Task 4 - Film Openings - Attracting An Audience

My answers to the "Watching" documentary;

In the quote, "Films need to seduce their audience into a long term commitment. While there are many types of seduction, the temptation to go for instant arousal is almost irresistible" Thomas Sutcliffe is suggesting that the film needs to be exciting and intriguing enough for the audience to watch all of it. They need to commit to finishing what they started instead of stopping half-way. Therefore, the film opening needs be captivating and compelling in order to grab the audience's attention as well as keep them engaged throughout the film. 

According to Director Jean Jacques Beineix, the risks of "instant arousal" are that directors need to keep the movie and its plot gripping enough so that it does not lose its balance throughout the film. It is difficult to keep making such absorbing, riveting films as directors can be unsure of what is going to happen next to keep the audience engaged throughout the film. It is also up to the audience to decide whether it had impressed them or not. 

In addition to this, the film's opening sequence is very affective to the audience as it is designed to give the public clues as to what the movie's plot is. It also highlights the main characters and the location they are in. The location also gives us a chance to see where we are in the world. A good beginning must make the public feel as if they are already familiar with the story. However, to achieve a competent film opening, the directors make sure that little hints are given out so that the audience do not get a full insight on what is going to happen. This keeps them interested in the movie and wanting to watch more of it.

There are many different, captivating openings that attract the audience's attention and one of them are classic openings. These tend to capture every moment of the setting. For example, critic Stanley Kauffman describes a classic opening as a basic setting such as New York City buildings which then zooms into the window, through the door and into the room of the receptionist. Although these tend to be simple and expected, its effectiveness show us the organisation of the world. It also works well as the public can relate to the same setting and location as it is part of our everyday life. 

As well as effective, extravagant film openings, there are also title sequences that are designed to present the film and tv shows' titles, key production and cast members using conceptual visuals and sound. It usually includes the text of the opening credits, and helps establish the setting and tone of the program. An example of an effective title sequence is Kyle Cooper's movie 'Seven', in which there is no dialogue but a sense of an eerie atmosphere which is established through the sinister music soundtrack in the background. This seems to foreshadow horrific events as there are visuals of tortue and murder playing in such a dark setting. This is effective as it is only the close-up of the hands that we are seeing. The camera movement also seems to be moving quickly out of the cage-which seems to symbolise rule breaking of some sort. As a result,this intrigues the audience because little clues are given but not so much so that the audience is eager to finish the whole movie. 

Although there are amazing film openings as well as title sequences, we must not forget the people behind the scenes and the effort to make these films as fascinating as possible. In the movie, "A touch of evil", the director, Orson Welles, wanted to achieve a compelling, absorbing film opening that would have the audiences' eyes glued onto the screen. He did this by including only ghostly, spine-chilling music that would overpower the muted dialogue. 

This not only creates a sense of suspense in the film but also gets the audience feeling curious as to what will happen, which mkes them want to watch more of it. This also had the audience prepare themselves for the foreboding event that is sure to take place anytime in the movie, which is what Welles wanted to achieve. Another feature of the film, "A touch of evil" is the old, favourite trick of "Film Noir" in which the film cycle is paralleled, the ending is the beginning of the film. This creates a peculiar sense of atmosphere, leaving the audience perplexed, eager to know and watch more.  

In addition, another exciting film opening that creates suspense is in the film, "The Shining". One way this is done is through the many different camera movements, following the car whilst zooming out the scene to capture the green landscape. This makes us seem like predators, chasiung the car. As a result, this creates a creepy, foreboding atmosphere that foreshadows an unfortunate event. The music is also quite slow, almost like a lullaby that completely fools us as we seea child drowning, a horrific event.