1. What do opening sequences do
The BIG question ?
What do opening sequences do
Write an analysis of an opening sequence with specific references how film elements effect meaning and response A B C ?
Write and analysis of an opening sequence which uses film terms and suggest how features effect meaning.
Write an analysis of an opening sequence which is largely descriptive

2. What do opening sequences do
The BIG question ?
What do opening sequences do
Write an analysis of an opening sequence with specific references how film elements effect meaning and response A B C
Class ideas
Write and analysis of an opening sequence which uses film terms and suggest how features effect meaning.
Write an analysis of an opening sequence which is largely descriptive

3. What do opening sequences do
The BIG question ?
What do opening sequences do
Write an analysis of an opening sequence with specific references how film elements effect meaning and response A B C
Opening sequences tell us everything
Write and analysis of an opening sequence which uses film terms and suggest how features effect meaning.
Write an analysis of an opening sequence which is largely descriptive

4. What do opening sequences do
The BIG question ?
What do opening sequences do
Write an analysis of an opening sequence with specific references how film elements effect meaning and response A B C
The purpose of an opening title sequence to a film is to establish the visual style of the film and to introduce the viewer to all or some of the following:
Characters
Location
Narrative/Plot
Genre
Themes
The ‘aesthetic’
Write and analysis of an opening sequence which uses film terms and suggest how features effect meaning.
Write an analysis of an opening sequence which is largely descriptive

5. What do opening sequences do
The BIG question ?
What do opening sequences do
Write an analysis of an opening sequence with specific references how film elements effect meaning and response A B C
Typically, an opening sequence will contain:
Details of cast and crew.
The film's title.
An introduction to character or character type.
Indication of place.
Indication of historical period.
Information regarding mood and tone.
Introduction to signature theme tune.
Information about genre.
Questions that the viewer finds intriguing.
Patterns and types of editing that will be echoed in the remainder of the film.
Mise en scene and cinematography that will be echoed or elaborated upon later in the film.
Write and analysis of an opening sequence which uses film terms and suggest how features effect meaning.
Write an analysis of an opening sequence which is largely descriptive

6. What do opening sequences do
The BIG question ?
What do opening sequences do
Write an analysis of an opening sequence with specific references how film elements effect meaning and response A B C
Love Actually
Write and analysis of an opening sequence which uses film terms and suggest how features effect meaning.
Write an analysis of an opening sequence which is largely descriptive

7. What do opening sequences do
The BIG question ?
What do opening sequences do
Write an analysis of an opening sequence with specific references how film elements effect meaning and response A B C
The opening sequence of Love Actually introduces the universal theme of the film, love, and not just romantic love but love in all its many forms. The love a parent feels for a child, love between siblings, the love of a family, the love for a life partner, the love you feel for an old friend not seen for years. 
The other achievement of the opening sequence is to introduce one of the central characters played by Hugh Grant. Interestingly he is not seen in the sequence, only heard. There is no diegetic sound in the clip only the voiceover and the non-diegetic soundtrack. The music is an orchestral string arrangement with a piano accompaniment. It is very evocative of love and romance and sets the tone of the film (aesthetic).
Write and analysis of an opening sequence which uses film terms and suggest how features effect meaning.
Write an analysis of an opening sequence which is largely descriptive

8. What do opening sequences do
The BIG question ?
What do opening sequences do
Write an analysis of an opening sequence with specific references how film elements effect meaning and response A B C
The voiceover also successfully introduces the location of the film; no one can doubt it will be a very British film after hearing Grant’s Received Pronunciation, now so synonymous with a very particular type of film. The interior used for the opening sequence also gives clues as to the film’s narrative. Using a set that represents the arrivals hall of Heathrow airport indicates that the film could also be about the transient and chaotic nature of life and relationships in the 21st century. Airports connote the way in which people spend a lot of time rushing around, concerned with their own priorities and don’t stop to appreciate the people they have in their life. These are themes that are echoed in the narrative of the film.
Write and analysis of an opening sequence which uses film terms and suggest how features effect meaning.
Write an analysis of an opening sequence which is largely descriptive

9. What do opening sequences do
The BIG question ?
What do opening sequences do
Write an analysis of an opening sequence with specific references how film elements effect meaning and response A B C
The composition of the establishing shot makes it clear that this is also a point of view shot. The focus for the viewer, the reunited couple, is not always visible. It is at eye level and makes the viewer feel as if they were in amongst the crowd of people. The shot type mirrors the content of the voiceover; it puts the viewer in the position of Hugh Grant’s character. Other notable camerawork includes a series of tracking mid-shots following a myriad of characters meeting loved ones in the arrivals lounge, this repetition of camerawork positions all these characters on an equal footing. It also allows the viewer to follow them to the point of reunion and, through the use of close-ups share in the emotion.
Write and analysis of an opening sequence which uses film terms and suggest how features effect meaning.
Write an analysis of an opening sequence which is largely descriptive

10. What do opening sequences do
The BIG question ?
What do opening sequences do
Write an analysis of an opening sequence with specific references how film elements effect meaning and response A B C
A notable editing technique used in the opening sequence is the slow motion placed on some of the shots to emphasise actions such as a heartfelt embrace, the playful tossing of a child in the air, and the kiss of two lovers. This again communicates the central theme to the viewer. It is also indicative of the film’s genre and demonstrates to the viewer that Love Actually is likely to be more romance than comedy.
The opening sequence of Love Actually successfully uses techniques of camerawork, editing, sound and mise en scene to establish the visual style and introduce characters, narrative themes and sub-genre conventions.
Write and analysis of an opening sequence which uses film terms and suggest how features effect meaning.
Write an analysis of an opening sequence which is largely descriptive

11. What do opening sequences do
The BIG question ?
What do opening sequences do
Write an analysis of an opening sequence with specific references how film elements effect meaning and response A B C
Write and analysis of an opening sequence which uses film terms and suggest how features effect meaning.
Write an analysis of an opening sequence which is largely descriptive
Read the article on the opening sequence of Wonder Woman from the Purple Revolver blog.

