Differences Between Film Openings

Between different genres, openings change hugely as the director sets out the openings to convey the conventions of the genre he wants - different genres set their openings differently. This is shown through the film openings below.

Here is an opening from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. As you can see, there is not much in terms of titles, the only title used is the title of the film and no actors or cast members are mentioned at all. This is a reflection of the type of film it is, as the film is going straight into the scene and trying to become tense - this is shown through the use of low-key lighting and the tense, dramatic music heard. This is also shown through the alternative 'Warner Brothers' logo which has been use, which is usually full of bright colours, is now dark and silent. Furthermore, the title used, although only telling us the production company and the title of the film, is dragged out slowly and is on screen altogether for 40 seconds - this shows how the film, is slowly building and is a reflection on the
Although being a completely different genre, this is in similarity with Scream -

Scream, although being a horror, also uses similar sequencing ideas as it only presents the audience with the title of the film and does not give any mention to crew members or actors. This again presents ideas of the two film genres, one being an adventure and this being a horror, as both try to build tension quickly and plunge the audience straight into the action. 

However the differences between the film genres are shown when looking at the fashion of titles. The horror uses generic conventions for a horror film, having a a loud, punchy sound, followed by the already spooky-looking text turning red - which has conventions of blood and murder - and the sound of s slicing sound - again giving connotation with death and horror. The audience then hears the sound of a girl screaming - another generic convention of a horror movie - and the telephone rings. All of this happens within the screening of the title, which lasts for no longer than 8 or 9 seconds. This is contrast with the slow-building and, to begin with, silent music of harry potter, where the title of the film is on screen for almost 40 seconds.

Similarly, there is a contrast in fonts used. The horror film, Scream, uses a much more horrifying looking text by using a font that is usually connected with a horror, or horror writing. However, Harry Potter, being an adventure, also uses a font that could be perceived as scary looking, however it is brought in slowly - from a distance - and therefore builds tension much more than the Scream font which is in your face for only a couple of seconds and is very loud and obvious. This choice in fonts shows the difference between the genres and what they're trying to achieve.