Research: Little Miss Sunshine opening

Little Miss Sunshine (2006 dir. Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris) is an indie road trip film which follows the simple codes and conventions of opening titles but they resemble the comedy drama genre which the film is categorised as.

After the institution logo the film cuts to black as the backing track begins to play.

Then the film cuts to a pair of eyes with the reflection of the TV and then it cuts again to the TV its self. Then there is a cut to another character who is giving a speech to 8 or so people in a classroom. This is a part of the Enigma Code as the audience do not know who the pair of eyes belong to.

Two more characters are introduced after cuts, one who is showed lifting weights and working out and the other is an elderly man who is shown taking drugs. There is another cut to a new character's hand on a steering wheel as the camera moves towards her face she speaks into her phone about a character who has to now live with the woman. There is then another cut to another character in a wheel chair in a hospital looking out of a window.

This is when the first titles appear on screen over the character's face

This opening is very basic yet powerful in connection with the genre. The film is a comedy and that is shown slightly in the dialogue that occurs before the title. The woman in the car is smoking while on the phone she tells the person she is not smoking. At first it appears that the man who is giving the great speech is in front of a big crowd and that it is very important, but then when the camera angle reverses, the number of people in the audience is not quite as great. The old man in the bathroom taking the drugs too appears quite humorous. The comedy element that is shown before the titles is only through the script and the actions which the characters are first seen doing.

The soundtrack behind the opening sequence resembles the drama element as it is quite basic though it moves along with the scenes and hints to a deep family storyline as the first part of the film hints that these characters are a family.

Overall Little Miss Sunshine uses a very simple opening title which is a code and convention of the indie genre.