Codes and Conventions of a film opening

In movie openings you will always have the
production logos and distribution logos
Of the main companies that work on the
movie. Depending on the budget of the film/hype
created for the film these logos will be edited in a
form related to the movie, such as in 300 the Warner
Bros logo is made to look like a shield and is worn
away and dirty. This is to reflect the story line of the
film.

The first 2 minutes of a film are very crucial part of the film, and although an audiance may not realise, it is where they find out alot about the plot and the characters. If the first two mintues are not too good quality, and do not ever signify characteristics or give off narative enigmas then they have failed to do what they have set out to do.

At the start of every film there is a title sequence this will tell you the key information about who produced and directed the film and the main star actors in the film and so on. Generally the opening shot of a film will be either an establishing shot or a blank screen with titles on. These titles can also be a way of building up suspense to teh audience or giving away a type of genre. Depending  on how the film starts at this bit you get a strong feeling of what type of genre the film is going to be by the light, the colours used and the music played in the background. For example if it is very darka nd there is slow mysterious music in the background with red colours used you get the slight impression it may be a horror type of film. Some films may use the entrance and opening to introduce main characters and star acttors so you recognise them befor ethe film begins,  this intises the viewer and gets them interested on learning more about these characters. Also this helps you to establish each stereo type in the film for example; 'the arrogant male', 'the busty blonde'.