1. AS Level Media Studies
G321: Foundation Portfolio in Media

2. Discovery Question
What are Opening Sequences in Film and
Television?

3. Opening Credits
• In TV, Film and Video games, the OPENING
CREDITS are shown at the very beginning and
list the most important members of the
production. King Kong (Cooper & Shoedsack,
1933)
• When this sequence is seperated from the
main action of the film it is known as a TITLE
SEQUENCE True Blood (Mulder & Allen, 2008)

4. The Opening Credits
• The information in the credits usually consist
of the Key Creative roles in the film and
usually follow a similar order
• These are presented as text alongside some
action and a soundtrack. They can also include
digetic and non-digetic sound, voiceover,
animation, non-traditional editing techniques
and other

5. Setting the Scene
• The Film opening is very important because it sets the
scene and shows the viewer where it is based and what
roughly is going on in the movie or what has happened in
the past, and how we got to where we are now).
• In some films, this is first presented as an establishing shot
of the location e.g. in a school based film the opening
establishing shot would be of the school ground.
• This establishing shot method is used in both films and TV
programmes, and is a very popular approach to the setting
the scene as it gives the audience a clear view of where
they are so they in the film world.

6. Abstract Openings
• Sometimes, films and TV programmes break
the conventions of a traditional opening for a
more elaborate abstract title sequence
• These sequences can give away very little in
setting the scene, but might give clues to the
genre or tone of the film

7. Pitstop!
I WANT TO SEE YOUR THUMBS!
Can you give me a thumbs up if you feel confident
about the purposes of an OPENING SEQUENCE or a
thumbs down if you want some further
explanation

8. Develop
• On your blog you need to explain the following:
– What is the purpose of Opening Credits
– What is the difference in between Opening Credits
and a Title Sequence?
– What Techniques can be employed in an opening
sequence?
• REMEMBER: Use plenty of examples from
http://www.artofthetitle.com and Youtube!

9. Pitstop!
• Read the post on the screen of the person
sitting next to you
• Can you give them some CRITICAL FEEDBACK
– Try to think of 2 Positives and 2 Improvements!

10. Pitstop!
• Read the post on the screen of the person
sitting next to you
• Can you give them some CRITICAL FEEDBACK
– Try to think of 2 Positives and 2 Improvements!