RESEARCH: Structure of film openings

There are 4 basic structures of thriller film openings. These very important structures will allow the audience to get a perception of what the film may be about. Within a short amount of time these thriller openings will be very identifiable to the audience.

Titles over a blank screen - Black Swan

The first thing that we seen on screen is the production company, followed by the distribution company.

The title sequence begins with a black screen, words with white plain font fade in.

Music played on the violins then starts, music can associate what the film is going to be about.

 We then see the title, with bigger writing but in the same font and white.

The music then is established by the scene, we see that it is a ballet. The mise-en-scene is dark and fast pace as the actress is in the middle of a performance.

 However, we do not see any more credits come up on screen. This is possibly because the main actress is very well known over the world - Natalie Portman, therefore the audience is more than likely to recognise her.

The plain font and black background connotes mystery. This is a psychological thriller, therefore the audience may be able to pick up from this just by analysing the way the mise-en-scene and black background play an important part.

A narrative opening- The Shining
A narrative opening usually has the titles coming up over the footage, usually the footage taken while they come up leads into the film itself. This is the most common used structure of opening, used in a range of different genres.

The titles are put in places that would not disrupt the viewer from seeing the main action, but they are big enough to let the audience see who are the actors, directors, etc. The title colours are also green, which stands out, and use very simple font.

Discrete Title Sequence- Arlington Road
Discrete sequences show some footage, usually the footage may be blurry or uneasy on the eyes, as to confuse the audience of what may be happening, the audience then judges what type of movie it could be by possibly listening to the music that comes with the scenes. Sometimes discrete title sequences will show objects or places that may not be relevant to what happens next.
They also don't have a lot of titles.

Stylized- Taking of Pelham 123

Stylized editing is used to create a certain effect, for example, in this clip we see that the titles come and go with the effect of a black rectangle that functions like a train, the font is bold and quite big on screen, this can also connote masculinity, leading to think that it is an action thriller.