RESEARCH - Structure of film openings

There are four main structures of film openings. Majority of films, thrillers especially, will follow one of these four basic structures to introduce the film. The four different types of film openings are: narrative opening (traditional), discrete, titles over a blank screen and stylized editing. All of these types of openings are usually identifiable within about 15-20 seconds.

NARRATIVE OPENING title sequence - PANIC ROOM

This film opening is the traditional opening and is probably the most used type. It consists of titles running throughout which are either super imposed or inter-cut.

 

DISCRETE title sequence - SE7EN 

This film opening consists of shots/images, which can be still or moving (in this case they are moving) that stand apart from the film and are not a part of the story. It may contain elements from the film which act as indicators to the plot.

 

TITLES OVER A BLANK SCREEN title sequence - DEAD CALM

 This film opening consists of a stand-alone title that is followed by a narrative opening. The titles are usually on a black screen.

Here are a few screen shots of the opening sequence for 'Dead Calm'.

 

STYLIZED EDITING title sequence - THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123

This film opening is a more modern type of opening in the sense that it requires much more skill, creativity, time and effort. It consists of lots of editing and different editing techniques.

 

All four structures of title sequences combined with the four technical areas of film e.g. camera shots, mise-en-scene, editing and sound can be used to create affect the audience and to generate feelings within them right from the beginning such as excitement, adrenaline or anticipation. When creating our film opening, we hope to have a similar effect on the audience such as the film openings above have.