Evaluation Question 1 - Forms and conventions

Forms and conventions

Forms and conventions of film openings:

Film openings conventionally fulfil the tasks of setting the location, introducing the characters and introducing the titles. There are generally four forms of film openings. These are

• Narrative
• Stylised
• Title sequence (titles on background)
• Discrete 

Arlington Road:

Titles running throughout the opening of the film, film production company names, producers, directors, starring actors. Arlington Road also has a discrete title sequence, revealing cuts of street scenes, a road sign with the text 'Arlington Rd' written on it in an American street sign style. 

                Seven:

Seven has a discrete title sequence, revealing to the viewer a range of different cuts sequenced together to create an opening that effectively sets the opening mood and tone for the film. A discrete opening title sequence does not give away the plot of the film, but instead gives clues to the audience about the film. The items and actions shown hints that this film is of a dark, sinister nature and these sinister shots builds audience anticipation.

Donnie Darko:

Donnie Darko opens with a blank screen with white text, which gives the audience information about distribution and production companies, along side the director and possibly the writer. Once these titles have completed, a narrative opening follows to begin the film. 

The Taking of Pelham 123:

The Taking of Pelham 123 features a stylised editing type opening sequence. We see examples of the stylisation through things such as the view of the street where the speed of time is increased substantially, and then it is immediately slowed as the character of Ryder (John Travolta) is viewed, which may create key ideas about this character; one being that he is one of the main characters of the film. There is also a lot of emphasised panning, with many pans that have increased paced to possibly create a fast paced mood as the film has entered it's opening sequences.

When watching a thriller film, we expect locations to be set, an introduction of the characters, and also the introduction of the the titles all during the opening minutes of the film. Within my group, we were particularly interested in the opening sequence to Arlington Road. It was obvious that it was very heavily edited and took many shots and a combination of stylising techniques to create.


To the right is a clip of the opening sequence of Arlington Road.

Source: http://www.slideshare.net/NicBunby/codes-and-conventions-of-a-psychological-thriller-7899940  , by Nic Bunby

We worked in the psychological thriller sub genre. Above is a few slides discussing the conventions and themes of psychological thriller films.

As a group, we looked at Arlington Road as a way of trying to find some inspiration for our own Thriller opening. We used the concept of intertextuality to take particular aspects of the opening to Arlington Road and include them in our own product.


A list of credits we expect to see during the opening sequence of aThriller film in chronological order:

Production icon

Distributor icon

Production in title sequence

Distributor in title sequence 

Actor 1

Actor 2

Film title

Actor 3

Actor 4

Actor 5 etc..

Casting

Costume

Music supervisor

Music by

Edited by

Production designer

Director of photography

Executive Producers

Written by

Directed by

As you can see from this ordered list, the title conventionally comes 7th in the sequence. Titles are typically visible on screen for around 3 to 4 seconds. The titles match the image and sound of the opening through synchronised sound and image, with the titles appearing through sudden events typically accompanied by incidental sounds to create a steady and gradual buildup of tension. A type face that is modern, simplistic and clear is conventional of a psychological thriller opening with a title sequence.

A title from 'Shutter Island'. It is visible that a clear and basic type face is in use.

A title taken from Arlington Road. Again, the type face is conventional to psychological thrillers as a whole.



Comparing the type face of conventional psychological thriller openings to our final media product, it is evident that the conventionality is closely adhered to titles wise.

This is the film title from our Thriller opening. Furthermore, the main title for the film came 7th in the order of the title sequences. This also adheres to the conventionality of Thriller openings.

The characters were also introduced to the audience during the opening sequence, which is another reason why we can agree with the statement that our Thriller opening adheres to the conventions of Thriller openings.