Opening Sequence Conventions

Opening sequences in movies are very important in films, as they are the first thing the audience when watching the film. Opening sequences give the audience expectations of what is going to happen and also hook the audience into wanting to watch the rest of the film. There are many different types of opening sequences, depending on the type of genre the film is e.g Horror movies usually start with a murder in a dark and gloomy atmosphere whereas a Romance film would  usually start by showing things that represent love such as things like: love hearts, couples together and images of Cupid the Roman god of love.

The order of titles in the opening sequence always have the same layout, they start with actor playing the main character and then other names follow in order of importance, once the main cast has been shown the people people working behind set are mentioned e.g costume designers & editors, after this part the co-producers, executive and main producers are mentioned in their order of importance. Finally the writer and directors names are shown.

http://www.artofthetitle.com/media/film/2005/lord_of_war.html?keepThis=true&TB_iframe=true&height=382&width=810

In the opening sequence of the film "Lord Of War" the order of titles is in the same format that I mentioned above, also because it is an action/war film the audience are given expectations of what's to come. The film opens in a weapons factory manufacturing rifle ammunition, this immediately makes the audience think of war and violence, then in the next clip russian soldiers are shown to be in charge of the ammunition that has been made by showing the Russian soldier the audience get the idea that Russia will be a faction involved in the film, the next clip shows the ammunition now in Nigeria being handled by Liberia which sets another faction that will be involved in the film. Finally the audience is shown the bullets being used in real combat in Liberia where the opening sequence closes with one of the bullets hitting a child in the forehead, this would shock the audience and entice them to see why all of these things where happening.

http://www.artofthetitle.com/2008/06/30/dawn-of-the-dead/

This opening sequence is similar, to the "Lord of war" it tells a short story through short clips, while showing the crew who worked on the film.

Signed
Rob