Film Opening Structures

During our lesson we learnt three main film opening structures they are the following: 

• A narrative opening 
• A discrete opening 
• A stylised opening 

A narrative opening mostly has the titles running through. In a narrative opening it usually contains most of the information, which sets up the narrative and establishes time, place, location, mood and often the characters. It normally invites the audience into the sequence. An example of a narrative opening is the shining. 
  

The shining 

A discrete opening is mostly shown to give the audience large amounts of information on both the characters and setting of the film. A discrete title sequences are separately edited making them stand apart from other film openings. An example of a discrete opening is from the Enemy of the state. 

Enemy of the state

Credits over a blank screen, it may be simple and effective in some ways, however it could be boring to watch. Credits on a blank screen are fairly simple, with no images but mostly text. So the most important thing is based on the sound, if the title sequence is just based on credits than the music will need to be engaging. An example is Donnie Darko  

Donnie Darko

A stylized editing is shown to be very sophisticated, however it does take a long time to do. A stylized title sequence is often split up into equal parts allowing the audience to see the action taking place at the same time, however through different perspectives. But the most important thing is that it takes longer than to edit. An example of a stylized editing is from Taking of Pelham 123

Taking of Pelham 123