Opening - what is it and what is it eaten with?

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Opening, or abbreviated as op, is a video accompanied by a musical theme, which is shown before the start of a television series, cartoon, TV show, etc. As a rule, the video sequence consists of fragments of the main material or past episodes, although sometimes it is filmed separately. Less common text opening. These are, for example, the famous opening shots of Star Wars, where, against the backdrop of pitch darkness, the lines about “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…” emerge from the bottom of the screen

What is the opening for?

The main task of the opening is to identify the film companies and people who were involved in the production of this picture, and signal its beginning.

For feature films, opening screensavers are generally not used. Openings are mostly characteristic of category B films, such as, for example, the creations of Robert Rodriguez. With a talented use of the opening, the beginning of the film can be made quite effective.

Sometimes openings are used in computer games. They meet inbeginning, and before each new episode. They are needed in order to bring the gamer up to date and guide him in further actions.

Opening story

Opening for a TV series or program - like a parting curtain for a theatrical performance. It signals that something interesting is about to begin and sets the right mood.

The first screensavers looked just like letters on a colored background. But filmmakers quickly realized that openings are the hallmark of a product, so they began to pay special attention to their content. In reviews of television series, there are more than once statements that the intro was more interesting than the series itself. This is due to almost unlimited technical possibilities. The effectiveness of the opening depends only on the imagination of the creators. So in the late 50s, with the filing of Saul Bass and Maurice Binder, the opening (or intro) stood out as a separate branch of art.

What the opening looks like

Openings have a number of features that are typical for the material of each genre. For example, screensavers for sitcoms are usually cuts of frames from the series, and thriller series are accompanied by a set of creepy frames on a topic related to the main plot. TV shows usually start with incoherent 3D cuts with random inserts. The accompanying music always corresponds to the theme of the series, sometimes the title itself is used in the text.

On average, the screen saver lasts one and a half minutes or 45 seconds,depending on the length of the series. During the video, the names of the actors, voice acting and crew appear on the screen.

As a rule, the creators try to stick to the rule: one opening per season. But exceptions are not uncommon when one screensaver is used throughout all seasons or, on the contrary, changes in the middle of the season.

Anime opening

A separate type of art of opening art is opening screensavers in anime. They are given special importance, because, as a rule, it contains the key theme of the entire main work. Usually, an anime opening begins after the plot or content of the previous series and is a cartoon in which the main characters and villains appear and perform their characteristic action.

Anime opening songs are usually written on purpose. The names of the voice actors, the filmmakers and the author of the original manga, if any, are superimposed on the footage.

Famous openings

"Sailor Moon"

Each season of the anime series has its own intro. In the opening of the first season, three heroines appear in turn, warriors in sailor suits - Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury and Sailor Mars. It also features the beloved of the main character Torcedo Mask and her cat Luna. In the middle of the video, a demon appears on the screen, after which the three warriors are reincarnated, and the viewer sees their silhouettes descending a wide staircase. Moonlight densetsu plays in the background.

"Clinic"

In the short screensaver for the TV series "Clinic" in turn, changing characters pass from hand to handx-ray to the composition Lazlo Blane - I'm no supermen. Dr. Dorian hangs it on the X-ray Viewer, lights it up, and Scrubs appears on it.

"American Horror Story"

The intro for each season of the TV series consists of cuts of creepy shots related to the main theme. The exception is the 6th season, where instead of the splash screen, the audience saw only the symbol of the season - a painted tree on a black background and the caption "My nightmare in Roanoke".

"Friends"

The opening of the television series "Friends" is known to everyone who already perceived the surrounding reality in the 90s. To the provocative song I'll be there for you, the heroes take turns appearing on the sofa against the backdrop of the fountain, dancing and jumping into the water. The names of the actors are embedded in the video sequence, and the inscription Friends appears on the screen at the end.

"Doctor House"

Slices of cuts from episodes of the series interspersed with old medical drawings depicting human organs. During the video, the names of the actors and crew members appear on the screen.

Opening is a very important element of the final product. The first impression depends on him, his main task is to arouse interest in the film from the first minutes. In fact, the opening is the "face" of the series, film or TV show.