Film Opening Analysis

Iron Man 3 (2013) — Art of the Title
Identify the film and it's genre:
"Iron Man 3"- Action, Fantasy, Romance& Comedy
Identify where the story takes place and the time scale:
Through the opening sequence of this film there is no given clue as to the setting of  the story but there is heavily implied that the story takes place in a present time and it is set in various locations. 
Summarise what happens in the sequence in chronological order. How significant to the story is the story telling in the order of events?
There is no chronological order to the events of the opening sequence to the film because it is actually a montage of interlocking angled transitions and timed freeze-frames bring that encompass three movies’ worth of Tony Stark Adventures'. Therefore the order of events of storytelling is not that significant because, since this is the 3rd film in the Iron Man series, it would be wiser to bring the audience up to date with what had happened in previous films rather than to set a scene and introduce characters (since the stories of the previous films are more significant due to how they link directly with the plot of this film).  
Do events link to each other or are they distinct, unconnected events?
Unconnected events- this may not only be because the opening sequence is compromised of a montage edited shots but because it helps to make emphasize the action scenes and make them seem more dramatic when they are frozen. However this might not be helpful because it doesn't give the film a sense of continuity due to how it organizes time and space in a compressed form by sequencing it in a montage form. 
Which characters are introduced and what their roles in the film? How do we find this information out?
The characters introduced are:

• Tony Stark (Iron Man)
• Pepper Potts
• War Machine
• Aldrich Killian
• Maya Hansen
• Savin
• President Ellis
• Happy Hogan
• We find this information out because when they happen to appear in a shot during the sequence the frame is frozen and their name appears, they also get their own few individual shots which help highlight as important to the plot of the story.

How much story information is revealed and how is it revealed to the audience? What is deliberately withheld?
Not much story information is revealed due to how the opening is montage edited and so there isn't really a sense of continuation as to what may happen next. But there is definitely a sense of the themes that would play throughout the narrative. The mise-en-scene created through the use of explosions, flying robots, guns, people fighting etc. establish that there will be a lot of action and conflict. The intimate shots between the main character (Tony Stark) and Pepper Potts (Main female lead) connote themes of romance between the two. However it is deliberately withheld how that romance come about and also what creates the reason for conflict and action in the film, thus acting as a hook for the audience to make them continue watching so they can find out for themselves how thing will play out.  
What do you think the audience needs to know at the start of your film? Explain. 
Although the film I analysed may be a bad example of this I know I definitely need to establish setting (essentially time and space of the narrative of my film). Other things I need to establish in my film's opening sequence are:

• Main Characters to the plot of the film because the audience always need to know who to focus on as a film progresses so they don't get lost in the story of the film.
• Credits (an institutional priority)
• An implication of the genre of the film
• The name of the film
• A hook for what may come up in the rest of the film so that the audience have a reason to keep watching.