AICE Media Studies Blog: Crime Film Opening Example

While researching the other day, I found some good examples of crime films that I might take inspiration from when conceiving and producing my film opening, like No Country for Old Men and A History of Violence.

No Country for Old Men's opening scene begins with some opening credits, including its production companies (MiraMax, Paramount), its Title behind a plain black background. After the title, some dialogue introduces the opening scene along with some establishing shots, what looks like a deserted highway-like area with no civilization. The establishing shots along with the dialogue continue for about a minute, until it cuts to a couple of long shots where a man is getting arrested, and then it ends.

What I liked about the abrupt ending of the man getting arrested is that it leaves wonder in the viewers mind as to what is about to happen next, which I am considering to use as the ending for my film opening. A lot of establishing shots were used to establish the setting of the opening, which is something that I do plan on using in the first half of my film opening.