Face/Off (1997) Opening sequence.

The film Face/Off tells the story of a police officer, Sean Archer, fighting for revenge against Castor Troy, well known criminal and the muderer of his son.
The opening two minutes focus on the past experience of the murder of Sean Archer's son. The scene enables the audience to clearly establish between the "good guy" and the "bad guy" as this is vital to the storyline.
The sequence begins with a black background and soft, childlike music playing. Next the "Touchstone pictures" logo appears and then the title sequence begins with white writing and a black background. Strings begin to build up layers and the music becomes stronger as the black backround transforms into a warped image of a carousel. The main actors names appear over the image and you can hear a child laughing. The sound of the music and child's laughter together with the slightly abstracted image makes the atmosphere tense and eerie, which is typical of a thriller. Next we are introduced to a main character, Sean Archer, who is on the carousel next to his son. They are laughing and smiling and Sean appears to be a loving father so this helps the audience to like him and establish him as a good character.
Next the bad character Castor Troy is introduced. First, we see a close up shot of a gun then he appears as a silhouette who whips off a black cloak-like piece of material in a typically villainous style. The shot of the guns makes us assosiate him with crime and violence and therefore makes him unlikable and contrasting to the innocent scene of the happy father and son. The title 'Face Off' appears over the clip. We then see an extreme close up of Castor drinking from a straw and then the camera tilts up to his eye and the guns comes into the shot again and the music becomes sinister, which builds the tension and suspense. Next there is a P.o.v. shot through the eye of the gun and primarily the aim is on the child's face then moves to Sean's back. The music becomes softer as we see the father and son playing and being affectionate and for a moment Castor looks like he isn't going to shoot, however, this is a red-herring as after taking another sip from his drink he pulls the trigger. The shots become very fast paced to build adrenaline. After the bullet hits Sean the music becomes emotional as he falls to the ground in slow motion.
This sequence grabs the audiences attention and keeps them on the edge of their seats by building tension and suspence through the background music and narrative codes.