Film opening analysis

Again, been asked to analyze some examples of film openings I have watched, so here I go:

First example: Inside Man

I believe the opening sequence to this film is perfect example for expressing what almost every film opening does except in a much more obvious manner. It tells you who the main character is (Dolton Russell), where they are ("Could be readily described as a prison cell"), roughly when they are (We can tell this from the modern day shelving and building materials) and also a rough idea of what's going to happen in the film ("Which only leaves us with the how, and therein, lies the rob"). It is a perfect film opening giving the audience all the information they require to understand the rest of the film in a much more unconventionally open manner but also not too much so they still want to watch the rest, which I find to be quite refreshing. Maybe why I like the film so much. Either way, this film is a perfect example as to what information I want my 2 minute film opening to contain.

Second example: The Graduate

In complete contrast to this, the film "The Graduate" is verbally mute, e.g. has no spoken dialogue from the character being portrayed. Instead, the verbal communication we see/hear in Inside man is now shown through visual aids. Such as the fact the graduate (Dustin Hoffman) is shown wearing a formal suit, suggesting to us that he's going to/coming from a prestigious event. In the very first shot of Dustin on the plane, we see him on a white background, perhaps suggesting innocence, or cleanliness against the rest of the world, which as we know by the end of the film he is anything but. Another amusing hint towards the rest of the film shown within the first 2 minutes of the film is when he is in baggage reclaim. As his bag passes through the metal barrier, a sign is shown saying "Do they Match?" perhaps suggesting that this film is a love story between two people which we may think do not belong together. The use of Simon & Garfunkel's 'Sound of silence' is also an interesting choice of music for the first few minutes of this film. It perhaps sets up the film so that there may be some mis-communication between the characters, that perhaps there are some secrets being held that are being held "In the Sound of Silence".

Initial Film opening ideas

Currently, I have had several ideas for what I wish to do for my 2 minute film opening however only a few have really shone through as possible go a heads. For the purposes of this post, I'll only write them up in brief of the plot of these ideas as they are only at this point in time, rough ideas:

Idea 1: This is the most sinister idea I have. We see a guy burning documents in a darkened room. Obviously night time. Once guy has burnt all his documents, another man comes in asking where the documents are. The first man responds saying he has destroyed them. At which point, the second man shots the first in the head and leaves him there lying on the floor.

Idea 2: Perhaps one of the happier(ish) ideas I've come up with is more of a love story base opening. We have a scene of girl and boy standing opposite each other, separated by something, be it a station etc. Then a train passes and after its passed the girls disappeared and the guys narration comes over explaining who she is, who he is and a rough idea of where the film is going to go.

Idea 3: a slight change to idea 2. Instead of the guy narrating, the camera cuts back and forth between him and the girl and how they keep encountering and a psychiatrists office where he's talking like that. In this version we are told the girl is the guys dead wife from 3 years ago.

Idea 4: A blend on both the film "The Graduate" and "Inside man", where we see a girl traveling to an unknown destination, maybe on a bus or train, while a voice over tells us who she is, where she is going and gives us a rough idea of whats about to happen (as this voice over will be made to sound like shes talking from the future after these events).

Well, this is the first part of my planning and I've been asked to answer a few questions, which are as follows:

What is a film opening?
A film opening is the primary/establishing shot of a film, the section which sets the scene for the viewer. It tells the viewer where they are, when they are and who they're with. It basically sets it all up for the rest of the film.

How much is revealed about the storyline/characters etc. in the film opening?
Generally in a film opening, we learn who our main characters, where and when the film is set and also from who's perspective we are seeing the film from, be it our own or a particular character's. In terms of how much we learn about the characters themselves, we learn very little. Yes we learn who they are, maybe their name and where they're from etc. but in general we do not how they have come to be where they are, what their past experiences are or what they are planning to do/how they're going to do it as that's where the film gets it plot. This is also true for the storyline, we only know from the film opening where its set, who's involved with it and a rough idea of when it is. For what's going to happen, we generally know very little. This is because the whole point of the film opening is to draw in the viewers attention and keep them interested as to what's going to happen so as to keep watching the rest of the film.
In general then, we only learn the bare essentials about a film in its opening, only because if we knew more than that, we'd get bored and so wouldn't want to see the rest of the film.

Genre-what types are there?
There are over 20 popular genres in the film industry, examples include:
Action, Adventure, Comedy, Crime, Erotica, Faction (A fuse of factual events and fictional representation of these events), Fantasy, Historical, Horror, Mystery, Paranoid, Philosophical, Political, Romance, Saga, Satire, Science Fiction, Slice of life (A section of a persons life, can be ordinary with no plot at all, just stands to present part of somebody's life), Speculative (A type of fantasy where worlds indifferent from our own are portrayed and how they may run, like a parallel universe), Thriller & Urban. Then of course you have your spin-off's and fusions of these genres to create sub-genres such as Rom-Coms, Horror-Mystery etc.

Recently been asked to analyze the German film "Run Lola Run". Specifically "Why there are subtle changes in the beginnings of each of the three runs?" and "Is the film Run Lola Run a Love Story?".

Below is the video I composed featuring selections of the film with mine and a friend's voice dubbed on top to explain each scene. I've also attached the link to the original film for anyone who does not know the film.

Original Run Lola Run film:

To create the video, I downloaded the original from youtube and edited it on my own software to get the bits of the video I needed. I then compiled a script which myself and my friend would read. I then set up a dynamic microphone to record the voice, stuck the resulting audio file on top of the muted video and presto we have the product we see here. Creation time, about 2 days.