-How much of the plot is introduced in the opening 2 minutes?
-How many key characters are there?
-Is there much dialogue?
-How many locations are there?
-What are the credits like?
I've analysed both professional and student made openings of a film to compare what it included in them and see if they had hit the criteria above.
Professional Films:
The Lion King - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wW7zYR-WGwY
In the Lion King the main plot is hinted on by the basis of the Mufasa and Scar showing hatred for one another in the opening 2 minutes.
This is shown by the dialogue that they exchange purely on the topic of Simba's presentation to the world. From introducing this much of the plot to the audience it allows them to get a sense of what the film will be about but not to the extent of how things will unravel in the end therefore leaving the suspense and desire to continue watching.
Featured in the two minutes there are only two main characters, and these are Mufasa and Scar, however another main character is mentioned when talking about his presentation (Simba), to add to this there is another character featured but they are not very important in the rest of the film, they are just there to add another dimension to the dialogue.
The whole of the opening two minutes has dialogue and there is not a period of time where there isn't some sort of dialogue this means that the opening scene is fairly full of action as there is always something going on and slightly revealing the plot for the rest of the film. By having a lot of dialogue it can help to draw in the audience a little more as there is always something to listen to and grasp instead of having just different camera angles and shots throughout the opening scene to reveal the plot.
There is only one location revealed in the opening two minutes of The Lion King which features inside of a cave where Scar is usually found, however you are shown the outside surroundings of the cave therefore having an insight of what the other locations that may feature in the films will be and then allows you to think about the different atmospheres could be included.
In the opening scene of the film there are no credits included at all apart from the actual title of the film itself.
Up - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlGg4nt01G8
In the opening scene of the film Up, there once again is a hint on the main plot of the film. The opening scene all in all was just over 5 minutes long and solely features the story of Carl and Ellie and how their romance grew over the years and tracked how they both evolved together. They both had a dream that they shared that was to take there house and place it on top of a mountain far away and therefore explore the surroundings too. But then Ellie falls terminally ill, and passes away without achieving this dream that they both have. Meaning that Carl is left feeling like he never achieved the one thing they both wanted to do together and therefore still wants to achieve the dream in memory of Ellie.
The only two characters featured in the opening scene are Ellie and Carl, only really Carl is a key character throughout the rest of them film as the character of Ellie is discontinued and therefore no longer shown. The other key character in the film does not feature at all in the opening scene of the film so the audience don't know what or who to expect.
In this opening scene, there is no dialogue at all. Instead there is just music playing over in the background. You can still see the characters talking but no audio can be heard as it has been muted.
There are a number of locations that feature in the opening scene as it is effectively a piece of film that is showing their life story so far, and in this they are bound to have been to more than one location. Some of the locations show of course the house that they live in, the outside of the house, the chapel they got married in, a certain hill that features twice at both the beginning and nearer the end of their story and of course the hospital.
Once again in this professional film there is no credits in the opening scene, and again there is only the title of the film and the logo of the production company, in this case Pixar.
Wall-E -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLx_7wEmwms
In the opening scene none of the real main plot is hinted at or shown, nothing is predictable either which will leave the audience of the film in suspense and wanting to watch to find out.
There is only one character actually featured in the opening 2 minutes of the film, and this character happens to be the main character of the entire film, Wall-E. He is only featured in the last minute of the opening scene though with the beginning of the scene purely showing cineramics of outer space, and then continuing on with shots of the surroundings that Wall-E is living in.
Likewise with the last film there is no dialogue in this opening scene and this theme continues throughout the film, as they only really communicate through sound effects that robots make. Also similar to the last film is that there is music playing throughout in the background, this prevents the piece of film from becoming too quiet and therefore can be seen as boring.
There is several locations seen in the opening scene, however they aren't really shown in detail but instead glanced over as the camera is panning over the horizon as you travel to meet the key character of Wall-E.
In the opening scene of this film there are a small amount of credits, that just presents who the production company (Pixar) is and who the film creator is (Walt Disney).
Student-made Films
Captive - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93fH1fUQ-Lw
In the opening scene of this student made film there is the main plot revealed, you can see that the boy who is held captive was held there due to having trespassed the area which is shown to be haunted.
By watching the opening scene it looks as if there is two main characters shown, the boy who is being held captive and the ghost girl who supposedly put him there. Although the ghost girl only features in the trailing end of the opening scene where the audience is shown how he was held captive, the boy is shown throughout the opening scene and is the key main characters.
Like the two of the professionally made films there is no dialogue shown in the opening two minutes of the piece, there is however music playing over the screenplay to add the suspense and set the tone of the piece. There is one piece of dialogue though, which is simply a scream for help, with the scream the music is still being played over the top.
There is one main location shown which is the grungy abandoned room that he is being held in, this features strongly throughout the piece of work and is the predominant location. However there are other locations shown just outside of the room, which includes the forest area in which features the sign of no trespassing. Then you can see the forest in which the ghost girl is walking past when he is held captive in the room, this is when the screaming features.
Credits are featured in the beginning of the film which includes the certificate of the film and the age restriction of the film, as well as this it also shows the production company that they had made up.
The Edge - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24nQdBL8M3w
Once again in this opening sequence you can see that the main plot is being revealed, with the boy who is the main character being chased by two men portraying the secret services / FBI. The final scene of the opening scene is shown with the boy being faced by one of the men at gunpoint.
It seems as if there are a numerous amount of key characters shown in the opening scene of the film, however you can clearly see that the younger boy trying to escape them is the main key character with the other two trailing behind.
There is no dialogue at all in this opening scene, however once again like the other student made film there is music being played over the top to set the tone of the piece, and due to being a high tempo piece of music you can analyse the genre as an action film.
Numerous locations are shown throughout the opening scene due to the characters travelling around in a part of a "wild goose chase" to capture the boy who has supposedly done wrong. Locations that feature are a multi-story car park and different parts of this including different floors, the roof and elevators also there is an area situated outside a huge block of flats.
The majority of credits are featured in the very opening sequences with the credits attach to a piece of the location or an object, however as the opening scenes progress there are still credits appearing however much more subtlety and less frequent. The credits show the casting and names of the cast as well as the production credits themselves.
Abducted - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_t89wAOEUE
A lot of the plot is shown in the opening scene, almost too much in fact is given away, because there is a lot shown in only two minutes with the majority of the plot told.
There are the two main characters which are the man who is trying to get his abducted fiancé back and the fiancé herself, but it could also be seen that the people who had stolen the woman are part of the key bunch of characters too.
There is dialogue throughout the opening scene of this student made film, that greatly differs from the rest of the student made and professionally made films, by having a lot of dialogue I feel as if it gave away a lot of the plot as you can hear the extent to what is happening.
Many locations feature in the opening two minutes of the film, the opening piece is in a park, then moves onto their house, and then there are other locations that feature the new characters who have taken the fiancé hostage, such as their headquarters and dark places such as an abandoned basement.
Like the first student made film credits are featured in the beginning of the film which includes the certificate of the film and the age restriction of the film, as well as this it also shows the production company that they had made up. However it doesn't just feature credit it features a fake review from the times that was put in towards the end of the piece, this is probably done to entice people into watching the full thing.
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