Film Opening Credits Research

In a recent media lesson we watched the openings of three different films; Trainspotting, Amelie and Halloween. We created visual diagrams showing the diegetic and non-diegetic sound, editing, camera work, mise-en-scene and how it relates to the atmosphere of the scene. This was so that we could gain ideas on how to create our own film openings professionally and effectively for the genre that we choose. 

Trainspotting:

genre: drama/crime

notes: The opening begins with a short establishing shot of a Glasgow street before a man runs into the frame. This immediately raises the tension as the audience is wondering who/what he is running from. Cross-cuts are used to the characters and main themes of the film. The main character narrates the entire opening to background music that fits its fast tempo (both non-diegetic sound). It also stops on shots of new characters to show their nicknames, which draws the audience's attention to them.
A shaky travelling shot is used whilst the character Mark Renton is running to reflect the hectic feel of the clip. 
The opening ends with the protagonist falling to the floor with smoke coming out of his mouth which invites the audience to be curious as to what will happen next, thereby drawing them in. 

Amelie:

genre: drama/romance

notes: This film begins with yellow titles on a black background which makes them stand out, drawing the eye to them. These cut to an establishing shot of what could be assumed to be a typical french street. A car then comes into frame, beginning the action of the scene and setting a calm and slow pace for the rest of the opening. This moves various shots of different scenes, said to all be happening at the same time by the voiceover throughout, followed by a time lapse of Amelie's pregnant mother and Amelie being born. The names of the main actors and actresses in red are then placed onto a yellow background. The use of contrasting colours again draws attention to these. The scene then cuts to the main title in the same colours but reversed. 

After this there are clips of Amelie as a child doing different activities such as playing with dominos and eating. 

Halloween:

genre: horror/slasher

notes: The opening begins with a long shot of the house in which the first scene takes place, indicating that the film is set in a suburban area. The shot travels to the right to a window through which the audience can see a man and a woman on a sofa. 
Some tension is created when the lights in the window suddenly turn off. Darkness has connotations of fear and horror and so the audience will then expect something scary to happen.
The camera follows the villain from a POV shot through the house, which increases tension further as we are anticipating something, without knowing what this is. We also see him pick up a knife, which immediately tells us that he could be dangerous.
The entire scene is set at night which is typical of a film of this genre.
The clip ends with a shot panning outwards of a child holding a knife standing in front of his parents. This has a cliff-hanger effect and makes the audience want to keep watching as they do not know what has happened or why, but enough of the narrative was revealed to interest them.