The opening sequence of the film conforms to many comedy film conventions but also has its own unique tone. It introduces the three main characters to allow the audience to understand their roles. It includes dialogue after the first minute to establish each character's personality. It also uses a recognizable background song, Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead or Alive", to hint at the plot about a dead hitman. The title of the film appears after the characters are introduced and the comedy begins, a common convention. While subtly including the main prop of a moped, it doesn't focus entirely on it. Some conventions were avoided, like a close-up of the main character or dialogue that fully reveals the plot, to better engage

1. My opening sequence conforms to allot of the conventions that are in place for comedy films but it
also has its own dark twist and unique feel to it.
The conventions of the genre are not set in stone and different tastes of humour make it possible to
play around with the conventions a fair amount. Although there is a certain leeway I realised when
editing that you cannot remove too many of these conventions as the film would just fall apart and
would lack the flow needed for a successful opening sequence.
The first of the conventions that I identified that I conformed to is introducing all the main
characters in the opening sequence. All 3 of the main characters are introduced and the audience is
given the opportunity to assess and get a feel for the status of each character and their place in
society. This is similar to all comedy films. For example the hangover introduces the main characters
by using a conversation over the telephone. Wild hogs simply uses the visuals of them coming onto
screen as a indication that they are main characters, with one person being hit off the bike which
shows who the “ idiot “ in the film is. My film shows Stevie arriving on the moped, Jimmy Getting
shot and Julia who comes down the stairs these are all the main characters.
The second convention that my opening sequence conforms to is having dialogue in the opening
sequence. Where allot of genres have no dialogue in the opening sequence and are usually just
scene setting shots with minimal character interactions comedy films I looked at seemed to have at
least a couple of lines of dialogue for example The hangover is simply just a conversation and Ted is
begun with a voiceover then a conversation. Mine starts with just music to catch the viewers
attention, and then the dialogue starts about a minute into the sequence. At this point the viewer
knows the characters and is just compiling an idea of what each characters personality is like.
Having a background music track is also a common thing to have. Instead of having an especially
composed piece they usually use common recognisable tracks that people can relate to. The track
also usually gives a clue as to what the plot of the film involves. This is the exact reason I chose the
backing track I did for my opening sequence. Bon Jovi’s Wanted Dead or Alive is a perfect track to
have and to use as it is recognisable and gives a clue to the plot about the dead hit man.
The title of the film coming after all the characters have been introduces is another convention that i
kept in my opening sequence. Road Hogs does this as the title comes up right after all the characters
have been introduced to the viewer and the first bit of comedy has started. Mine does this as all 3
characters have been introduced and my title comes up just before the last shot.
The last main convention that my film conforms too is the main prop/key item in the movie being in
set. In ted this is the bong and in the hangover this is the car. Road hogs does this less subtly and
makes a big thing of the bike straight off. I decided to find a middle ground between being subtle
with its placement and forcing it upon the audience. The main item/prop is the moped and it is used
and indicated as a key prop but it isn’t the main focus of all shots.
These are the main conventions that my opening sequence conforms to but there are also some
which it doesn’t for example first of all the first visual in most comedies is a close-up on the main
character. I chose not to do this as I was keen to have them shown arriving on a little moped for
comedy effect. I believe that if I had chosen to have a close-up on a main character it wouldn’t have

2. added to the plot or immersiveness of the opening sequence by may have made it flow a bit
smoother.
Again another convention I considered and decided that I wouldn’t conform to is the conversation
revealing allot of film context. The dialogue in my opening sequence hints at the plot but it doesn’t
make it clear what the plot will be. The reason I left it so open ended as it makes the viewer question
where the film is headed and will hopefully draw people in rather than let them think they know
what’s going to happen therefore they have no reason to continue to pay the same level of attention
that they did in the beginning.
Overall there are many conventions that I have challenged but there are also some that I have stuck
to and I feel I carefully chose which I would stick to and which I wouldn’t to produce the best
outcome for my opening sequence.