Conventions Of a Film Opening

The purpose of a film opening is to hook the audience into wishing to continue watching the film and also to state the genre in which the film will be, each opening of a film executes this in multiple different ways, for example, some films like to introduce the antagonist first instead of the protagonist.

 Another way in which a film can be opened by the use of a flashback instead, this is used in films that wish to make the flashback a main part of the plot, the flashback method usually makes it incomplete as it may have some importance later on in the film, for example, Memento uses flashbacks as a key part of their story due to the protagonist losing all memory of everything he has done the previous day but uses pictures as a way to keep track.

In some films they include an establishing shot of where the scene or film will be taking place in, if the film includes an iconic location it may include that as well to help the to understand which city/country the film is set in.

Some films include narrations in their openings as a way to give the audience background information on what the situation is and what each character is like, this is useful as it can help the audience to gain some insight early on so that the film will make sense later on instead of possibly confusing the audience, for example, in the film Fight Club the film includes voice-overs in the first part of the film as a way of familiarising the audience with the Narrator's inner thoughts and immersing them in the materialistic lifestyle that he expresses a discontent towards.

Another method is to start off the film with an action sequence, this is used to get the audience immediately hooked on the film and make them want continue watching to figure what is going on in the scene, this method is chosen only if the films genre requires them to include such a scene, for example, The Dark Knight starts off the film with the joker and his men robbing a mob bank of its money, this is effective as it immediately gets a hold on the audiences interest.

It is important that the film opening gives the audience some idea of the story, however, genres such as mysteries give more questions than answers, although, due to my chosen genres being a crime/thriller the same rules apply however it doesn't require to hide as much at the start as crime thrillers usually introduce the antagonists and protagonists at the same time to show the characters reasons for being important to the story, however, it is also important to leave certain details out to be discovered later on by a character that will help the films plot develop further. All film openings also include the all important title sequence that is used to show the cast and production team, sometimes depending on the way the director wishes to present the opening may include the titles in their own sequence separate from the opening scene or may be included during the opening scene as a way of building up suspense. However, there are some directors that may wish to go against these conventions and create a unconventional and unique style opening to make their opening different and more artistic than most other films.

Mapping a Film Opening

The Equalizer Opening Scene Analysis

The opening begins with an establishing shot of a city, the silent sound of background music help to fill the silence it then does a harsh cut to the view of the city from the angle of the protagonist's apartment, the serious background music is used to show the audience that he is a serious character even before he is even made an appearance in  the movie. The camera then begins to zoom out and pan around the seemingly spotless apartment. As it zooms from shot it shows an alarm going off and the time 7:30 on the digital clock, this shows then audience that the protagonist must not have been up that long but has already made his bed and made his way towards his bathroom. The bedroom is clean, the living room is spotless with books placed neatly vertical on bookshelves and the kitchen is also shown to be clean and tidy. This is done to show the audience that this character has a sense of OCD as everything is placed neatly and in its proper place, from the looks of the apartment it shows the audience that this man has what could be classed as a 'normal' life as it has all the essentials and luxuries that you would expect your average person to have, however it looks too normal in a way, making the audience feel as though this man has had a very different life in the past.

As the camera pans it shows the protagonist in the dark of the bathroom with only the light shining in the window to make it brighter. The fact that the bathroom is darker compared to the rest of the apartment can be a symbol to the life the protagonist used to have before pursuing a normal life. The next few shots then proceed to show his morning routine by using close ups to give the audience an even greater idea of type of person this character is. A close up of him shaving his head can be a clue to the fact the protagonist used to work in the black ops, the next shot is of the protagonist making a healthy milkshake with a range of fruits, this is used to show the audience that this man cares about his health allowing people to make a positive assumption that this man can be considered a very strong and healthy person, the next shot is of the protagonist cleaning his shoes thoroughly with a toothbrush, this reinforces to the audience that the protagonist likes to be presentable and to feel clean in along with his surroundings. The shot then changes to an over the shoulder view of the protagonist in the mirror, he seems to be wearing normal clothing, however his shirt tucked in is used to show to audience again that this character likes to look presentable.

