An opening sequence is one of the most important pieces of a film, it is the first thing the audience sees and immediately sets the feel for the rest of the film. It outlines the filmmaker's intentions and sets up our expectations for what it will be about. Opening sequences introduce establishing characters and usually the main protagonist, it establishes the place and time the film is set in and conveys the key themes and ideologies of the film. Usually enigmas are set up to hook the audience and keep them wanting to watch the rest of the film.
We have found two opening sequences to discuss, the first is 'Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels' a British crime film written and directed by Guy Ritchie film. The second clip is taken from the film 'Pulp Fiction' an American crime film by Quentin Tarantino.
The first clip (Lock Stock) uses video with title cards, the title cards are very simple and convey information such as actors, directors and producers while the video shows a general idea of what the film is about, what genre it is and the type of location it is set in.
The second clip (Pulp fiction) uses a series of complex animation to get its information about actors and directors across. The use of weapons shows the film will be set in the action genre and the use of 50's American text shows it will most likely be set in America. The video also poses enigmas to hook the audience in.
Before you start on analysing some sequences, you need some general comments on what opening sequences need to do - use your yellow booklets. You need more analysis of these extracts - analyse how they do what openings are meant to and reflect at the end on what this has taught you for your own project.
ReplyDeleteYou still need to specify what sort of things opening sequences do - look at the chart in your yellow booklets to see what they need to establish!
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