Conventions of an opening sequence

A title sequence needs to include:

The title of the film:





This has to give a clear understanding of what the audience is to expect the film to be. The font and colour needs to relate to the chosen themes and ideas of the film. Curly writing usually shows an element of romance, while block bold writing will show a thriller or an adventure movie.







An introduction to characters:





The opening titles need to show some sense of who is going to be leading the story and making it flow. Usually the main characters are shown or mentioned quite early on. This lets the audience know who they should be looking out for and who they should take notice of in the movie. Dependent upon the genre depends on how the characters will be introduced either half way through something they will continue doing in the film i.e. spy films or action films or will show them doing every day activities for example a rom com.







An introduction to a story:






The story needs to engage the audience from the beginning and to let them know the genre and purpose of the film and to create an air of understanding for the viewer of what they are going to be seeing later on in the film. It also needs to create a clear understanding of what is going to happen later on i.e. a murder mystery would start off introducing characters whilst an adventure would show them finding treasure etc, or shooting and explosions for a war film.