The shot then becomes an extreme close up of the protagonists watch and from the looks of it he has been timing himself on how long it takes him to get ready for the day ahead, it's as if the protagonist has made it a sort of time trial that he needs to be beat each morning he wakes up. This will be the protagonists motif as he will be shown timing himself with the stopwatch through the movie. The music that plays in the background  is used to help set the serious tone to the audience and to also show them that the protagonist is a serious character. An enigma is created as it would draw the audience into the story as to why he has become the person he is now and what lead up to events of of this opening scene.

The scene then transitions to the protagonists commute to work via train along with everyone else to further enforce the idea that the protagonist has an average life like everyone else. The scene then transitions to a construction supply warehouse and the protagonist is shown to be an employee of this company, this is used to further the enigma and create further mystery about who he was, furthermore it is shown that he hasn't worked there for many as a fellow younger employee asks the protagonist if he didn't have to push dolly's at his old job. The following scene then presents a low angle shot to make the audience feel as though they too are also an employee in the staff room and then pans it to follow the protagonist make his way to a sit.

The following shots are a mix of medium, close up and over the shoulder shots as the protagonist begins to converse with a man, throughout the 180 degree is followed to make sure the audience is immersed, however it is to also make the audience feel as though they are intruding on the conversation. The protagonist is shown to be a helpful character to those in need as the other individual is getting help from the protagonist to lose weight by eating healthy as he desires to become a security guard.

There is then an establishing shot of the kind of surrounding area the protagonist lives around, which is shown to be a friendly looking neighbourhood. The following shots then once again follow his routine but instead this time it's for after work, the motif of the protagonists watch is once again present showing him timing himself doing average chores such as cleaning the dishes. The idea of time is shown to be a major factor in this film as nearly most shots in the opening transition to showing the time on the clock, this is done to make the audience question as to why he acts the way he does and what reasons he has for wanting to be as efficient as possible, making the audience question the protagonists backstory and what happened to him in the past to cause him to either get fired or leave his previous job.

Snatch Opening Scene Analysis

Snatch Opening Analysis

The scene begins with a fade into the back of a mysterious figures head and pans over the view to a two shot of two individuals named Turkish and Tommy. The room in this shot is made to be dark to represent the type of lives these individuals live and to make the audience feel uncomfortable so that their emotions are aligned with how they are feeling in their situation.

The scene then cuts to a close up shot of Turkish to show that he is one setting the scene and introducing himself and Tommy, the connection is made that these two have known each other for quite a while now as Turkish mentions “Known for as long as I can remember.” The close up is also used to show the characters facial expressions, Turkish is shown to feel quite chilled in the situation whereas Tommy is constantly finding things in his surroundings to distract himself for the situation, it is clear that Turkish is the one with more control than Tommy and that even though he causes him trouble he still cares for his well-being “I try to keep him out of as much trouble as he inflicts on me.”

It is made clear to the audience that they are in a shady place as the sound of a fly shows that place is unkempt and it is used to break the silence as there is no music throughout this scene. They introduce their job profession as a boxing promoter; however, the current room shows the audience that they aren’t promoting legal boxing. The next scene is set as Turkish mentions what little he knows about diamonds and says that they come from Antwerp, although he seems unsure as he questions it himself.

The next scene is faded to black where we are in point-of-view shot of a security guard viewing the cameras to keep an eye on four individuals who are shown to be dressed in clothing that represents Jewish believers entering a high facility building. The audience are put in the perspective of a security guard to feel untrustworthy about them.

An enigma is created as the audience is made to assume that a robbery of a priceless diamond occurred as the use of narrow hallways and the four men standing so close together makes the audience feel uneasy and untrustworthy of these men. The fact that the hallways are black and white make the building feel more prison like than an average bank, making the audience feel more unease.

The following shot is of the men standing in the lift, once again extremely close together to continue to make the audience feel uncomfortable. As the four men make their way towards a locked door the camera pans towards the door the men are standing behind, the tension in the audience is still high as the calm music is dropped; however, it is made apparent that they have been expected as a man screams “Rud! Rud! Let them in please!” most if not all suspicion of these individuals are dropped. The following is a match action shot of the four men entering the room that has not yet been officially identified, leaving only assumptions to the audience.

