Opening sequences

As our task was to create an opening sequence we thought it would be good to look at some effective opening sequences, we looked at "Dirty Harry", "Se7en" and "The Usual Suspects". All of these films have effective opening sequences due to Mise-en-scene, Ideology, Sound, Characterisation, Music and Narrative. Also all the things we looked at during our preliminary task.

I believe an opening sequence aims to set the scene and introduce the characters. Whereas a good opening sequence also draws the audience in and sets an exciting plot for the rest of the film. In the Films "Dirty Harry", " Se7en" and " The Usual Suspects"the directors use many different dramatic techniques to create a very good opening sequence. We will take everything into account to help us create the best opening sequence we can.

Mise-en-scene... is every detail of each shot, for example if you stopped the camera on each frame then you would be able to tell what genre it was from props, set, actors, lighting, and costume. Basically it is a mixture between continuity and realism, that you know exactly whats going on in the frame. We will try to remember mise-en-scene in our opening sequence and pay attention to every detail.

Ideology... is the use of either a moral, political or social message portrayed to the viewers through the opening sequence. The ideology in Dirty Harry is that the Cops are the noble good guys and hat the Killer is obviously the bad guy. Good vs evil is the most basic ideology and that is shown in all of the opening sequences we looked at.

Sound... is split up into non-diagetic and diagetic sounds, Diagetic sounds are the natural sounds heard by the camera eg talking, whereas non diagetic sounds are the sounds edited in eg sirens or church bells. The sounds used in opening sequences help portray emotions and can be used effectively for suspense or humour. In Dirty Harry this is used when the camera scrolls down the list of dead officers with the sound of solemn church bells in the background.

Characterisation... is how the director wants you to see each character, this is tied in with ideology as a good guy would usually be clean in a suit with smart hair where as a bad guy would have messy hair in messy clothes. This is shown in Dirty Harry as Harry (good guy) is dressed smart and the killer (bad guy) is very messy. It also helps the audience make a bond with the characters.

Music... is used to create suspense and again help emotions become more strong. In Dirty Harry the music when you see the killer is very sinister, quiet and random off beat. Whereas Harry is shown with powerful regular beat music showing he is the good guy.

Narrative... Narrative is normally used in opening sequences from the heroes perspective but within our opening sequence we will be looking to use no narrative to keep the audience guessing, just a soundtrack and action.