General Codes and Conventions of Film Openings (reworked and added to)

At the start of any film, it nearly always starts of with the production company name and logo, but some companies for example Universal, are linked to many other subsidiaries. These films will involve more than one company, therefore may have many names and logo's before the film actually starts. For most hollywood blockbuster films, the actual film footage does not start until at least a couple of minutes into the start.

In Halloween (John Carpenter) it uses a blue filter and does not show the main protagonist until 6 minutes into the film, but unusually this is quite early for a horror film.



In the Bride of Chucky (Ronnie Yu) they signify where this horror is set by showing the American flag, but as well as that it includes rain and also is set at night.




Marley and Me starts of with a voice over from the main protagonist, describing his life so far. Also a two shot is used with him and a woman, which could signify it is a Rom Com.

Napolean Dynamite is a comedy film, and this is shown by the main protagonist wearing unusual clothing, and standing on his own which could signify he has limited friends.

Anchorman is another comedy, and in some cases the production company can change their logo depending on the type of film they make, for example they could change the text to make it suit a horror purpose, or animate it for a comedy. Here is an example. As you can see from the same production company logo, it changes from film to film.


Ali G Indahouse is yet another comedy, but with a twist. When the audience sees the establishing shots of all the gun crime and the city, they immediately think that this film must be an action, but then once the main protagonist is introduced they can see straight away that it is a comedy, from his visual appearance and his behavior.

Avatar is a mix of genres, which involve adventure / sci-fi / action, and this is signified by a spaceship moving through space, and a voice over involving the main protagonist explaining the journey he reluctantly takes.

The lost boys is a gothic horror, and this is signified at the opening by small body language, which in this case was the picking of the teeth, which signifies a vampire.

Never Back Down is an action / adventure film and it opens with an introduction into his behavior, which in this case is punching someone in a football match. This relates back to the genre so straight away you know what the film is about.

Harry potter and the philosophers stone is a fantasy film, and this starts by him locked in a house under a wardrobe, so at the start you do not know what the genre is.