The scene transitions into a busy office as the POV shot is changed into a medium shot of the security guard , many employees are hard at work and the fact that none seem to care about their presence would make the audience feel as though they weren’t a threat after all and begin to lower their guard as well. Although, the feeling on the audience is short lived as the Jewish men don't even acknowledge the bank manager with a single greeting. A long shot is chosen for the for the following scene as they want the audience to feel a sense of distance between the two characters, and how there should have been no trust placed on these individuals what so ever.

Afterwards, one man reveals a combat vest containing four pistols, one for each man. The moment the guns are revealed the shot immediately zooms into a medium shot of the Jewish men and then the bank manager, this was used to show the audience the feelings of being in that situation as the zoom in is meant to represent the realisation of the heist that is being committed on the bank. The background music begins to play and raises in volume and tempo to show the ever increasing danger of the situation and is used to represent the employees feelings of disorientation. This is played throughout the whole development of the situation, however it the music and fast intervals between shots begin to slow down and cease once the robber asks of the location of 'The Stone' to the manager, the camera angle is positioned over the shoulder of the manager to make the audience feel as though they too are being interrogated by the man as to make the audience feel a sense of fear to be aligned with the emotions of the manager.

The following scene then immediately transitions to the back of a van however it begins the scene with a close up of the diamond which is shown to be the key to the main plot of the film. The four Jewish men then proceed to undress and discard all clothing items that represent the Jewish faith to show the audience that they only wore the clothes as a disguise. The shot in this scene is a medium shot and makes jumps between the time it takes the men to undress. It then does a close up of a robber holding the diamond in his in his hand and inspects the, the title of the film appears on screen and zooms into the diamond to represent that this is what Turkish was talking about earlier on in the opening to the audience. This creates an enigma for the movie as the purpose as to why they wanted the diamond and how Turkish and Tommy are involved, this also brings the question how are two boxing promoters involved with a group criminals that robbed a diamond from a completely different country.

After this the film begins it title sequence which consists of the cast of the characters that are going to be in the film, which is a common thing when it comes to Guy Ritchie films, This can be considered a common convention for this genre as most films that follow generic conventions usually begin a film with a small amount of plot to give the audience an idea of whats going on, introduce some of the characters that will be playing a major part in the film and then have a title sequence either during the opening, before or maybe even after the opening sequence.

1st Opening Analysis: The Dark Knight

The Dark Knight Opening Analysis

The scene begins with an establishing shot of the city and slowly tracks towards a skyscraper, for the duration of this track however the sound of a slight ticking can be heard in the background along with music that is slowly building in volume to create tension for the audience. Eventually we are shown a window breaking on the skyscraper and are abruptly cut to a shot of two masked men in the interior of the skyscraper; the sound of the broken window can be heard continuing on until the one of the masked men loads the grappling hook again. The shot starts with a close up before immediately cutting to a medium high angle shot, this is used to build the tension as the amount of cuts between shots slows as the man loads the grapple hook, and this is used to emphasis the slower tempo of the action sequence.

The scene then cuts to reveal a man with his back towards the audience although his intentions are made clear to the audience as he is seen with a mask of clown in one hand to show that he is part of the plan with the others in the skyscraper and a bag to show his intentions to help them steal what they desire. An enigma is created for the audience as we are not yet able to see who the man as he is also hunched over to hide his facial features, however, we are shown clear details of his mask so that we know where he is during the opening. We can assume that he is the leader of the whole group as his placement in the shot is at the very centre and extra time is placed on this specific character.

The group in the office building attach a bag to their zip line and then proceed to zip line down to the roof themselves. As they go down the camera fallows them out the window and then quickly tilts down to show the way down to the street to create a feeling of vertigo upon the audience, as it does the soundtrack suddenly makes a large boom noise and as it cuts again it carries on as we see a long shot showing the clowns zip lining with the street beneath them. It cuts again to show them landing safely on the other side.

We see the other group in the car, a total of three people wearing clown masks. Throughout we don't see a single one removing their mask to reveal who they are, the lighting contrast between the outside and the interior of the car is used to show the audience their malicious intent and that they are all criminals. It cuts to a close up of the one of the clowns, however, the other two are still visible in the background, and they are talking about the plan of the heist and mention a specific named character known as "The Joker". The two clowns in the front are the only ones talking, although, you can still see the third clown on the edge of the shot to remind the audience of his presence there as well. 

