[No.5] Research - What Is The Purpose Of A Film Opening?

1. What Thomas Sutcliffe meant when he said "Films need to seduce their audience into long term commitment. While there are many types of seduction, temptation to go for instant arousal is almost irresistible" is that you should always show something interesting at the beginning of the film to capture the audience's attention so they are more interested throughout the movie.

2. According to Director Jean Jacques Beineix, the risks of 'instant arousal' are after you show something interesting at the beginning of the film, what do you do next as you have already aroused them and it might be difficult to show something more interesting throughout the movie so you take the risk that you might not be able to answer the question of what to do next.

3. "A good beginning must make the audience feel that it doesn't know nearly enough yet, and at the same time make sure that it doesn't know too little" because the beginning of the film has to make the audience feel interested and make their moneys worth but at the same time not spoil the film so the audience has something more to look forward to after.

4. Critic Stanley Kauffmann describes the classic opening as the film began with an establishing shot of New York City usually from the East side, then a close up of a building with a camera shot tilting up the building to a window. The camera then zoomed into the window, past the receptionist desk to the private office where Cary Grant was sat. The classic opening works because you know where the film takes place, what the occupation of the hero was and the organisation of the world. Everything was in place, the cosmos was orderly and the progress was rational and expected.

5. Kyle Cooper's title sequence to the film Seven was so effective because the sequence tuned the viewers to the right dissonant pitch and became the first scene of the movie as it told the story and introduced the incisive nature of the films main character. It also foreshadows a lot of the things that was going to happen in the movie.

6. Orson Welles wanted to achieve a title sequence without credits and title music and plunge the audience into his story without giving them time to prepare themselves in his opening of the film 'A Touch of Evil'. However Universal Studios were far more cautious, they put a nice score underneath with the credits so the effects were lost and they did this because they did not understand the picture in the opening shot. When Universal Studio did this, they blunted Welles sharp originality.

7. "A favourite trick of Film Noir" means a quality beginning that feels like a destination to make the audience see what's to come and if it's not clear the first time, it will be clear the second time round when you watch the film. The trick is when a beginning of a film is actually an ending and not a beginning at all.

8. The opening to the film 'The Shining' creates a suspense by shooting from a birds eye view like a helicopter but the second screening is full of tension and the camera pursues the car like a predictor high up from behind. It's attention focuses on the tiny object and tells us that the people are travelling in the wrong direction.