Initial Thoughts on a Film Opening

I absolutely love watching films and consequently have seen many openings in several different genres (admittedly excluding horror as I have never made it through a title sequence). From what I've seen there are different ways you can approach openings; you can either start it with a bang, have a full on action sequence providing a little, initially meaningless information but really leaving the whole thing as a narrative enigma (e.g. Dr Strange and Heat) or start out with scene setting, laying out all the information the audience initially needs (e.g. Beauty and the Beast and The Great Gatsby). Either way, the audience has got to be hooked by either the shocking opening sequence or the gripping, interesting plot.

Usually, the opening scene comes before the titles when the sequence ends (normally dramatically) the title then appears on our screens to give it the maximum effect - the audience is already pretty riled up or hooked in so when the titles come on they're like, "Oh yeah! I'm so excited for the rest of this film!"

If the credits come at the start (which they normally do in older films e.g. The Breakfast Club) something should be happening at the same time, in this example they have a soundtrack playing. Even so it can get a little tedious just watching name after name appear onscreen. Therefore in modern films they tend to have opening credits appearing in a more interesting way e.g. following people or objects into the shot or having them rolling while there's some kind of action taking place or sound they can listen to. This keeps the audience engaged in the film rather than having them zoning out. Some modern films such as 'Deadpool' even acknowledged the 'boringness' of credits and made them humorous for the audience which clearly set the tone for the film.

Overall the opening scene of a film has to engage the audience and set the tone for the rest of the film. It is the most important part as it what the audience will base their initial thoughts on and could be the grounds on which they decide whether to watch the rest. Therefore it needs to be impactful and concise, it sets the scene whilst leaving a lot of room for development and drama in the rest of the film.