Purpose of an Opening Sequence

The purpose of an opening sequence in a film is to establish the visual style of the film; it introduces characters, setting, narrative, genre and theme to the viewer. Opening sequences tend to be a short sequence of around 3-5minutes in length, that aims to capture the audiences attention and interest and draw them into the beginning of the story making them want to see it through.

Main characters are usually introduced in the opening, but not always, e.g. The Dark Knight; the main antagonist is introduced in the opening sequence as apposed to the protagonist. Opening sequences allow the audience to gain an understanding of the character or characters and allow us to follow their actions throughout the first opening minutes, which gives an insight into how they may act throughout the movie.

The general location of the movie may also be shown within the intro, e.g. Donnie Brasco, we are shown a montage of the main characters that drive the narrative, the montage also includes the setting in which the plot unfolds, New York and Miami.

Throughout the opening minutes many other factors come into play into introducing the audience to the movie, introducing characters, setting, but also the people behind the scenes.

Opening credits may or may not be used for varying effect, Minimal credits used in Phone Booth, only show us The Movie company and the Films title at the very first screen, almost getting them out of the way quickly, to not draw attention away from the action on screen. Others roll out the entirety of the cast and production crew at the very start. Credits can add another dimension to the opening, font, size and colour of credits can give the audience different feelings, white on black background for example, give a dark sad. Using bright colours can make the audience feel happy and child like, say for a children’s movie this approach may be used.

Sound and music is another important factor, much like colour used sounds can also express emotion into audiences, e.g. Donnie Brasco opens with a soft ballad and fades into sombre violins as the montage rolls, making the audience feel a certain way towards the protagonist and his surroundings.

The overall style, genre and theme of the movie is introduced in the first opening minutes, so it is vital the right message is given to the audience, If it’s a children’s movie, bright colours and happy songs may be used and played over the intro, if it’s a horror, dark colours, deep music and sound effects can all be used to scare the audience and let them know what they are in for.