Common codes and conventions of film openings

'Wish you were here'
Released in 1987
Produced by Sarah Radcliffe
Written and directed by David Leland
Music by Stanley Myres
Film 4 Zenith production in association with Working Titles
image of young blond girl connotes innocence wearing gas mask reflects time frame of 1950's after the war, edited shot in black and white further anchors the preferred reading of the time it was set, non-digetic wave sound is played which turns into digetic sounds it fades into establishing shot panning along screen of location-typical British seaside (cold weather) also using a grey filter over the scene which anchors the preferred reading of the genre social realism, as this makes it look dull typical of most social realist films juxtaposed to the sunny glamour of hollywood movies.
The red text of actor/actress's names fades in and out giving a sense of unease when mixed with a dull scene and upbeat music, which creates tension.
The rule of thirds suggests that humans naturally read from left to right, the actress who plays the central protagonists name appears on the left so that the audience is drawn to hers first, creating importance before reading the co stars name, as we read a picture in the same way, this is accompanied by digetic asynchronous sound of the waves and seagulls along with the postcard style title incidentally named further anchors the preffered reading of the location being by the seaside, along with the iconography of a broken pier to reflect it being past its 'glory days'.
Something else social realist films use as a common convention to anchor their genre is to show typically British day to day mundane tasks, such as walking the dog as this film does with a man walking his dog along the beach, this enable the British audience to relate to the film more easily as they've found something in common forming a kind of relationship between the 2, therefore symbolising that its a social realist film.
The camera then slowly pans towards the left of the screen whilst zooming out at the same time , probably done by using a crane, this give the audience the bigger picture to look at.
A woman's voice now starts to sing along with the music her lyrics being incidental (also ironic) to the film, also using exposition as the style of music is typical of the 50's, so helps to inform the audience of the time in which it was set.
The camera is then zooming out partially subjectively from the deck chair which stuck in the railing this is a symbol which signifies somethings not quite right including an element of paralysis linking into conventions of tragedy as its an omen foreshadowing the central protagonists future as there is then a visual bridge to her from here on we know shes going to be different from other characters at the time as she rides her bike into the shot creating more association between the 2, as the other deck chairs stand orderly not paralysed but able to be moved and moulded by society.
As she does this she the central protagonist rides past a woman wearing yellow pushing a pram this is a prophetic visual bridge to her for and the3 end of the film, as she ends up having a baby pushing the pram wearing yellow in the final scene, anchoring the theme that she never really grows and moves on.
The central protagonist is blond and wearing a pink dress connoting femininity but a binary opposite of her character being a strong woman riding a bike so fast.The camera zooms in on her face shes wearing little make-up and has short messy hair reflecting her up front personality and although shes blond she still has short hair which is a male like tendency making her less of a binary opposite as looks slightly like a boy.
The blue windmill attached to the front of her bike connotes innocence, as its a childlike tendency to customize your bike in this way, the blue windmill is a symbol of her demise out of control as she rides faster it spins faster which represents her getting her self deeper and deeper into trouble not being able to stop-loss of control.
The sound then turns digetic as she rides past a dancing woman on a box, who's old tanned and in a short orange dress this signifies the the seediness of the town but that they keep hope till the end.
The British flags are an iconic sign, by the side of her are an example of iconography, helping to anchor the location and even genre as Britain is famous for social realist films, the scene then fades out to black along with the music.

