Initial notes on film openings

• The Bride Of Chucky, (1998), (Ronnie yu)
• Logo with animation then repeated in the credits with just words.
• American flag - this suggests that it's set in America
• Rain, thunder and lightening, which is part of the nightmare, signifies a traditional horror film blue filter and a canted angle also helps to reinforce this.
• Exposition through a sign on a wall 
• Intertextual reference to Friday The 13th, using a hockey mask that Jason Wears
• There is lots of shot variation featured, to make it more interesting and keeps the audience attention
• The film uses the false scare device which is a typical horror convention to build the tension
• The opening scene was 3 1/2 minutes long.

• Maltese Falcon, (1941), (John Huston)
• Lots of exposition on screen through words at the beginning, similar to Star Wars
• Film Noir genre
• However this would only work using older actors.

• Clerks, (1994), (Kevin Smith).
• An audio bridge is used before the first shot, this is diagetic sound
• 1 minute taken up by company production logo's
• Black and White
• Cutaway shots are used to break up the scenes
• Elliptical editing which is helped by the music
• Close up shots of 'things' and not just people, like a cereal box for example
• Point of view shots are used from inside places like a car bonnet, effective and different way of using the shots
• Takes 5 minutes to get into the self-contained scenario.

• Trick Or Treat, (1986), (Charles Smith)
• 51 seconds of production company credits and titles
• Panning from different areas of the room to break the scene up
• music gets faded down when the voice comes in
• first character we see on the screen is the central protagonist
• 5 1/2 minutes to the end of the self-sontained opening

• Halloween, (1978), (John Carpenter).
• 2 minutes of credits
• The setting on screen is made very clear
• Audio bridge of children trick or treating
• Blue filter used, typical horror genre
• Opens with one long continuous take, also seen in other horror films
• The opening 5 minutes is one long take
• Steady cam used to create very still movements and also P.O.V shot.
• The music used interferes with the audiences heartbeat so you feel more tense.

• Anchorman, (2004), (Adam McKay)
• Lots of exposition through a voiceover and on the screen, told by the central protagonist
• $26 million budget

• Burn After Reading, (2008), (The Coen Brothers)
• $37 million budget
• title sequence runs for 1 minute roughly
• The Coen Brothers are linked with Working Title, they are auters and have made films like The Big Lebowski (1998).

• Napoleon Dynamte, (2004), (Jared Hess)
• Comedy genre
• The central protagonist (Jon Heder) wasn't very well known until he starred in this film
• 3.33 minutes credits, but very creative shown on objects such as plates of food, cards, and pencils
• Mostly still frames with no panning used makes the comedy in the film really different.

• Van Helsing, (2004), (Stephen Summers)
• Cliche horror thunder, lightening and rain
• The whole film is based on intertextual references to other films such as frankenstein
• Hybrid genre, made through marketing
• Non-linear, which can be a good code of horror films to disorientate the audience

• Hot Fuzz, (2007), (Edgar Wright).
• fast paced editing is used in the opening montage, including a wide variety of shots
• Lots of exposition is given through the narrator (who is also the central protagonist), and also through what is happening on the screen.
• Intertextual reference to the Adam Ant song song - Goody Too Shoes
• $16 million budget.