ANALYSING OPENING SEQUENCES - 'STAR WARS - THE FORCE AWAKENS'

'STAR WARS - THE FORCE AWAKENS' 

The fourth opening sequence I am going to be looking at is from 'Star Wars - the Force Awakens' which is a sci-fi film. 

The opening sequence includes the following conventions: 

1. Titles 

- exposition - 'a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away' - this is an iconic opening line in all the 'Star Wars' films which sets a mythic, almost fairy tale-like tone 

- the 'crawl' including the episode number and subtitle of the film 

2. Production companies/ident - Lucasfilm 

3. Indication of genre - opens on a space setting with spaceships and the Star Destroyer, this iconography is typical of science fiction films

4. Introduces setting - introduces where the film takes place but doesn't show too much in order to create enigma 

5. Creates enigma/mystery - shows some characters and settings but doesn't give too much away to create mystery - we have entered the narrative 'in media res'