The Purpose of Opening and Title sequences

The Purpose of Opening and Title Sequences

The purpose of an opening sequence is to establish the moods and visual character of a film, to introduce the view to all or some of the following elements:

• Characters,

• Locations,

• Narrative,

• Plot,

• Themes,

• Enigmas,

• Visual style and

• Genre

The opening sequence of a film needs to be engaging for an audience from an early stage. It should provide an insight of what is inevitable in the plot and what should be expected. Directors may also use a title sequence in the opening sequence of a film and this would be used to inform the audience who is featured in the film, the producer of the film and also who directed it. An example of a recognisable opening sequence and title sequence is:

James bond – From Russia with Love

The sequence begins with iconography that is famous for being associated with James Bond films. It is a graphic ident where the audience are shown James Bond through the eye of a barrel. The theme tune enters at this point, it is a non-diegetic score and we can denote that it is fast paced, energetic and has a lot of rhythm. The connotations therefore are that this film will be an espionage/action thriller.

During the opening sequence the score dies down and the audience can only hear ambient sounds of foliage  The audience are introduced to a new character who they suspect is following the main character and protagonist, James Bond. This creates tension because dramatic irony is in play; the audience are on the edge of their seats in anticipation with what could happen to Bond. The musical scores fades in once again but it is at low volume and a slow pace, suspense is building. 

The audience start to try to piece together what the situation is and what is going on and so already, only seconds into the film, we are faced with enigmas. The big questions, at this point, are “who is following James Bond? And why?” 

A diegetic gun shot is heard by the audience which causes shock and panic; even though the scene is set in low lighting we can still make out a body. It is James Bond. Confusion occurs now amongst the audience because the protagonist has been shot and declared dead within minutes of the film starting… how can that be? This is where disbelief comes in. The audience soon realise that this was a red-herring and they feel tricked but relieved, the hero is not dead. Another man removes a mask from the killed figure to reveal someone who is not Bond, this connotes that the opening sequence had been a training session for an assassin and that killing James Bond is the goal. The plot of the film has been set up and the audience have had a chance to see the antagonists, they are now fully enticed and involved in the film.

After this scene the titles are introduced. These titles are stand-alone titles, which mean they are separate from the rest of the film. Bond films are well known for doing this; the titles are very long and are often have elements of typography or animation. In “From Russia with Love” we are shown the film title, the names of who are starring, the main production team and the director. These are the only names included at the beginning because of the number of people that are involved in making films is so vast the opening credits would take too long, if all the minor roles were included  also.  

With this opening sequence I like the idea of setting up enigmas from the very beginning as it stimulates the audience and creates tension immediately. I also like the fact that the credits are stand-alone ones because it allows the audience to grasp what has just happened in the previous scene but also lets them settle into the film and prepare themselves for what is to come. It is a bit of rest from all the initial tension because the audience were just plunged in the deep end at the beginning.