Conventions of a Film Opening

I drew a tension and sound tracker for four different film openings, these films were; Halloween, Transpotting, Amelie and Skyfall. Horror film directors tend to use point of view shots in the first few minutes of their film, these create mystery - who is the person behind the camera? They also keep the lighting levels low so that we rely more on sound than visual appearance - the use of sound is important as it sets the theme and allows the audience to recognise that they are watching a horror - this relates to the Mise en Scene. 

Another genre was action, in the opening scenes of Skyfall the audience are told who the villain is (as James Bond represents the "good" side, and he is chasing this mysterious figure). These opening genres have high energy scenes with lots of visual and sound effects. In Skyfall, tension is built when James Bond (the protagonist) is shot by his colleague - the villain escapes. This entices the audience and arrises questions - who is the villain? What has he done? Where is he going? 

I now understand how film directors create tension through the use of professional-level Mise en Scene and sound. Silence is another way which film directors build up tension, as the audience are waiting for a jump scare, an example of this is in the POV shot at the very start of Halloween, where Michael is creeping up the stairs. The use of guns and action also creates tension (like in the opening scenes of Skyfall).