"Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle" is one of my all time favourite movies. It does indeed seem to follow quite a lot of the traditional conventions of a film opening. We are shown:

• The title of the film
• The Director & Cast (however the cast are shown later in the opening sequence compared to the establishment of the director)
• A mischievous, laid-back backing track. This shows that the movie will be a comedy
• The "New Line Cinema" logo, who are film distributors and producers.
• The setting is shown but only briefly. There is a brief wide shot of an area which is seconds later established as Hoboken, New Jersey.
• The two main protagonists are immediately introduced. However it is indicated that Harold (John Cho) is more significant than Kumar (Kal Penn) because he is introduced first.