What are the main functions of an opening title sequence?

Indent : This is a known logo/sequence show to present a film company. This allows the film/movie to be tracked back to them and can be included in an opening to name which film company specifically.

Credits : Credits give thanks those that were involved in the making of the film which includes the actors, producers and directors.

Theme : Theme is usually established via either title, title sequence and introduction. This establishes the genre also. An example could be a superhero film.

Title:  The title is one of the first thing the audience will see apart from the opening sequence,  it establishes what the movie is about and also the genre.

Introduction: The opening presents characters and a brief insight into what the movie is about and begins to develop a plot/narrative.


Sound : The music and sound contributes to the opening sequences due to the fact that this can set a mood for the characters. An example of this is, if a person was lying down on screen and the sound/music was slow and high pitched, then it will allow the audience to further understand that the character is upset.

Four different types of film openings

There are four different types of film openings which are Stylised, Credits over a screen , Narrative and Discrete title sequences.

Stylised is a title sequences that relies on the editing of clips, font and text. This is what helps to set the mood and atmosphere.

Credits over a screen is a title sequence that contrasts between colour of the background and text. The colour along with the sound sets the tone.

Narrative has a voice over of a chosen person who will be judged by the audience through the tone of their voice , this gives an insight into the character and film.

Discrete title sequences is a separate clip which is shown to the audience before the film starts to establish the tone of the film.

The film Skyfall is an action/thriller film which was released in October 2012 has a credits over a screen title sequence due to the dark colours present and the contrast between the background and the text which is white. I like this title sequence because it implicitly shows the general gist of the movie and what to expect. It shows that the film will have the equilibrium-disequilibrium-equilibrium plot.

genre of our film

the genre we have chosen for our film is 'Action' due to the fact it was most preferred by everyone in our group. also my group have decided that we will be producing a film under the actin genre. this is because we believe that acton films are the most enjoyable films to watch and also our target audience who are aged 13-25 mostly enjoy action films, this is according to BFI statistics.

the 2 film sequences which follow the same genre have inspired us are

title sequence for mission 3

our film mission 3 will have a stylised title sequence due to the fact they are more appealing and enjoyable to watch.
the title sequences from real films that have influenced us are 'Kingsman: The secret service.' and 'Johnny English'
we intend to not stick close to the conventions seen in these title sequences due to the fact they follow a very similar concept and storyline to our film.

our film mission 3

mission 3 film

- an mi3 agent is on the hunt for three new recruits for an upcoming mission. his job is to analyse their every move and put them under a training programme to see which lucky recruit will be able to go ahead with the mission.

the first 2 minutes of the opening title sequence will consist of the agent gathering information of the 3 recruits and finding a way of collecting them. from there it will lead to a preview of the normal lifestyles of the 3 recruits during a certain period of time. from here it will lead to the 3 recruits being kidnapped by his team, then their mission and objectives are then told to them from here.

lifestyle for target audience

DEMOGRAPHICS TARGET AUDIENCE