The infamous 1958 Dracula opens with a crescendo of orchestral instruments and a wide shot of a stone gargoyle. Automatically the audience is introduced to the gothic setting and surroundings where Dracula shall take place. A Hammer Film production presents' is the first thing shown on screen. Then as that fades out, the film title "Dracula" fades in, in a blood-curdling red. Not many changes for about 30 seconds; the music continues to play as credits disappear in and out before the camera starts to pan very slowly around the gargoyle. It creates suspense as the camera continues to pan over a gothic style building/castle until it lands on a door and fades onto a stone burial chamber with the word 'DRACULA' inscribed. The music rises until this point and stops right as drops of blood land on the name.
For the time, I believe this to be rather a good intro. It's slow, of course, but just like that of the time, more focused on giving credit that it is starting off the film there.
Thriller:
The Dark Knight Rises (2012) -- https://youtu.be/arty9MuqEg0
This takes a drastically different tone of sequence. It's fast-paced; there are no credits, just a solid terrifying sequence that sets the tone for the rest of the film. It keeps the watcher focused on the screen as well as the introduction of the protagonist. This is common for many thriller sequences solely concentrating on the action. View my blog post on the sequence for 7even.
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