Analysis of Other Film openings

Along with the analysis of horror film openings, I also analysed other film openings to see whether any similarities or differences to horror film openings would emerge, in addition to four I researched...

-James Bond, Casino Royale
-IT The Clown
-Ice Age
-Star Wars Revenge of the Sith

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Music - slow music with a piano playing, so the tone isn't as harsh as it what it would be with horror using a violin. We hear a heavenly like voice singing, with voices of multiple characters in the background.

Print Styles - There is no text in the beginning of the film of any cast members or what the film is even called, as its a Blockbuster film so it's easy to recognise by the opening of the film that this is a Harry Potter film as of its specific look.

Action - We can tell this film is a blockbuster film as it shows the logo of Warner.Bros. emerging from background of dark clouds. We see the text as a rusted form of metal therefore this could represent lifeless and worn. We then see the character's face looking neutral without emotion, portraying the sufferings faced by the character throughout the film.

Transformers

Music - slow music with a trumpet is playing to show some form of formality - links perhaps to the idea of military and war as military guards play trumpets during marches. We hear the lead character's voice briefing engaging the audience into the film, without giving too much away. This contrasts to horror films as we don't hear the villain speaking instead we hear them laughing, groaning or none which creates an uneasy atmosphere within the film. The pace of the music begins to get quicker when the character mentions "death" and talks about war, making the audience more interested and excited to see what the character is exactly referring to.

Print Styles - We seen no casts names like in Harry Potter at the beginning of the film however we see a bold, futuristic textual style of "Transformers" at the end of the character speaking which gives the audience a second to have some background context from the character about the story, and lets them picture what the film is about and then seeing the title of the film, reinforces the audience's thoughts.

Action - We can tell this film is a blockbuster film as it shows the logo of Dreamworks right before there is any images on screen. We see a shot of space and Earth and therefore we know this film has some aspects of the Sci-fi genre, as this cosmic scenery is typically associated with this film genre.

Cars

Music - At the beginning of the opening sequence we hear the character's voice speaking and thinking about his upcoming race which we see by quick glimpse of it on screen. Then suddenly it cuts into a song rather than a theme soundtrack. This is because as it's a blockbuster film company - Disney, it means that the song can easily gain popularity and create synergy between the film and itself by promoting one another. Especially as it's a children's film it means that children are more likely to remember the song and it stick with them.

Print Styles - There is no text in the beginning of the film of any cast members or what the film is even called. However text reading 'Walt Disney Presents' appears without the Walt Disney logo, which shows how well recognised the film company is and that they don't need to show their logo to help audiences identity who they are. Afterwards we see the text of the film to be like the sign on the front of a car, relating to the title and theme of the film.

Action - The sequence at first shows quick glimpses of a motor race, and then it later shows the main character emerging from shadows and we then see the character racing, amongst other cars. One of the cars however is knocked off the track but we seen no one getting hurt or even killed as this wouldn't be appropriate for a child's film, but would perhaps for a horror.

The Blind Side

Music - upbeat music with a light tone of piano's and clapping noise, which suggests the film is based on a positive story-line with mostly positive themes. This is because clapping is associated with happiness and congratulating someone, which reflects the success of the character becoming an NFL star later in the film. We hear a women's voice commentating an American Football game, however they aren't telling us about the story line. This doesn't give too much away to the audience apart from knowing that their will be some influence of American football in the film.

Print Styles - There is no text in the beginning of the film of any cast members or what the film is even called, as its a Blockbuster film. However the beginning of the film shows a production company named 'Alcon' but the film was funded by Warner.Bros so this could be a method of promoting a newly developed film institution so they eventually become as recognised as Warner.Bros.

Action - There is no shots of the character's on the first title sequence, apart from a game of American Football which keeps the audience guessing on what the film is actually about apart from its link to American Football.