Notting Hill
Released:1999 Directed by:Roger Michell
Written by:Richard Curtis
Produced by:Duncan Kenworthy
Executive producers:Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Richard Curtis Production companies involved:Universal, Polygram, Working Titles
Genre:Romantic comedy
cross-over appeal:-big names such as Hugh Grant (stereotypically British, e.g accent, floppy hair, which is what USA familiar with when think of Brits) Julia Roberts (US fan base-loyal USA as they know shes a good famous actress, therefore will think the same of the film and pay to go see it)-despite being set in Notting Hill in London provides USA audience with familiar stereotype of Britain just on a smaller scale.
Rhys Ifans brings an element of comedy to the film obviously Welsh brings in a wider audience as signified by his accent.
Starts off with news like dialogue, whilst non-digetic music weaves into it punctuated by the female protagonists first shot on the word 'shes' being creating a visual bridge, whilst shes being photographed by the paparazzi connotes her importance and implies her celebrity status ironically in and out of the film.
The camera constantly pan/tracks possibly by crane across the screen the showing a montage of pictures of her in a range of different looks which connotes a range of possible moods and personalities portrayed by the media, although shes always smiling looking comfortable implies shes used to the frame
Longer shot of her kissing male shows her private love life and connotes the genre of romance, further anchored by her name in pink text and mise-en-scene of her wearing a heart necklace.
Long high angle shot of her sat on the pavement heightens her vulnerability and 'normalness' so that working class are able to relate easier with her despite playing the character of a celebrity.
Main actress has pale skin representing purity implying shes a nice truthful not sexually active girl.

Train Spotting:Genre of this film is social realism. Train spotting is aimed at a specific audience and that is youths. In the opening few minuets there is fast paced music-Iggy pop- which then goes into a sound bridge. The first thing you actually see on screen is the main character running towards the camera. There is then a voice over so there is an internal narrative. The film starts off with young people dealing with drugs and a baby in the room. The first few minuets show this which make the audience want to carry on watching it because they want to know what happens to the characters.

Kidulthood
This film is a drama. In the very opening we can here a sound of a gun shot and a knife this could signify what the film will be about. The camera is used as a handheld camera to give the effect as though you are actually there, it also gives the film a realist effect. We can see that it is filmed in a working class area by the scruffy uniform the characters wear. One of the characters is a stereotypical girl we can see this by the big earrings she is wearing and they way her hair is done. There are blurred shots which show the sexual content and this then targets the audience. This film was released in 2006 and the budget of it was £800,000. Kidulthood has had a few bad reviews.

Pirates of the Caribbean
This was released in 2003, 3rd August. Director was Gore Verbinski, Producer was Jerry Bruckheirmer, Production companies- Walt Disney. Many A-list stars in this film such as Johnny Deep. This film had a Hybrid Genre, you cant state just one genre. The titles are in golden writing which signify treasure and money. There is fog in the opening few minuets with a ship coming into the scene slowly which could signify adventure. There is a low angle of the boat which signifies upper class. There is a point of view shot when the man is stood behind the young girl and then there is the umbrella which is a visual bridge. Then when the other boat is on fire this signifies conflict and fighting. When they rescue the boy from the water the young girl finds a necklace on him, the necklace is iconography. There is non-digetic music- a heart beat rising. The dialogue in the first opening minuets shows who is in charge (exposition). The flags are total opposites as there is the British flag and then the flag with the skull on it.

Bullet Boy
Director: Saul Dibb Released: 2004 Starring: Ashley Walters, Luke Fraser, Clare Perkins and Leon Black. The first opening minuets start with a big fire explosion with smoke which then forms itself into the BBC Films title. This could signify what they film is going to be about, guns and violence it could also suggest the genre of the film which is Realism. The music slowly starts as very quiet and slow as we fade into a close up shot of a young African boy who is one of the main characters and who looks as though he is in a small confined, dark space as he shines a light the light gets brighter and we fade out of that and into a shot of a African man who is the second main character and he is in a prison cell. This could also help signify what the film is going to be about. The music starts to quicken and gets slightly louder but then starts to slow down and get quieter as the female police officer comes to release the man. There are then two police officers signing the man out of prison who are actually both White British. This could possibly signify cultural differences and status. The music then starts to quicken and wipes into a point of view shot as though you are looking out of the front window of a car. We then go to a shot of another character that is driving the car and lighting a cigarette. We start to hear banging, the man stops the car gets out and finds that the young boy from the very beginning is in the trunk of his car and he pulls the young boy out. This is filmed using a long shot so we can see the surroundings which is countryside so the characters are in the middle of nowhere this could perhaps suggest mystery. Throughout the opening few minuets there are many close ups of faces showing facial expressions of the characters. The dialogue that the man in the car and the young boy in the trunk of the car use is very stereotypical gangster. The editing of the first few minuets is very slow and longer shots have been used. This gives the film a realist effect.

