Film openings BBC documentry

Film Openings

In today’s lesson (6th January 2009) we watched a BBC documentary presented by Thomas Sutcliffe which talked about different film openings and how effective and ineffective they were and the reasons why were successful or unsuccessful. I learnt that a good beginning will arouse some questions that the film must then answer. The audience should e left in suspense of what will happen next. It should give hints of what will be taking place letter in the film (foreshadow). Finally, the beginning of a film should engage the audience whilst introducing the main characters and their personalities. According to Thomas Sutcliffe, “films need to seduce their audience into a long term commitment whilst there are many types of seduction; the temptation to go for instant arousal is almost irresistible. however according to Jean Jacques Beineix instant arousal can have major risks and these are that often the film is left with nowhere to go and the rest of the film does not live up to the expectations making it unsuccessful. " 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 to little", This quote means that the audience should be left guessing what will come next and they should be left questioning the events and future events.

There are many different ways of opening a thriller. According the critic Stanley Kauffmann the classic opening is an establishing shot. This is often filmed as a long shot and at a low angle. These classic opening inform the audience of the where-abouts of the film and it provides them with vital information. These types of shots often start in an exterior setting with followed by an interior shot. The film seven does not follow this classic film opening however, it is very effective and this is for a number of reasons. Firstly, it is quick, fast paced which wakes the audience up, with each shot something is revealed to the audience, and so it foreshadows the events to come leaving the audience feeling tense and suspenseful. The film tunes the audience into the film and introduces the main character. Another type of film opening is something that is referred to as “a favourite trick of Film Noir" this is simply when the beginning of the film starts at the ending meaning the rest to the film is a flashback or recollection.

There are many different ways to open a film and although the plot of the film is majorly important, what makes a film opening effective is the use of the camera, the Mis en scene ,the soundtrack and the lighting. E.g. in the film ' The Shinning’ the camera moves with the car and it shows that the car is travelling a far distance into an area where perhaps it should not be.The camera pans the car at an angle that shows it is like a preditor hunting the car from far away. Additionally the soundtrack evokes negative feelings of tension and suspense leaving the audience wanting more.

Next lesson we are goin to be watching be watching the opening of thrillers from previous students and looking at their choice of location, camerawork, editing, lighting, and their use of diegetic and non-diegetic sound.

Corinne