Opening sequences assist to magnetize the viewers, which would influence them to watch the rest of the movie. Not only is it there for this purpose, but it helps to establish the narrative structure, the main character(s), capture the audiences’ interests and institute the core themes. One could say it has to be the most important scene, as this is what entitles the baseline of the film in which the audience may judge their decision on whether viewing the rest of it or not. These are achieved by using certain narrative film opening conventions such as a significant pace. Certain paces of a film are typical for specific genres, for example; fast pace is very common in thriller/horror/tense movies. Therefore, the pace of the opening sequence will ultimately designate what genre the film is. ‘Children of Men’ (2006), directed by Alfonso Cuaron, was famously recognised for its cinematography which is seen vastly in the opening sequence of the film. It displays the plot of the whole film using very different conventions and it also helped to set the scene for the rest of the movie. It is important that the opening sequence enforces the audience to watch the rest of the piece, which means they must be intrigued by it.
‘Children of Men’ (COM) is set in the year 2027. It is about a frenzied world in which humans can no longer procreate. A former campaigner agrees to help transport a miraculously pregnant woman to a sanctuary at sea, where her child's birth may help scientists save the future for humans.
The film opening begins with commences in utter silence. This connects to the audience because effectively, they now engage their ears so they do not miss what will be said; eventually. After 32 seconds of this, we then see a black screen whilst only being able to hear non-diegetic sound which appears to be the news report. Given that, the only item being heard is this news broadcast, the audience will acknowledge its’ importance, thus, they will listen to it more crucially. Also taking on board that the whole movie begins with this news report shows its’ high relevance level towards the films’ plot. This builds up tension and grabs the audiences’ attention because they are involuntarily informed now that something critical is happening seeing as the situation is being illustrated through a news report. From just this little convention, which occurs first in the sequence, we can already comprehend how crucial it is to attract the audience. This would make the viewers want to carry on watching in order to find out who and what this news report(er) is. Consequently, this form works quite effectively. This convention shows that the producer of the film does not need to get all ‘fancy’ with the technology in order for it to have an impact on the audiences’ level of attention.
The scene then cuts from the black screen to a high angled shot of a cafe occupied by a substantial amount of people. They all seem to have the same facial expressions – astounded and depressed. Also they are all looking in the same direction, at the same thing. This shows the value of the item which is being stared at, entailing that it must be very crucial. Considering that a news broadcast was publicized to the audience, during the black screening, implies that the item that everyone is watching and listening to is the same as the previous one. This news broadcast enhances on what the storyline may be of this film. The use of the high-angle shot aids the audience to acknowledge the setting, which in this case is a cafe. The pace of the sequence is very slow, with only 6 cuts in the whole sequence – meaning 2 minutes and 25 seconds. For example; when Clive Owens’ character walks out the shop, instead of using a cut to get from inside the shop to the street, an establishing shot was used to follow him out through the cafe doors. The camera still does not cut through the scenes, but using the establishing shot, it circulates around Clive Owen – showing the location he is in.
Simply by viewing the opening sequence, one can easily tell what type of genre a film may be. It is important to be able to elucidate what type of genre the film will be just by watching the opening sequence. If the audience is not capable of doing so, the opening sequences’ use of forms and conventions have not worked effectively. Finding out the genre in the opening sequence helps the audience decide whether this is the type of film they want to be watching – depending on their mood. In COM the opening sequence was very patent of what type of genre the film is. It came across as an adventure/mystery/drama production. This was shown through several ways. One of the ways being; how everyone was squashed into one shop to watch a news report on TV. The question that gets raised is “what could be so important on TV which is making a vast number of people get crammed into one small location?” This increases the suspense (mystery) whilst showing an element of drama as it comes across as a very serious issue. After the coffee shop scene, we see a bomb explosion occur. This shows the element of adventure as well as drama. The adventurous constituent is illustrated through this incident, as we know that the main character will try to investigate why this situation took place.
Furthermore, this leads onto being alert of whom the main character of the film is. The opening sequence must continue to capture all the forms and conventions needed; otherwise it will not be effectual. The camera follows Clive Owens character out onto the main road. This represents who the main focus on the scene is to the audience. The camera then quickly pans across the futuristic London streets, showing pictures on the windows of the buildings. The camera does not seem to cut at all – it flows constantly without any pauses. It then follows and goes around Clive Owen to the angle of the explosion. Clive Owens’ character comes across frightened when the bomb goes off. This makes the audience question as to why the hero of the film would be scared. This would not be a typical convention of an opening sequence. On the contraire, by it not being typical, it makes the audience want to watch more of this film to investigate why the ‘hero’ was afraid. Therefore, this form of convention is resulting to be quite effective as well.
Opening sequences help to establish the core themes of this film. The bomb explosion suggests that ‘death’ would be one of the main themes seen throughout the film. This also lets the audience establish their expectations for the rest of the film. Having expectations can either result positively or it can result negatively. If the expectations of the film happen but they are not the way the audience had imagined in their mind, it can result in disappointment. This may stop them from watching the movie any further as they may assume it will carry on to be a disappointment. On the other hand, if the expectations appear in the film and they are better or different to what the audience had imagined, it can result effectively encouraging. Having expectations will influence the viewers to watch the film in order to see their imagination in action onscreen.
The mood throughout the opening sequence is very mellow and calm up until the explosion happens. The mood is emitted through various codes; one of which being the usage of colour’s. The colour of the atmosphere throughout the opening is very dull, grey, and smoky; therefore it makes the onlookers very anxious and tensed - it is not very heart-warming. This was all shown through the cinematography, which made it exceptionally vivid and added an extensive dramatic element to it. It is very common to express the mood of the film through the usage of sound tracks. However, this sequence did not exhibit any source of significant sound tracking; nevertheless the stressful mood being displayed was not affected in any way. The mood remained the way it was supposed to be through the usage of other enigma codes. The mise-en scene in the sequence was very relatable which helps the audience to visualize what is going on more clearly and allows the audience to be able to picture themselves in the scene. The streets looked just as they do now in London, except worse. They were congested, littered and everyone looked highly occupied as if they all had somewhere to go urgently. This relates to how time is now as well, which lets the viewers feel more attached to the situation. The costumes and clothing overall, all seemed to be very analogous to what we wear now. For example; the police clothes were very similar to the police uniform now. However, they seemed to be more modernized which conveys that it is set in the future but not too far ahead.
As a member of the audience it felt that the sequence continued to build up on elements which triggered the idea that something major is going to happen. Therefore, I was constantly on the edge of my seat knowing that something could happen anytime. This was then expressed through the bomb explosion which indeed did make me jump off my seat, which I believe, was the aim. Throughout the whole sequence, the codes and conventions worked effectively. They resulted in the way they were supposed to, for example; successfully creating the mood with the use of specific atmospheres and facial expressions right through the sequence. All these elements, especially the bomb explosion, obligated on me that I must see what happens next. Therefore, the aim of this opening sequence productively worked and it made me want to carry on watching. I believe the way I felt, is most likely to be the way the rest of the audience felt too.
