Opening scenes to 5 films

1.Alien – The famous opening credits start with “A Brandywine – Ronald Shusett production”, the production company. Next to appear is “a Ridley Scott film”, who is the director of the film. Then there is a pause and the film title slowly starts to appear at the top of the screen with the cast at the bottom. The words “Alien” very slowly appear in single letters. The production company is 20th Century Fox.






2.Harry Potter - because this is a series of films, there aren’t many credits in the opening scene. The first scene usually contains acting, and 1 or 2 minutes in the title appears (Harry Potter and the.....) The production company Warner Brothers (WB) appears before the opening.





3.Die Hard – the opening scene is in an aeroplane with the main character. About 2 minutes in the opening credits come up, firstly with “A John McTieran film”. The music is quite up-beat and cheerful. The credits then continue with “Bruce Willis”, followed by “Allan Rickman” etc.






4.Terminator 2 – The film opens with an action scene of Terminators and the opening credits appear shortly afterwards. The fire in the background makes the opening very dramatic and thrilling. The credits start with “A James Cameron film”, followed by “Arnold Schwarzenegger” in a silver metallic font, and “Linda Hamilton”….. etc.

 The music is very dramatic and thrilling and creates a "doomed" feeling.








5.The Abyss – The first thing the viewer sees at the beginning is: “when you look long into an abyss, the abyss also looks into you” (Friedrich Nietzsche). The opening scene is set in a submarine which crashes, so the viewer knows the film is set under the sea. The film title “The Abyss” slowly appears, getting larger and larger, followed slowly afterwards by the opening credits of “Directed by James Cameron” followed by “Ed Harris” and “Michal Biehn”.