My Understanding of different structures of film openings. (1)

Opening film structures are very essential when introducing any kind of film , there are various types of structures to chose from depending on the type of theme you intend to create such as when making a thriller. Below i have demonstrated my understanding of the four main film opening structures which are identified in four different films. These are Traditional, discrete, credits over a black screen and stylised openings.
A traditional film opening (PANIC ROOM -2002):
A traditional film opening is when the opening is kept simple and clearly gives the audience a sense of what the film could involve or be able. This particular opening is used mostly in a lot of films. It consists of images accompanied by credits/tittle that appear throughout the opening usually above the image seen.
Panic Room is about A woman and her teenage daughter become imprisoned in the panic room of their own house by 3 criminals.




From viewing the actual clip we are able to discover that it starts off with wide-long, and establishing shots of the city. The made it clear that the film was set in New York. We could tell by looking at the cabs and the large buildings. The credits were neatly placed on the screen along with the background image. The colours used for the text (silver) made it look as though the works were a part of the buildings (well blended in). This also gives the film a positive and neutral start putting the audience in the postion of not expecting what could happen next. 


A Discrete tittle sequence (ARLINGTON ROAD):

A Discrete tittle sequence is when there does not tend to be much clear give aways to the audience as to what the film may be about. There could be a lot of fast jump cuts for it to appear blurred in the viewers minds or to make out any of the images.There may be loads of images which fuse into each other and editing to confuse the audience.
Arlington road is an American drama,mystery Thriller about a college professor who begins to suspect that his neighbours are terrorists and aims to ruin their plans.
This discrete opening works best for this film as it relates to the nature of the film in relation to the protagonists personality. it Leaves us uncertain of of what is going on (suspense).


From watching this clip we can already see that it has not been made clear to the audience what it is about. It rather leaves them confused and fine it difficult to keep as focused as possible. We can see there are various uses of editing in the opening credits, bright(flashy), negative lights, moving images and jump cuts.