Opening Sequence

1. Opening Scene Research Genres: • Horror - ‘The Ring’ opening credits • Action – ‘Iron Man 3’ opening sequence • Sci-Fi – ‘I, Robot’ opening sequence • Thriller – ‘The Departed’ opening sequence • War - ‘Dunkirk’ opening sequence

2. Horror – ‘The Ring’ (Opening Credits) The images in the opening credits of ‘The Ring’ explain the narrative of stereotypical themes of horror with little short clips of disturbing images of blood, dark rooms and random body parts all shown whilst displaying the opening credits. The target audience for the film based of the opening credits would be 18+ because of the mature and disturbing content. It would also be targeted to all genders as horror isn’t a gender biased genre and this allows a larger audience resulting in a larger profit. Horror genre is clearly presented as there is constant repetition of dark colors which connotes a scary and creepy atmosphere. The unsettling non-diegetic sound of the music, starting with a creepy nursey rhyme and then transitioning into an intense rock-like sound all connote key conventions of horror as well. The opening credits contain minimal character introduction as the production team probably wanted the audience to feel anticipated for what’s to come. Instead they used several clips of disturbing and random images and videos to help the audience structure a narrative. However, we do hear diegetic sounds of children laughing and see a picture of a white ring consistently show up giving us more indications into the characters and narrative.

3. There is little camera work used as the opening credits is focusing on moving images being played in a cassette like way. • The music in the opening credits follow the typical archetype for the horror genre conventions of music with non diegetic creepy nursery rhymes transitioning into intense rock music, diegetic sounds of children laughing, and random screams. • There is a montage of images transitioning with either a cut or a fade. There is a blurry undertone which is consistently edited in as well as a vignette filter on some of the videos and images. • I personally feel as if the opening scene was extremely successful as it is very unique and random but adds a sense of mystery and leaves the audience questioning what is going on and anticipating the future narrative. However, I do feel as if the narrative in the opening credits could have been a bit clearer as it could potentially leave the audience asking to many questions, ultimately leaving them confused.

4. Sci-Fi – ‘I, Robot’ opening scene • From the opening sequence we can infer that the film is about robots saving humans when they need help as there is an example in the opening sequence of a robot saving a women. The medium shot of the robot breaking the car window makes the audience think that the robots kindness will be continued on further into the narrative. • I personally think the films target audience is 13+ as the film does have occasional violence but it is nothing to disturbing or worrying. The films gendered target audience would possibly be male dominated as robots are stereotypically masculine. • We can tell that the film is a typical Sci-Fi film as at the start of the opening sequence we read the title ‘Chicago 2035’ through the establishing shot of the futuristic city. We also can see CJI’s of robots walking around the city which is a stereotype of for Sci-Fi films which usually contain lots of animations and elements of CJI. • We are introduced to the main protagonist as he walks through the futuristic city on the way to his grandma’s house who we later meet at the end of the opening sequence.

5. We can tell the character is located in a big city by the use of the medium shot. This allows us to see there are lots of people and how busy the city is. The side view of the character walking lets us see what other people are doing and the futuristic atmosphere the protagonist is in. • Match on action is used from a medium close up to a medium shot of a character turning around in bed. This lets the audience see he has a gun in his hand. The use of bird’s eye view of the room allows us to see what type of house he lives in. • When we see an extreme close up of the character, we hear the diegetic repetitive alarm. The next sound we here is when the character turns on the diegetic music on, the sound is jazz-like music, giving the audience a better understanding of the character. • I personally think that the opening sequence is extremely effective as it shows the impressive city which is mostly containing elements of CJI and animations. This also establishes that the film is set in a futuristic period with robots being the main focus.

6. Action – ‘Iron Man 3’ (Opening Scene) • The narrative of the opening in ‘Iron Man 3’ is told using flash forwarding which foreshadows to the readers what action will take place in the film. The preview of the narrative that is displayed through the opening sequence shows the stereotypical conventions of an action film. One of these conventions is shown through the use of the ‘protagonist’ defeating and shooting the unknown ‘antagonist.’ • The target audience for the film is set for a more maturer teenage and adult audience but could also be available for a younger audience with a guardians consent. Furthermore, the action genre the film obtains is mainly dominated by a male audience. • The action genre is clearly presented through the various channels of information through the usage of imagery and music working well to create the needed conventions for the genre. The use of imagery illustrates to the audience the significant moments in the film and gets the audience indulged into the narrative whilst the suspenseful fast pace action of the music further anchors the audience’s attention.

7. Cuts of different shots was used making immediate changes from one to another e.g. opening starting with a dissolve in with a pitch black with and shots after this being fast pace and disjointed. • In the film opening the female character was portrayed as the archetype of a damsel in distress as there were many shots of her being caught in the action. The film opening clearly shows that the main character is dominant as there are many low angle shots being used as this connotes the characters status and importance. • The music changed constantly with face paced music making the audience feel tension in contrast to slow paced melancholic music. • I personally feel as if this is a really-good opening scene as it gets the narrative started on a tense note with action getting the audience excited as to what’s to come.