Lord of War - opening title

00:16  Actor
00:28  Film title
00:34  Actors
01:13  Casting by
01:16  Music by
01:24  Costume designer
01:30  Edited by
01:34  Production designer
01:49  Director of photography
01:52  Executive producer
02:00  Co-producer
02:06  Executive producers
02:15  Executive producers
02:24  Producers
02:31  Producers
02:34  Produced by
02:50 Written and directed by


The opening sequence follows a bullet from the moment it is made to the moment it kills a young boy, it shows the life of a bullet. This creates an impression that one bullet can change the tide of battle. Additionally, the fact that the bullet case was first opened by a member of a military and then given to people who appear to be rebels  suggests betrayal in the military.  The suggestion from this is that the film is about finding the man who has betrayed his country.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - opening title

00:05  Columbia Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures presents
00:09  a Scott Rudin + Yellow Bird production
00:12  a David Fincher film
00:15  Actors
00:21  The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
00:25  Actors
01:14  Casting by
01:18  Costume designer
01:21  Co-Producers
01:25  Sound by
01:28  Music by
01:30  Editors
01:33  Production designer
01:38  Director of photography
01:46  Executive producers
01:49  Produced by
01:53  Based on + Originally published
02:08  Screenplay by
02:20  Directed by

Se7en - opening title

This is the opening sequence to the David Finchers Se7en. Even though this film is of the crime thriller genre, it will be useful to look at to help get an idea for my own opening sequence. This sequence establishes the genre by the use of sound, editing and the content of the shots.

In the content of the shots used we can see extraordinary things happening like the pictures of deformed people, the use of blades scrapping the skin of hands and the use of books with words being highlighted and crossed out, this could be showing us the theme of revenge or a series of murders to come which relates to the crime thriller genre. Also shows us the more psychological side of this thriller as it cuts between these shots focusing on small details such as words and images as not to give to much away to create an enigma. The music used is non- diegetic it is in the minor key and goes at a slow pass, it is very haunting and dark. The clicking noise sounds similar to a type writer and it also has a noise which sounds like something is being forced as it gives a screeching noise, this could be linked to torture. Also towards the end of this sequence we hear the words 'you got me closer to God' so this is telling us the the film is related to religion and this could be the antagonists inspiration for what he does. This helps to establish the genre as it sounds dark and mysterious which links to the thriller genre. We see only see the hands of the character is this sequence but just from what we see and of what these hands are associated with we learn that this person is the antagonist and that he will be involved in future events within this film.

Inception - opening title

'Inception' consists of various sub genre's, including action, adventure and mystery. All of which are briefly shown in the opening sequence. My partner and I have decided to plan and shoot a mystery, action, thriller. The movie inception depicts many features that i am looking to incorporate into my production. It contains many flashback sequences relating to a different world/dimension.

Due to the mystery of the opening, it makes the audience want to continue watching. Its intriguing and keeps the audience wanting to know more about what is going on. Audience would want to find the personality of the character and will be curious to know how he got into the situation he's in which is another element we're using in our film.

We feed off the non diegetic and diegetic sounds that come with the opening. The sound of the waves crashing loud and hard, the sound of the kids. The background music is uneasy and makes the audience feel like we should be expecting something.

It establishes its genre by using editing that makes the opening scene seem mysterious and uncertain thus giving us the audience a feel for what the movie is going to be like. It presents a theme of unstableness and confusion which gives off a sense of action and mystery. This then allows the characters to be introduced in a way that further emphasises the state of confusion and mystery. The first character we see is lying on the sand on the beach and the close up of his face makes us think that he does not know where he is or what he is doing there. We are then introduced to kids however the lighting and editing make us feel that its just the man imagining them being there. This is the same element that my partner and i are looking to incorporate into our film.

The Hangover - opening title

00:01  Warner Bros Pictures
00:17  Legendary Pictures
00:24  'Warner Bros. Pictures presents' (scene starts)
00:33  'in association with Legendary Pictures'
00:42  'a Green Hat Films production' (scene stops at 02:01)
02:03  Film Title - 'The Hangover'
02:06  Actors
02:38  casting by
02:41  costume design
02:44  music by
02:47  music supervised by
02:51  co-produced by
02:55  edited by
02:59  production designed by
03:01  director of photography
03:13  produced by
03:17  written by
03:21  directed by

Initially, we see the Warner Bros Pictures and Legendary Pictures logos, this is placed at the start of the film so the audience know who owns the film. The director also smartly places his name at the end to make sure that the audience remember the person who made the film. The brief scene (which appears between 00:24 and 02:01) gives a suggestion what the movie is about. The first 15 seconds of the scene shows flowers, cake and a wedding dress, this instanly creates an impression that the wedding is linked to the main storyline.

The scene then gives a doubt to the audience about whether the wedding will actually take place. There are couple of indicators which suggest that it will not - the repetitive phone calls which are not answered and the fact they only have 5 hours to arrive at the wedding.

Furthermore, the audience also get to know why the film is called 'The Hangover', they are hangover after their bachelor party.

Preliminary Project