.  Many enigmas are set up during the opening sequence of all films; this is what drives the audience to want to see the rest of the film. The confrontation in our film gains the interest of the audience and has them asking questions and being unable to wait for the answer. A typical opening sequence will set up an initial equilibrium that will be disrupted.  In our film we stick to Todorov’s theory of Equilibrium, Disruption and Re-Equilibrium, however we twist it slightly by starting off with Re-Equilibrium, but because this is the opening sequence the audience are led to believe that this is in fact the Equilibrium that will later be disrupted.

 Opening sequences always introduce any key motifs and themes that are linked to the dogmas of the film. In our film the main theme is revenge and law and order. These themes are shown through the violence; also they are presented in the key motif, the police badge. Opening sequences are also used to introduce the protagonist; our film does this by showing the protagonist stood over the body of the antagonist.  Lastly an opening sequence intends to establish a time and place, this is done through establishing shots and possibly through the use of narrative devices such as voice over’s, captions and dialogue. In our film the establishing shot is when the camera pans round to show that the main characters are in a warehouse.

Shafaah.