Opening Sequences and Features of Filming

In this section of my assignment I will create an opening sequence to a film. To enable me to do this successfully I have explored and analyzed opening sequences from the three following films Dirty Harry, The Usual Suspects and Seven. Doing this enabled me to adapt knowledge and how specific skills were used in certain areas of films. For example key conventions like soundtrack, genre, establishing shops, camera angles were all taken into consideration when thinking about our opening scene. This is because the specific features used in appropriate points of the films are all used for effect to portray a message across to the audience such as identity or genre. Therefore we have decided to achieve similar aspects of this when performing our opening sequence to help create it as realistic and effective as possible.











Mise - En - Scene is being able to establish what is seen in a shot via the scenery arrangement, actors/characters, props and costumes and lighting. To be able to identify this you must be able to pause the film at any stage and be able signify the genre of the film and what it represents and portrays. To enable our opening sequence effective as possible we have took into account that mise en scene must be relevant and specific as we want our clip to look authentic as possible.

Characterisation is how the characters are represented within the film and how they are portrayed across to the audience making sure they look authentic and relevant to the particular role they are playing. This can portrayed in a variety of ways such as costumes, hair and make up, props and the way they speak and type of dialogue they use.

Sound The use of Diagetic sounds which happen within the filming can be used as they are natural sounds which will be picked up however non diagetic sounds are sounds which are added into the film such as bells and sirens . For example Dirty Harry used that particular sound at the start which was used as the list of deceased officers was scrolling down onto the screen. This helps portray the emotions that is occurring within the film.

Representation This is reflected by how the viewing of the film is represented and come across, for example; San Francisco is represented as a rough estate as this is shown when Harry is overlooking the city and you can see all the things that are going in within that particular scene, this portrays to the audience of him over looking the city that its his possession.

Ideology is used to send either a political,social or moral message through to the audience however the most obvious one in Dirty Harry is when the murder of the woman occurs and to enable it from preventing in the future.

Camera Shots and Angles This is when the camera focuses on an image or an object for a certain period of time. This is used to indicate the amount of subject matter contained within the frame, how far away the camera is from the image/object, and the perspective of it to the viewer. Each different shot contains a different purpose and effect.
Camera angles and movements combine together to create a sequence of images. This is used for a combination of effects in films to help portray and signify a message or signal across to the audience about a character or object.

Genre From the opening sequence the audience should be able to identify this, mainly being able to use the following terms above, mise en scene, establishing shots, camera shots and angles as well as representation and ideology. However is if this isn't used the director purposely left this out to trick the audience on what is going to happen.

Action films are non stop motion of adventure, they include of examples of high energy, physical stunts, car chases, battles, fights, escapes and natural disasters etc. Examples of these films are James Bond, Indiana Jones and the Mummy.


Comedy films are known to be "light hearted" specifically designed to amuse people and have a laugh out loud effect. It is often portrayed by exaggeration of a situation, characters, language, action etc.


Crime and Gangster are developed around sinister type of criminals, they involve of bank robbers, murders, stealing and stereotypical figures.


Drama films are mainly serious with driven plots of realistic characters, settings every day life situations and stories which involve of intense character development and interaction.

Horror are designed to scare or frighten the audience as films can contain our hidden worst fear, they can feature a wide range of style to help portray this effect, however the main ones can consist of captivity, chasing and experiencing.

Romance films often follow a love story which is two characters involved/involving with each other, this is also a "light hearted" design for the audience however can also be serious related.


Thriller is similar to horror as it also involves death and frightening acts to scare the audience. The film consists of an unpredictable plot as you don't know who the antagonist is or who he/she is after.

Physiological Thriller is when emotions and physiological features are explored, there is not much difference between this aspect of genre and thriller genre as they both share similar key features. 

After exploring a range of genres of films we have decided as a group we wanted to perform a thriller within our opening sequence, this was because it grabbed our attention as we wouldn't really have to act in it if characters were played in "mysterious" ways. Also when filming the preliminary task we knew it took a while due to trying to get the right shot of the characters without them having to laugh, this can be time consuming as none of us had much advantage with acting skills. Therefore having chosen a thriller is playing an advantage as none of us have to act or exchange dialogue if it wasn't necessary.