Structure of opening

The Structure of Thriller Openings

There are three basic types of openings to films:

• Narrative opening
• Discrete title sequence
• Blank screen, followed by the narrative opening

A narrative opening is when the titles of the film run throughout the opening to the actual film. Examples of narrative openings are:

• The Stepfather
• The Taking of Pelham 123
• The Shining

A discrete title sequence contains a separate piece of filming from the credits. It has its own piece of music and this runs throughout the opening while the credits appear. An example for this type of opening is:

• Seven

The third type of opening is where it starts with a blank screen and then the titles appear. The titles carry on appearing throughout the opening. An example of this type of opening:

• Donnie Darko

There is also a fourth type of opening called 'stylized editing'. This is when the opening of the film is edited in a similar way to music videos. The credits appear to the beat, such as in Enemy of the State, where the narration is seen through the eyes of CCTV cameras and the music compliments the fast-faced intense action shown.