Following that there is a parallel action as the other group of criminals on the roof continue their conversation about "The Joker" and helps us know a little bit more about this character, this is also used to emphasise the importance of this character.

 






The shot then cuts to the group leaving the car and walking towards the entrance of the bank, the camera is following the third clown who is the only one yet to talk or mention anything to do with "The Joker". There is then a match action shot of the criminals entering the bank and firing warning shots to create a panic among the civilians at the bank, however, they miss one man along the way towards the front desk, and are shown to be an important part of the opening scene.

 






The camera is hardly kept at a single position after the gun is fired to keep up the speed and tempo of the situation. The focus then cuts between the group in the main hall and the group on the roof to show the coordination between the two groups and that they must trust each other with their lives, however, it is a short lived thought as once the clown in charge of disarming the silent alarm gives the all clear he is disposed of so that the cut between them gets bigger, this shows the audience that even though they are working together they are all alone on this job.

 The silent third clown (who still has yet to speak) is shown giving the civilians grenades to keep them under control. The timing between shots once again pick up to keep up with the tense feeling of the situation as the group in the hall are shown to feel under control of the situation, however, have still failed to notice the man at the desk near the entrance. The now one man clown from the roof is shown to have entered a room containing the vault door, the music then goes mute for a second to focus on the vault and that can be heard is once again the ticking of a clock before picking up volume again as it cuts to the clown drilling the vault and once again to the group in charge of crowd control. The following shot is a medium shot of a clown beating a hostage and keeping things under control, but once again cuts to the man at the desk with a close of him turning in the direction of the criminals, the music picks for the duration of this movement to show that the man is going to retaliate and defend the back, it then cuts back to the medium shot of the clown being shot in the back by the man, cutting to the silent clown scrambling for cover with the man out of focus in the background to show that the silent clown is focused more on getting to cover from the man before dealing with him as a threat, the music picks up in volume to create the sense of panic during the evolved situation.

The silent clown is shown to scramble for cover as it cuts between the clowns keeping low while running and the man fires his shotgun at the clown. The silent clown meets up with another clown hiding before being asked "He's out right?" remaining silent he gives a nod of confirmation, this makes the clown stand up to return fire but is immediately shot down, the man with the shotgun realises he is out of ammo and is gunned down by the silent clown and the music stops to show the situation is still in the clowns favour. The clown that was shot them gets up from the gunshot and heads to meet the clown in the vault. Once he opens the vault he explains his task of removing the previous clown on the roof and that the other was told similar before gunning him down and collecting the money.

Once collected the clown points the gun at the silent clown claiming that "I'm betting the Joker told you to kill me soon as we loaded the cash." The audience was probably expecting his continued silence, however, replies that he was tasked with killing the bus driver, the clown is confused at the statement before being run down and killed by a bus crashing into the bank.

As the final clown left begins to enter the now money filled bus he is stopped by the man who survived his shot and begins to insult him and his methods, although, the clown walks up to him and places a grenade of gas in his mouth all while the music tempo and volume picks up, the clown takes his mask off to reveal that he is in fact "The Joker", the one who planned it all, the music volume and tempo drops again once he does.

He leaves him behind and drives off down the road using a row of school buses full of children as a type of camouflage from the police who are only just arriving. The opening uses this to create an enigma as to why he needs all this money and what his plan is, this in turn draws the audience in as they are intrigued to find out the whole story. This whole opening sequence was created with the purpose of building up the Joker and how he acts towards people and how he plans to spread terror across Gotham, even when he is silent and still wearing his mask, the other characters share their thoughts on him and how he acts and looks and this in turn creates his character to audience eve with out having to physically see him in the opening. The choice to not include any titles in the opening is probably due to the producers feeling that including the titles may steer the audiences focus away from creating the Joker that the audience expects. This film is made from an already established universe and a dedicated fan base that has large expectations when their favourite comic book characters come to life on the big screen, this is why the opening is important when it comes to creating a Joker that fans are proud of, the idea that he tells his own men to kill each other and then run off with all the money himself shows the fans and the audience that this Joker is similar to the original as he is meant to be insane and only really feels that he can cause chaos which they pulled off successfully.

Genre Study