conventions of opening scenes

The purpose: the purpose of a film opening is to show action and immidiately grab the readers attention. The film opening is to give you the genre of the film, you will most likely see the protagonist (the hero) or the antagonist (the villan).
Timing conventions: most film openings are around 2 minutes but big blockbusters are around 5 minutes
Set the scene: at the beginning of the film it intrduces thge scene by showing you the location, year of setting, e.c.t.
Introducing the key characters: the film usually starts by showing you the protagonist, antagonist or a side kick.
Introduce pre plot or beginning of the narrative it establishes the scene.
Key credits: the credits that show the company logos and the director.
Usually starts with an equalibrium usually starts with a key event.

Codes and Conventions in an opening scene

In the opening of a film to allow the viewers to know what genre it is they have to use various codes whether it is the technical codes, symbolic codes or written codes. At the beggining of StreetDance 3D they use the camera techniques like using an establishing shot to portray where the film is set. They have took a shot of the london skyline to show where the film is set.

It doesnt only happen in realistic films, it also happens in animated films. In Finding Nemo it shows the ocean where they live.

All the codes all help to create the convention. the convention is where it tells the viewer what genre it is within the first few minutes. In fast and furious the car scenes tell you that the film will be about cars and action. where as in a western the dusty plain and the cowboys would tell you that it is a western.



Codes and Conventions

Codes:
Media students identify three categories of codes that may be used to
convey meanings in media messages:

TECHNICAL CODES, which include camera techniques, framing, depth of field, Mise en scene, editing,  lighting and sound;

SYMBOLIC CODES, which refer to objects, setting, body language, clothing and colour.
WRITTEN CODES in the form of headlines, captions, speech bubbles and language style.
Conventions:
Conventions are the generally accepted ways of doing something, and in the case of media texts, they are generally accepted patterns of code that communicate a particular message.
There are general conventions in any medium, such as the use of quotes in a print article, but conventions are also genre specific. For example, in Westerns fights scenes are generally shot from a low angle, the setting is usually dusty and desolate, and even the sounds used within the scene are conventional, such as castonettes, or some sort of whistle.

Main Exercise

the main titles and opening of a new fiction film, to last a maximum of 2 minutes.

Continuity

Continuity is when the camera is telling a long story but only uses clips of the whole story to show it instead. For example if someone was taking a car journey from london to cornwall, you wouldnt show the whole 4 hour journey but you would take videos of clips of the journey and use them to portray the trip.

Continuity could be used in tv programs and films but it is easy to make mistakes. Avatar uses continuity to portray the whole adventure of "jake" turning into an avatar. His administrator Parker is playing golf in one scene and it shows his indoor golf scene. Parker hits the first ball and has two other balls laying next to each other. In the next shot they are distant from each other but in the last shot the balls are back together. The editor obviously didn't notice this and
many people have spotted this. There are many other films that have made mistakes in using this.

It is common to find continuity in a film and find mistakes, but it is a lot harder in TV programs. I have found a clip with continuity issues in a TV program.

Match on Action, Shot/ reverse shot and 180 degree rule

Previously I have described what Match on Acton, Shot/ Reverse shot and 180 Degree rule are. Trying to explain all with pictures of clips is hard but I have found a clip showing all three in action. It begins Using Match on Action and then goes on to using Shot/ Reverse shot and 180 Degree rule combined.

180 Degree Rule

The 180 degree rule is where you have a line of view and you are showing two characters in a scene using the shot /reverse shot. In a shot /reverse shot you have to keep the same side of the veiw line or it will confuse the audience of which way the character is looking. if you have a charater facing right in one scene and the other facing right because you have broken the 180 degree rule the audience will be confused in the character angle.