Opening sequences

The Generic conventions of a thriller film opening are the opening credits of narrative of the film, actors/actresses, production companies, directors and producers.

A opening sequence is the method by which films present their title, key production and cast members, or both, utilizing conceptual visuals and sound. It usually follows but should not be confused with the opening credits, which are generally nothing more than a series of superimposed text. For example this is shown in the film 'Goodfella's as we first of see the text before we see actual film play. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJ2RofOEAEU&feature=related 

film openings of ‘Sex & the City”. I will identify the points:

·         Narrative of the film

·         The characters

·         Location

·         Order of appearance of the above

Sex & the City, http://www.webscanningservice.com/WebServicesAlertPage/WebURLAlert.aspx?rule=30275&custid=54742&category=507660122&url=http%3a%2f%2fwww.novamov.com%2fvideo%2f49a6dd2ad9225&auth=2dd605852a0036642c6277219c491a01

The opening shows the production company of ‘HBO’ in bold white text which then turns to a bright pink introducing a city which is highlighted with a pink theme. As we then hear a narration over of a female talking, she talks about her friends and which shows flash backs of what has happened before her introduction between all four friends within their terms with men. As we know ‘HBO’ is a TV series company the audience understand that ‘Sex & the City’ is or once was a TV series and this introduction of flash backs telling us the audience in short of the four characters lifes before in the series of their relationships, ups and downs so that a new audience can understand what is going on and are up to date with 30 seconds of their lifes. By showing each women’s past life it shows their history of men being good and bad and by going back to the opening of pink highlights in the city this tells us that the film is a romance genre and contains many narratives.

We know the women are the main characters because they are shown in the opening and there is no extras shown between their lifes because they are introduced first in the scene.

The opening scene shows an establishing shot so we have a full understanding of the surrounding and location of the film as shown in the opening credits which are New York and Paris as the audience see the classic tall sky scrappers and Manhattan and the Eiffel Tower. The location of many cites shown in establishing shots goes back to the title showing that the characters are city girls who live the high life, also we see a shot of one of the characters in a flash back having sex which also locates back to the title.