Conventions of a title sequence

Conventions are what makes a title sequence in a thriller opening. Here are the list of conventions that should be in a opening sequence.

• What makes our title sequence is the characters introduced and their role in the film. It is important that the audience know straight from the start who the characters are and identify their roles. Our thriller opening meets this convention as the two main characters are introduced and the audience can easily identify who they are, what they do and whether they are a protagonist or an antagonist.

• Also the title sequence is what makes an opening sequence, the main title of the film is very important otherwise if there was no film title there would be no point in an opening sequence as the point is to introduce the film and so therefore include the name of the film. Also the names of the actors and actresses should be introduced as well as the director, music production, costume design etc. The way the titles are presented are very important. The colour, animation, lighting, font style and etc are important as it reflects the mood, genre and storyline for the production.
  For our opening our titles reflect fear, danger, darkness and more as it is dark and the main title is red and the other opening titles are white and all the titles flicker in a spooky way.

• Camera movement and editing is important in an opening sequence, the different angles and movement create a mood and atmosphere for the audience. Different use of editing such as jump cuts, cross cutting, match cuts and transitions and etc helps the storyline. In our opening sequence we have used a variety of camera angles and movement and editing directions which meet the conventions of a opening sequence as they create the storyline and mood.

• The mise en scene is also important this is the visual information in front of the camera that the audience see and it communicates essential information to the audience. The mise-en-scene includes setting & props, costume, hair & make-up, lighting & colour, positioning of characters within the frame and facial expressions and emotions.
  Our thriller opening meets these conventions as we have focused on the location and the props, costume designs, lighting and colour and etc. We have chosen carefully as our location and props and the lighting and colour as we want to represent and produce a thriller so we made it so the audience can visually see that the film is a thriller from the mise-en-scene in the opening.

• The music or some kind of digetic/non-diegetic sound is also very important, it is a convention which needs to be included and makes a thriller opening because  it sets the mood, scene and storyline.