Opening sequences are vitally important, as they establish the tone of the film from the very beginning. Within the first couple of minutes the audience will have made a brief judgement on whether or not they enjoy the film based on the opening sequence, therefore it is crucial that the audience are actively engaged from the start.
Most opening sequences contain similar conventions including production titles, scores and mentions of any key actors/actresses. However, most films t
ake a different approach to titles, putting them in at different times of the opening sequence creating a different effect in each example. Furthermore we often
see many enigmas in a number of opeining sequences. The purpose of these enigmas is to engage the audience's interest, make them ask questions and want to find out the answers.
'London to Brighton' is an award winning British urban
social realist thriller which challenges the controversial to
pic of child prostitution. It was made in 2006, directed by Paul Andrew Williams.
The opening sequence of 'London to Brighton' begins similarly to most films with the Production titles appearing first. However after this, the sequence takes a different approach as the titles appear over black to the sound of silence. This creates tension in the audience's minds as the silence appears eery, also the anticipation of the audien
ce is fuelled by the uncommon opening. Furthermore the film title appears at the end of the opening sequence, allowing for uninterupted viewing, which adds to the thriller effect combined with the pace of the sequence. This engages the audience from the beginning as they will be interested by the unusual structure of the opening sequence. We see an example of a tableau as the time and location of the following events are given: 'London 3:07 am', before we see the first of the actual film. The film forms a non- linear narrative as the events seem out of chronological order, as the audience are thrown right into the middle of the story. We see a woman and young girl burst into a grubby toilet, panting and with looks of anguish on their faces. Furthermore it is clear that they are running from somebody. This creates a number of enigmas and the audience are left asking many questions about what has just happened to the characters.
The pace of the sequence is very fast, which further creates suspense and tension as the audience are left disjointed and out of place by the speedy pace. The sound remains diegetic throughout the sequence as all the sound exists within the world of the film, this adds to the realism which in turn makes the audience feel more engaged as they feel as if they are in the film.
In 'London to Brighton' the opening sequence is uninterrupted and sandwiched between the titles. At the beginning we see titles with no sound appear over black, although we do not the see the title of the film. By the end of the sequence we see 'London to Brighton' appear over black however this time with the non diegetic/ asynchronous sound of a train and a child screaming. This further creates tension as the audience are left wondering what are the significance of these startling sounds.
However the main purpose of this opening sequence to create a collection of mysteries. The audience are left with a number of enigmas such as...
- Who are they?
- Who are they running from?
- Why are they hiding in a toilet?
- Who is the young girl with the woman?
- Why has the woman got a black eye?
- Who is 'Derek'?
Overall it is these set of enigmas which engages the audience's attention and leaves them wanting to find out all the answers. Furthermore the tension created by the silent opening titles plus the fast pace action show evidence of the thriller genre.
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