Code and Conventions of Film Openings

In movie openings you will always have the

production logos and distribution logos
Of the main companies that work on the
movie. Depending on the budget of the film/hype
created for the film these logos will be edited in a
form related to the movie, such as in 300 the Warner
Bros logo is made to look like a shield and is worn
away and dirty. This is to reflect the story line of the
film.

Generally the opening shot of a film will be either an establishing shot or a blank
screen with titles on. These title screens can also be a way of building up suspense
and also giving away the genre of the
movie to the audience. A good example of
this can be the movie Scream, where
Scream sounds, Sirens and also
heartbeats are played over the titles. The
title of the movie also appears in blood
red and comes on as if being slashed by a
knife.
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFC
StOMqpfk) – Youtube video of opening
A convention of Slasher movies they will tend to open up by showing the characters
in the movie but clearly pointing out each stereotype such as the 'Busty Blonde'
Arrogant Male' and 'Virginal Girl' They will also tend to clearly point out what the
villain is, such as with a phone call or another hint. (Link to Scream video also shows
this)

In films that are using big stars, they will try to show as many of these actors as
possible to show the audience that they are important and also will attract the
attention more as the audience will like to see what their part is in the film. Some
films however will not show the stars that are used in
the beginning. This is either to surprise the viewers later, or
just watch in suspense until they arrive on screen. If a
movie is using many big stars, the audience will be most
likely going just to see those actors, not exactly because of
the story so the audience will want to
see their favourite actor as soon as possible and as much as
possible. An example of this is when Hugh Grant features
in a romantic comedy, they will generally use him as the
selling point, and therefore, will be witnessed in the first
few shots.

Some films will also try to get as many inter-textual references as they can to films
made before the film which will help the audience reference it to a prequel or films
that it has looked at for reference as in, If it is a sequel it will generally show
something which the audience will automatically recognize as being that movie e.g.
in Bride of Chuckie There are many inter-textual references to horror movies made
before such as Halloween and Friday the 13th. This instantly shows what genre it is
[Horror/Hybrid genre(Mix of genres e.g. comedy/horror)].