Codes
and conventions
After analyzing different film openings, I
have realized that the font can indicate what genre the film is. For example the
font in ‘Legally Blonde’ looks like its been handwritten by a girl, also the
colour of the text is pink. This indicates to the audience that this film is a
romantic comedy. Furthermore, the font
used in the opening credits for ‘Saw’ goes very disjointed and it fades away to
suggest something disturbing has happened. This indicates to the audience that
film is a horror.
The sound in opening credits set the
atmosphere for the film, which tells the audience what the genre is. In each
film I have analyzed the sound used is very different to each other because
each film is a different genre. In ‘Fast and Furious 7’ for example, the
audience can hear a heavy bass line, which is then later accompanied by a loud,
fast drumbeat. Due to the fast pace of the music, the audience will realize
that the action in the film will be fast paced, meaning the genre of this film
is action. Another example where sound
is used to set the atmosphere is in the opening credits of ‘Saving private
Ryan’. The sound the audience can hear in this opening is a slow, depressing
fan fair, which is performed by two or three trumpets. This indicates to the
audience that a soldier has died, which suggests that this film is a drama.
The credits in opening sequences of films
always start of with the production company that is the highest in the
hierarchy and then it works its way down to the title of the film. For example,
‘I, Robot’ has the main production company appear first, which is ‘20th
Century Fox’, then the smaller production company, which is ‘Mediastream IV’
and then finally the title of the film appears. Some opening credits such as
‘Legally Blonde’ have actors and other people’s names appearing on the screen
after the title of the film appears. This will only be the main people involved
with the film. For example, star actors, directors, editors, producers and
more.
The narrative of films suggests what type
of film you are watching. For example in ‘Shaun of the Dead’ we are instantly
introduced to characters that are seen later on in the film. Then the audience
is introduced to the main character walking like a zombie and sounding like a zombie.
As the camera pans up, the audience realizes that he is just very tired and
yawning. This creates a comedic atmosphere.
At the end of the opening credits, the second main character is
introduced. The audience can see him just playing a game, and he reminds
‘Shaun’ that he has work as ‘Shaun’ has forgotten. This immediately tells the
audience that ‘Shaun’ is very forgetful and the other one is very lazy with no
job. This is a typical comedy opening sequence as it tells the audience a lot
about the main characters. However a typical drama opening introduces a main
character, not telling the audience a lot about them, so it can be revealed as
the film goes on. This is shown in ‘Saving Private Ryan’ as the audience can
see ‘Private Ryan’ crying as he looks at a grave. This gives the audience a lot
of questions like ‘who’s grave is it?’ Which will all be revealed as the film
goes on, making this film a drama.