Collateral

Plot- Max Durocher is a night-shift cab driver in Los Angeles. Hes planning a limo company called 'Island Limos', but has been a cab driver for 12 years. One night, he picks up a character named Vincent who seems like another ordinary passenger. But when he drops Vincent off at his location and waits for him as asked, a body falls on his cab, and it becomes clear that Vincent is actually a hit man. and hes got 4 more stops to make.Set the scene in LA with western faces and the dialogue coming from Jason Stathams character.

-Taxis signifier of working class men trying to make a living, with the chaotic surrounding, when Max closes the door this goes away, his escape from everyday stressor's in life.

-Multi cultural references of the foreign newspaper and the bloke speaking french provides anchorage for this.

-The white men watching over the taxis connotes power (boss). Sticking to the stereotype of white men leading and other races working for them.

-Majority of the faces seen in the first 2:40minute clip are male. Aiming towards a male audience.

-It also give an insight into the crooked underworld of LA where foreigners call the shots, with a pre-meditated bag swap.

-Its very much placed within multiracial harmony and hegemony throughout with La being a multi-cultural city. This is hinted at during the short 2minutes with people from all backdrops.

-The opening 2 minutes of 'Collateral' had various signifiers of target audience and appeal.

-Michael Mann chose to present Los Angeles as being very multi-cultural with different nationalities from French, British, Spanish, Asian, not just American.

-This signified by the people in the frame but also the props used such as the foreign newspaper.

-All of the adult men in the opening sequence are male, which is a strong signifier of male interest as the audience but also in the film itself, with LA being a mans world.
-The US and UK movie posters differ as the US posters contains both Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx both big names in the US.

-Whereas the UK poster only has Tom Cruise as he is more well known here providing cross-over appeal to the UK.

-Its a 'Paramount Motion Pictures' film

-Distribute by 'Dream Works SKG'

-Both belonging to 'Viacom'

-Budget of $65,000,000

-Made in the opening weekend: $24,701,458 (USA)

-Made in the opening weekend: 2,238,200 (UK)

-Its not unusual for Paramount to take on different types of movies like this, as they produce a large amount of movies ranging from 'Jimmy Neutron' to 'Jackass the movie'

-Michael Mann has also directed films such as 'Ali' and 'Miami Vice' both in the same style as 'Collateral'. All starring Jamie Foxx, but under different conglomerates.

-In the opening sequence the genre isn't clear for a persons first viewing, unless the plot is known. This creates narrative enigma

-However we're orientated towards Jamie Foxx and the theme of taxis and different races, with the documentary-esque style of filming, it hints at social realism.

-Michael Mann as a director, uses the same methods for each film he does especially in recent films, such as 'Miami Vice' and 'Ali'.
-Michael Mann follows Levi Strauss's theory of the narrative enigma at the start of the film as its unclear to the genre of the film, other than the suspicious bag drop.

-Mann also uses Todorovs theory of conflict-conflict-resolution. Which is apparent as the movie progresses

-From the outset its clear as to the antagonists and protagonists will be as special attention is given to them.

-The film itself takes roughly 19 minutes to get the plot and situation crystal clear to the audience.

Exposition is quite key in the opening 2 minutes but not essential as can be picked up as the film progresses, we considered it by learning the central protagonists name (Shannon) in the 2nd to last scene when Linda says to Shannon 'Come on then Shannon, lets go'.We also employed Levi Strauss's theory of narrative enigma by the conversation between Shannon and Linda where Shannon says 'oh, i was just tired, was up a few times the night before', this creates a question for the audience as they're not quite sure what shes on about until the end of the film opening, when its revealed to the audience the reason why she was up the night before was because shes a teenage mum, so was looking after her baby.

Some of the common conventions for the genre of our media film are;

Lighting which is low key which is more mundane and plain which differs from Hollywood which is high key glitz and glam. Characters are usually working class, northern, single parents, focused around male protagonist, with the socio-economic group C2DE. The location is usually in a working class area, which is usually run down. The shooting style is often more documentary style as oppose to Hollywood, and more shaky (possibly handheld/headcam). It tends to highlight current social issues within those areas. Costume is plain dull and may include uniform/working clothing as seen in 'Kidulthood'.