General Codes and Conventions of Film Openings Revised 21/10/10

A film always begins with the production company logo's sometimes this is altered to fit the genre and narrative of the movie. The opening credits begin with the principle stars the director and the producer either in typography that suits the narrative or as mise en scene. The sound often bridges over as we see a black screen first followed by the begging shot this polysemy creates narrative enigma. Exposition is provided either by typography, voice over, mise en scene or dialogue. However shots are often varied with short takes that are to create narrative enigma and draw the consumer in. We normally see the pr polysemic protagonist first and are lead into the equilibrium and hinted the disequilibrium. The transitions are normaly cross fades and slow if the genre is Rom Com for example and the music is slow. But for an action film or horror the music has a fast pace and the takes are short cuts. The openings often include an intertextual reference and iconographic genre codes so the audience can connote the preffered reading. Sometimes the narrative can be non linear and begin with the disequilibrium. Often larger budget films try to appeal to a wider audience by making a hybrid genre of film to include crossover appeal for example romance appeals to girls and action apeals to boys a film would include both. While lower budget films cannot afford to market and distribute their product to the masses.