Ice age

Ice age starts with a landscape view of a snow covered ground, snow is falling down, we then start to see some sort of creature running in the snow.  We then see him try to bury an acorn several times and failing, we then see him try out investigate different places he could bury it. Once he has found a suitable place he buries it but as he does this the ice cracks all around him causing an avalanche. We see the little creature trying to get his acorn out of the ground before the ice and snow comes. We then see a birds eye view of him running away and the ice following him. He manages to escape but has fallen to a place which is now covered in grass as he lands and is safe he is trampled on by many different animals who are going further south as the ice age is hitting. This then cuts to the opening credits.

The Hangover

The film opens to workers getting out flower arrangements from a white van this is very apparent that it's for a wedding. This then cuts to a wedding cake slowly panning over to a wedding dress, we then here a voice mail tone. This then cuts to outside where the wedding chairs are being set up it then looks towards a window, we then appear to be in that room where we see the bride phoning different men and it going to voice mail again. Her mother then asks if she has heard anything the father then cuts in to say that its Vegas and the bachelor party. The father is then interrupted by the phone fringing as she answers it cuts to the person on the end of the line who is in Vegas and appears to be hurt and with other men. He tells the bride how they have messed everything up and they cant find the groom. He tells the bride that the wedding cant go ahead he then looks up to the sky and the credits start to roll. This opening is very effective as it shows that the bachelor party didn't go to plan and really make the audience want to carry on watching to see what has happened.

Role Models

The film opens to a man in a suit waiting outside a Minotaur energy drink company, he then is joined by a man who is his work colleague this man is dressed in a t shirt and jeans. There is a very distinctive contrast between the two men, one is very serious and dressed in professionally and the other is very immature and dressed casually. This then cuts to the two men in a "Minotaur" van pulling up outside a high school, the man that was casually dressed is now in Minotaur costume and they are entering the school. Once they have gotten out the car it cuts to the two men standing in front the school giving a talk on how to stay off drugs and drink energy drinks instead. The scene keeps cutting to them at different schools giving the same lecture each time they are drinking more and more of the energy drink. After this it cuts to them in the car the pair are obviously very different. It is also apparent that the man in the suit does not enjoy his job. The opening introduces the main characters but also shows the audience how different they are and how this could cause confrontation later on.

Madagascar

    
Madagascar opens to a zebra swinging on a rope, he then jumps off this to run past rows of penguins singing. The zebra then begins to leap over a hole, he continues running to a lake where we see a lion begin to follow him. The lion jumps in front of him and yells surprise this then cuts to the same two animals in the zoo and the zebra falling off a treadmill, the zebra was day dreaming. The lion wishes him happy birthday, they appear to be good friends with each other which captures the audiences attention as in the wild the zebra would be his prey. The zebra then begins to tell his friend how he longs to be in the wild and has become bored of zoo life. It is apparent that the lion is very comfortable with zoo life as he is the main attraction. As the zoo opens we are introduced to the hippo and giraffe. This opening is very effective as straight away we know that the zebra wants to be out in the wild again, we also see the main characters and are introduced to them straight away. The audience also know from the opening that the if they do go to the wild there will be confrontations as the lion doesn't want to go and is best friends with what would be his prey in the wild.

UP.

UP opens to a child watching an adventure film and being very inspired by this, it then starts to show this child growing up. In the opening sequence we learn about the villain who is a famous adventurer who's quest was to find a very rare species of bird. We then watch the young child grow up, fall in love, get married and become old. We see from each stage of his life how he met his wife, who was also very intrigued by adventures.We see that the couple have a scrap book of adventures, his wife dies and he then starts to look at the adventure book and decides to go on the adventure his hero never came back from.

paranormal activity

Paranormal activity opens to a woman pulling up to a house this then cuts to her husband setting up the camera. Once the lady is in the house it is apparent that she is spooked by her surroundings. Her husband questions her about her past and what she thinks is happening to her. This then is interrupted by the door being knocked, a priest enters, from him entering we know that he is going to exoricise the house. The priest quickly leaves telling the couple that the demon has to great a power to send back to hell. This is very effective as we now know that this demon is very dangerous and cannot be stopped. She then begins to tell the story of how she has always been followed by some sort of demon. This opening is very effective as from the start we know that something demonic is following her, we also know that the poltergeist is going to start to become more active as the husband starts to film the room as well. 

Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Texas Chainsaw Massacre  is based on true events which already captures the audiences attention. The film opens to a man narrating, he relives the true story of the massacre. It is filmed in grainy black and white this is used when looking at the house, the crime scene, the bodies and the lab which examined the bodies. This then cuts to live footage of a policemen searching the house. The opening is also accompanied with a soundtrack this is very low and quietens as the narrator begins to speak. Once the man has finished the narrative it cuts to footage of a group of young adults on a road trip, this suggests these people are going to get into the same trouble as the others. The opening to the film is very effective from the very beginning the audience's attention is captured.  The black and white grainy footage is used with the narrative very effectively too exaggerate the horror of the story. I would say that the best thing about the opening is the narrative as it lets the audience know the story before they watch it this grabs the audiences attention and makes them watch in anticipation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scHVkYLi7IE&feature=fvst