RESEARCH: How can a film opening attract an audience (Watching Documentary)

1)      What does Thomas Sutcliffe mean when he says “Films need to seduce their audience into long term commitment.  While there are many types of seduction, the temptation to go for instant arousal is almost irresistible”

     Ans: Filmmakers always have in mind to stimulate their audience immediately. He also said "If it doesn’t give you a 'hard on' throw it away. He uses a sexual term to basically say if it doesn’t electrify you, what is the point of watching it? They love to build up tension slowly which grabs the audience attention.

2)      According to Director Jean Jacques Beineix, what are the risks of ‘instant arousal’?

   Ans: The risks of “instant arousal” is that you need to remember to keep the same level of excitement throughout the film, so it would be absolutely pointless to only make the audience excited towards the end of the film when they’re expecting the film to be exciting throughout.

3)      Explain why “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”

     Ans: A good beginning makes the audience feel that they’re enjoying from the start and the movie still interrogates their mind with questions but the viewers insist on proceeding to watch the film.

4)      What does critic Stanley Kauffmann describe as the classic opening?  Why does this work?

   Ans: The classic opening works because the audience is presented with the location and the characters. The location starts from a shot of the setting, and then goes to a building, to a window, a reception, to an office and then finally a character. The audience have now got an expectation of what the film may be about.

5)      Why is Kyle Cooper’s title sequence to the film Seven so effective?

     Ans: The title sequence is effective because it sets the right atmosphere for the audience and alerts them to keep their focus on the screen. In the sequence, things are also foreshadowed which get the viewers mind really going and attempt to figure out what going to happen.

6)      What did Orson Welles want to achieve with his opening to the film A Touch of Evil?  What did Universal Studios do to it? Why?

    Ans: Welles “wanted to plunge the audience into his story without giving the audience time to prepare themselves”. He discarded the use of title credits and sound which resulted into the loss of effect.

7)      What is meant by “a favourite trick of Film Noir”? What is the trick?

     Ans: The favourite trick is that the film opening is the ending of the film. The film maker used a discrete title sequence to start from the future instead of starting from the present. This will make the audience intrigued to still know what happens even though they know the outcome of the film.

8)      How does the opening to the film The Shining create suspense?

  

    Ans: The opening creates suspense as it appears to be a picturesque. We see a helicopter over a beautiful backdrop, subsequently omens come out which is a clear juxtaposition between the beautiful scenery and the omens. A shot of a car is shown and the shot remains on the car instead of focusing on the lovely background, this creates tension and makes audience believe that the car is not supposed to be here – almost like the driver made a wrong turning into a dead end.