The purpose of an opening sequence is to give recognition, credit and promotion to the main people that had made the film possible and to give the audience a preview of the film through a range of subtle features and techniques, which gives the audience a hint to the overall theme and tone. The opening sequence also gives the companies that had financed the film recognition and advertisement. These sequences usually range from 2-3 minutes long.
Difference between Opening credits and Title sequences:
Opening credits list the more important actors (main characters in the film), directors and writers due to the core importance they play in the film. However, on the other hand, a title sequence includes the opening credits but also consists of all of the technical elements that make the opening credits work E.G. Music, Typography, Enigma Etc
Different techniques used in an opening sequence:
An opening sequence has a lot of technical elements put into it in other to somehow connect with the actual plot of the story whether it may range from having a red bloody background if its a thriller or even a bright colourful background to amplify the fact that it is a children's film.
Music plays one of the biggest roles in an opening sequence as one does not usually find the jaws theme being played in a children's film about water like "Free Willy". Music helps set up the general theme and tone of the movie and a good example of this would be "Alien Resurrection", where the melancholy like music which is also amplified by the certain sense of fear you get from just how eerie it sounds, helps promote and set up the tone and mood of horror and fear. This opening sequence helps promote the fear factor even before the movie starts thus even if a long build up is present before any of the horror action starts, the audiences would still be reminded form the opening sequence that this is a horror movie and thus would be held at the end of their seats in an anticipation for the horror
Watch the full opening sequence of "Alien: Resurrection" (1997) here.
Another technique used an Enigma code. An enigma code, which originates from the Barthes' Enigma code, is when a scene is played which causes the audience to question it and is answered shortly during the film. This causes the audience to have questions even before the films kicks into gear this enables the audience to get intrigued by the film due to the need of finding an answer to the scene and thus will keep their interest levels at a high. An enigma code also helps the narrative flow. A good example of an enigma code being used effectively would be "Enemy of the state". The assassination of the senator raises questions as the audience would have no idea why he was assassinated in the first place, this question is then answered later on in the film but the initial confusion on why would have kept the audience's eyes peeled onto the screen in anticipation for an explanation.
Watch the full opening sequence of "Enemy Of The State" (1998) here (0.00 - 7.56).
Modern Thriller: Queen of Earth: Watch opening sequence here
The modern thriller I have chosen is "Queen of Earth". This film is a psychological thriller which follows the mental breakdown of our main character Catherine. The opening sequence applies the technique of an enigma code as we see Catherine laugh and smile we don't know what is going on at that point in time but we can easily tell that something is not right due to the creepiness and almost possessed smile she has this effect is emphasised by the fact that there is the lack of sound as the shot is joint by the sound of emptiness which is looked at symbolically, "silence can drive one crazy" maybe be a subtle hint on the directors part. This automatically causes us to the audience to come up with our own conclusions on why she is like this and thus will get more engrossed in the film to see if we were right or not.
As the shot is paused and words start to come on screen music starts to play, the music choice for the opening sequence is very effective due to the music having an almost repetitive feeling the music also send shivers down ones spine due to the eeriness and psychotic vibe that one gets from it the music is very melancholic but yet still inflicts the feeling of potentially ones mentally broken brain. The typography that is used to list the actors and the production crew is repeated throughout the screen in the same font and colour this again supports the theory that this may be inside ones mentally broken brain as the repetitiveness drives the audiences up the wall inflicting onto the very basic stages of a mental breakdown.
Hitchcock Film: Psycho(1980)Watch the opening sequence here
Hitchcock uses the effect of transitions for the texts to create a very caged effect due to the different lines joining each other and in each scene, the lines come from different direction, creating almost a cage like image and thus puts an emphasis on the fact that later on the main character is caged in and trapped wiht a killer. the lines could also be perceived as blood flowing.
The contrast of techniques:
In both films, the use of music is present in both and actually plays a big part in creating the atmosphere and theme for both films. However, both films do lack in the department of mise-en-scene and whilst "Queen of Earth", uses camera shots rather effectively as an enigma code, Hitchcock however, lacks any sort of moving video what so ever probably due to the lack of technology back then in the black and white era. Editing wise, Hitchcock uses transitions of the words through the use of bars that flow onto the screen and of it just as the text combines together this as said prior, creates a cage-like effect and thus the feeling of being trapped however on the other hand, there is very little editing in the opening sequence of "Queen of Earth" and it relies more on the use of typography to provide the effect of repetition and potentially the thoughts of a person that has been mentally broken.
Hi Vernnon
ReplyDeleteHere are some comments about your homework:
- Good layout, easy to navigate.
- Need to go back and re-read work before posting to fix grammar and sentence structure which indicates RUSH! (night before it's due kind of rush maybe??).
- Answers to 1st 2 questions are sufficient but although 3rd sub-heading has good reference to sound and colour, and some good examples with links inserted for the enigma code, perhaps you can talk about what techniques are used to create the enigma code? I wouldn't say the enigma cose is a technique, it's a narrative technique (a way of telling or setting up the story). You could refer to text, editing, movement of text, camera shots etc all to speak to a range of techniques that can be or have been used in opening sequences and expand just a bit more to cover all aspects but a fairly good attempt.
- Good understanding of techniques used in both clips, strong examples and explanations used in analysis of both clips.
Score: 12/20
This is mainly because as your essay progressed you showed a competent level of research as well as drew grounded conclusions from them that worked to answer the questions sufficiently. I scored you on the lower side of the competent because I think you can improve still, but this was better than last essay!