12. What do opening sequences do
The BIG question ?
What do opening sequences do
Write an analysis of an opening sequence with specific references how film elements effect meaning and response A B C
Transition task
Choose the opening sequence of a feature film which you feel engages you effectively as a spectator.
Write an analysis of the sequence (between 1 and 5 mins) considering how it establishes the visual style of the film and introduces the viewer to some of the things we have discussed in induction: Eg
Characters
Location
Narrative/Plot
Genre
Themes
Aesthetics (the ‘look’ and’ feel’ of the film – the ‘sensory spectacle’)
Write and analysis of an opening sequence which uses film terms and suggest how features effect meaning.
Write an analysis of an opening sequence which is largely descriptive

13. What do opening sequences do
The BIG question ?
What do opening sequences do
Write an analysis of an opening sequence with specific references how film elements effect meaning and response A B C
The two words to remember when conducting this analysis are meaning and response. Ask yourself how the features you are discussing create meaning and generate a response in the spectator. What are the connotations of the things you describe and what impact do they have on you as you watch and listen? In doing so it is ok to use the personal pronoun ‘I’ in phrases like ‘I felt curious and anxious at this point as the music was tense and seemed to suggest that something bad was going to happen’.
So that you write what we might call a ‘micro analysis’ rather than a general discussion of the sequence it would be useful to start with ‘The sequence opens with….’
Aim to write at least 1000 words and include some screengrabs from the sequence to help to illustrate the points that you make.
Deadline September 4th.
Write and analysis of an opening sequence which uses film terms and suggest how features effect meaning.
Write an analysis of an opening sequence which is largely descriptive

14. What do opening sequences do
The BIG question ?
What do opening sequences do
Write an analysis of an opening sequence with specific references how film elements effect meaning and response A B C
The following slides contain some more things that you might find useful, including some examples of interesting opening sequences…..
Write and analysis of an opening sequence which uses film terms and suggest how features effect meaning.
Write an analysis of an opening sequence which is largely descriptive

15. The Shining
The film opens with a series of shots of panoramic landscape vistas showcasing the bleak desolation of the snowy mountainous surroundings, which will provide the backdrop for the film’s subsequent narrative developments. Various birds’ eye view shots intermittently cross dissolve into one another, and depict an expansive clear blue lake, a snow-capped mountain range, and a densely populated forest of evergreen trees. The camera moves swiftly through its surroundings in each shot, sweeping past the breadth of the natural environs below it, and thus conveys to the audience a sense of the massive scale and large land span of the location depicted.
During the camera’s continual movement, it occasionally captures its views from distorted angles, which undermines the idea otherwise created by this series of shots of the benevolent purity of natural beauty and the wintry American landscape. It thus uses spatial manipulation to contradict the principal connotations of the images of nature captured in these shots, and hence foreshadows the heavy deployment of themes and imagery centred upon the supernatural that will follow.

16. Also indicative of this theme is the use of slow, sombre, unnerving and deliberate electronic music, which in conjunction with the seemingly oppositional images suggest a malevolence to the surroundings shown and imply an unknown danger amongst them.
Eventually the camera finds a road snaking through an aerial shot of a thickly forested area then picks out and follows a lone car in extreme high angle long shot, making its way along the road. The camera gradually moves increasingly closer maintaining its birds’ eye view position, but also gradually rotates to distort the angle and create a sense of unsettling foreboding in the manner described above. A series of shot changes track the car’s journey and depict a range of different natural backdrops indicating the traversal of time and space. As the camera finally tracks speedily in to a mid shot of the car from behind, revealing it to be a yellow Volkswagen Beetle, credits rise up through the frame from below in blue typeface, and each gives way to the next, departing the frame by rising out of it.

17. The moving camera overtakes the car and veers away to the left, aerially crossing country before again finding the car and tracking its journey, once again with another series of extreme high angle long shots, while the eeriness of the electronic score continues to aurally unsettle the viewer.
The camera’s point of view eventually shifts to depict an extreme long shot of a remotely located building amongst the mountains, trees and lakes. It slowly circles the building, getting gradually closer. This building is the Overlook Hotel, and will be the yellow car’s final destination, and the principal location for almost all of the film’s subsequent action.
Overall, the opening sequence has been gradually building up to this elaborate establishing shot of the hotel, and has served to highlight its isolation and remoteness and communicate an implication of danger, that the audience should by now have associated with this idyllic yet spectral location and its backdrop.

18.
Opening shots tell us everything
AS Sequence - pen
Submarine
Top 10 Opening sequences
Inception

19.
Blue Velvet
Guardians of the Galaxy
Attack the Block
Skyfall