Film Openings Research

The openings within films are very important to the audiences in order to:

• Promote the Cast, Crew and Institution.
• explain to the audience the film they are watching, to indicate key pieces of that film such as the setting, the period, the regarding mood and themes of the film and the genre the film is.
• It spurs the audience to enquire about what the film will entail and gives them ideas of the film will include
• it sets up the film and gets the audience relaxed and ready to take in the film. 

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Spiderman 2(2004)

• The Genre shown in this opening is a shown as very sci-fi and the comic book aspect is given thoroughly with the drawn pictures although the genre does not need to be shown as obviously in this opening due to the popularity of Spiderman from past products in media.
• Characters are introduced in this film using pictures or drawings of said characters with the title of the actors' names also in the shot, this gives a certain understanding of story to our audience as the actors and their characters are shown.
• The Narrative for this film is shown in the clip via drawn pictures of an already known narrative, giving nothing away due to the popularity of the Spiderman franchise to begin with, it shows the story so far from the first film so that audiences can reacquaint themselves to the storyline.
• This opening sequence with it's classic score from Danny Elfman causes an exciting atmosphere for the audience and hooks them in for the film, the iconic red colour with the webs brings back certain memories for those who are familiar with Spiderman as a product.
• the themes shown are the typical Spiderman themes, with the mixture of blue and red colours to familiarise the audience with the hero they love, there is an abundance of sci-fi comic book themes throughout this opening and the classic story with a modern twist.
• The Titles within this opening follow the typical code which is predominantly used within film openings, the titles are clear and the importance is reflected on the time given and the order of the titles. 

Forest Gump(1994)

• Forest Gump is a Robert Zemeckis film based on the novel by Winston Groom, it is a romantic comedy based on the life of Forest gump played by Tom Hanks.
• This classic film shows a feather floating through a beautiful setting, this opening does not show the narrative of the film, which may raise questions from the audience as they do not know what the story is about, but this may also suggest that the opening should not give anything away, it shows our main character Forest Gump around two minutes in and the interest in the feather raising audiences opinions and questions about him.
• The Sound used within this clip is a powerful score composed by Alan Silvestri which effects the audiences with it's calm rhythm and relaxing melody, this is used to emotionally hook the audiences and  readies them for the film they are about to watch.
• The Atmosphere given by the music and the visual poetry of the opening as a whole is a calm one, it is a serious and emotional opening with a almost melancholy feel, it releases a beautiful ambience and allows audiences to sink into the film they are about to watch.
• The themes given in this opening are those of modern city life, for when it was written the cars and the lifestyles of the people within the opening are stereotypical to that era, and Forest Gump is seen to be a break in the stereotype, he is an original person and this is a prominent theme in the opening, this is shown through the way he notices the feather where noone else did, he noticed that which others didn't. 
• The Titles within this opening are very clear and simple, with the ordering being very important they stuck to it very well, showing the hierarchy for production of this film well

Superbad (2007)

• Superbad, directed by Greg Mottola is an award winning teen comedy about two high school students and their mission for alcohol and girls. 
• The Narrative is not entirely shown within the opening although we can see it is a comedy and the two main characters are introduced in a very quirky and unusual way, by dancing! 
• it gives a very comedic atmosphere, and with the funky seventies music (Too Hot To Stop - The Bar-Kays) this gives it a rhythm which is very toe-tapping for the audiences and distracts them from their boring routine, this coincides with the comedy dancing that the main characters are paricipating in.
• The themes shown in this opening are very funky dancing which connotes a party or celebration within the film for audiences, they may create different expectations of the film ahead but the opening does not disappoint or give anything away, if i was to create a comedy opening i would include some of these conventions in to make something simple yet very effective. 
• the titles are very effective, they stand out with contrasting colours to the background like the silhouettes of the characters, and they are in the order commonly used within opening sequences.