Research into the codes and conventions of Opening and Title sequences: Enigma Code

In this post I will be looking more at the Enigma Code of flashbacks and flash forwards, focusing on particular films opening titles and sequences as examples.
I looked at a few films which use this flash forward technique:
Fight Club, Limitless, Pulp Fiction, Inception.

Like I've previously mentioned in Fight Club (1999 dir. David Fincher), the opening scene is a flash forward as after this the film goes back for the central character (Edward Norton). Later on when the opening scene reoccurs in it's chronological form. When the opening scene is first looked at, Norton's character is narrating but his character says 'I can't think of anything'

When the scene is revisited, the narration says 'I think this is about where we came in'

Then 'I still can't think of anything'

which is in relation to the first line. The narrator is already directing their speech to the audience, but this technique of making apparent the change in narration and flashback/flash forwards entertains the audience.

Even Brad Pitt's character replies 'Ah. Flashback humour'

In this example of the flashback/flash forward technique, the filmmakers and script purposely mean for the narration to be noted by the audience as well as it being needed to help the story move along in a chronological form.

In the 2011 film Limitless (dir.Neil Burger), the opening scene starts with the main character (Bradley Cooper) standing at the top of a building narrating 'Obviously I miscalculated a few things' and moves his foot as if he is going to jump.

When the titles first appear, they appear after a 'bang' sound. Once the titles have finished, it's obvious the bang has been coming from the door being beaten.
Narration from the character begins; 'Obviously I miscalculated a few things'...the camera then scans the room while the narration continues. 'Why is is that the moment your life exceeds your wildest dreams..a knife appears.' The camera continues in a long shot around the hotel and the rooms.

'Well, I'll tell you one thing'..the camera then zooms upwards the tall building from the outside to find the central character.Because of this shot, the audience wonders why the character is standing at the very top because of it's height. '..I will never let them touch me'

'For a guy with a 4 digit IQ. I must have missed something. I cam this close to having an impact. And now the only thing I'd have an impact on, is the sidewalk'. Then the camera falls down the building and onto the sidewalk showing more titles for the film. The film then flashes back to what had occurred before the first scene.With an Establishing shot showing the town and then a zoom onto the character. The narration says 'That's me' with a bit more on an insight into what his life was like 'before'

Later on in the film the first scene is revisiting in chronological order. This time noting has changed since the first viewing except that the film continues so the audience cannot only find out what has happened before the ''Obviously I miscalculated a few things' and then also what happens after it.

In the film Inception (2010), director Christopher Nolan chose not not to have have his name or other credits at the beginning of the film- even the title of the film. This is quite rare.

After the institution logo, the film gets straight into a story which is a flashforward.

The opening scene shows Leonardo DiCaprio's character washed up on sand and taken to a room with an elderly man. DiCaprio's character does not exchange any dialogue instead, his facial expressions show confusion in response to the opposed character saying 'are you here to kill me' and that he has seen an object on the table 'many years ago'. This causes the audience to wonder what the object symbolises and why the other character would kill this man.

The film then cuts to another scene of DiCaprio and other new characters. There is no indication through cuts or titles to confirm that this scene occurs before the first scene. Instead the clothing and the situation for the main character has changed as well as the topic of conversation.

There is no thorough explanation of what the first scene means or explains but later (2 hours and 10 minutes later) on the scene is revisited for a shorter period of time.

 

In the 1994 film Pulp Fiction (dir. Quentin Tarantino), after the distributor's logo and this text:

(the definition of the word pulp referring to the title), the film opens to a scene involving two characters (Tim Roth and Amanda Plummer) at a table. They share lots of dialogue about money and robbing places.

With only a few cuts to the waitress and other characters, the 5 minute opening usually uses the 180 rule in the conversation between the two. Once they get up with their guns, the frame is frozen while the soundtrack begins to play, introducing the film's title and the other credits.

Throughout the rest of the film, the two characters in the opening scene are not seen again until this scene is revisited.

Later on, even though the opening scene is revisited in the chronological form, the camera shows the perspective of two other characters (John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson) in the same location (the diner) as the two characters seen in the opening scene.

This technique is part of the Enigma Code in that the opening scene causes the audience to wonder what it's meaning and connection to the rest of the film is throughout the film. The flashback/flash forward in Pulp Fiction which shows another perspective is not commonly used as Tarantino has a unique writer/director trademark of non-linear storytelling.

All of these films share a similar trait; the opening scene is revisited later on in the film, usually in the chronological form. This revisiting usually happens after a series of events and the opening scene which is then revisited is either a big part/twist of the story or is simply makes everything that has previously happened add up.
This is a form of the Enigma Code which uses the flash forward/flashback technique.