Below are some openings to films I've seen and enjoyed that are giving me inspiration for my film opening task:
 
1. 'About Time'(watch until 2.00): Genre: Comedy drama/ romance
I love this movie. It has a powerful, often feel good and occasionally melancholy story. I find it emotional and captivating from start to finish. I think that the opening is effective as it introduces the main character and his family and we can learn a lot about how they are characterised through the voice over in this scene. Although, it does not give away the main story in these first two minutes (time travelling is not mentioned). This scene also contains relatable ideas of a typical British family. The descriptions of Tim's family is frequently humorous. The music in this opening fits the voice over and footage very well as is simply piano music which makes the scene feel poignant and moving, which sets us up for the rest of the film.
2. '10 Things I Hate About You'(watch until 1.52):Genre:Teen/ Romance/ Comedy
This film was made in 1999, which is clear even from this opening. The music is very reflective of that decade. In this first scene, the contrast between the female lead, Bianca Stratford and other girls at the high school through the change in music. There is no voice over in this scene, so we do not learn much about the storyline yet. This scene goes on to show a typical American High School, where the story is in its majority set. We also learn that Bianca has a particularly large role in the story from the way the camera follows her. The way the scene opens with the city almost being drawn out. The text used for the opening credits also has a scribbled effect.
3.'The Perks Of Being A Wallflower'(until 1.53): Genre: Teen
 A funny and touching coming-of-age story, this is a modern classic that captures the dizzying highs and crushing lows of high school. The film is based on a novel written in 1999, although the film was made in 2012. The typewriter font that the credits are written in gives an early impression of when the film is set i.e. in the past, before computers etc. The music in this scene gives a sense of heart rendering sadness, as the song has a melancholy feel. We are not introduced to any characters or storyline, but rather we are just for the most part, taken backwards along a road, often looking at the streetlights and cars behind. As I have seen the rest of the movie and read the novel, I know that highways are poignant to the main character.
4. 'Clueless': Genre: teen
Another 90's film, 'Clueless' follows Cher Horowitz, a good-natured but superficial girl who is attractive, popular, and extremely wealthy. The music in this opening fits as the song 'Kids In America' by Kim Wilde is a popular 90's song, and Cher is a kid in America. From these first two minutes, we already learn who the lead role is and what she is like, as we see her come out of shops with lots of bags, which shows she is rich and superficial as well as popular, shown by her friends at the pool party. Then, at 0.52, Cher begins talking over the music about herself and her father, and explains how they're so rich. There is also dialogue between her and her father, which shows us their relationship. This film is not relatable to teenagers who aren't rich and superficial as it is an extreme situation.
I also watched other film openings on DVD and Netflix that I could not find on YouTube for further inspiration, including:'Love Rosie', 'Just My Luck' and 'Mean Girls'.