Conventions of film openings

Film openings are used to introduce the film to the viewer, and to make the viewer want to continue watching. Film openings are also used for the opening credits, to introduce the director, actors, production company etc. which also pull in the viewer, as the titles may be of actors that the viewer likes and so on.

There are four main openings:

Traditional: 

Films such as "The Stepfather" are a traditional film opening. They encompass scenes that last about 7-10 seconds each, split up by the film titles. It starts the story line, which will be normal (as if the movie were playing), broken up by the titles.

Discrete: 

Discrete openings are the black horse of openings, as they are peculiar and the most difficult type of opening to shoot. They include short scenes of only a few seconds, with the titles over the clips, and the story line of the opening is unknown and difficult to figure out. It draws in the audience by enticing them to try and understand what is going on, and the quick clips are action-packed and interesting. Such can be seen in the opening of "Enemy of the State"

Stylised:

Stylised openings are a way for the director to translate his personal touches to the opening, such as in "Mesrine". Stylised can include a mixture of all the openings, or something completely different, depending on what the director chooses to show in the opening. They fit no exact trend and can never be generically described.

Titles over a blank screen:

This speaks for itself. The famous thriller "Psycho" has titles over a blank screen. These are usually frowned upon, because they do not pull the audience in at all. 

In our opening, LUCID, we decided to use a traditional opening, with a slightly stylised effect.