Film openings

8th January 2009:

Today’s lesson we learnt about movie openings. We watched a documentary about film openings and answered some questions about certain producers saying why they used title sequences to the film so. Why is it effective? What did the producers want to achieve with their openings and why? And lots more questions.
By the end of the lesson we understood what made a good/bad opening. We learnt that there were 4 types of openings which were:

1.Classic opening– Instant arousal – the idea in which there is a lot of action and temptation which would grab the audiences attention so they will then be ‘tempted’ to watch the rest of the film/movie.
2.Classic opening – the ides in which the producer offers something small then gradually builds up to end the movie setting up questions in mind.
3.Title sequence- the idea in which the title sequence opens the film with no necessary characters. It sets the tone through its graphical ideas making it look like a beginning scene to the movie.
4.Flash Back- the ides in which the opening scene is from the end or the middle of the film/movie working back or cutting back to the beginning of the story/plot.

All of these openings must attract the audience into watching the whole film setting up questions that the audience will expect and will want to be answered later in the film.
We also learn the mise en scene of the opening and why it is important. It is important as it sets the idea of the film. Thriller openings tend to have very dark lightings or very light lightings. Non diagetic sounds have to be very short and sharp to create suspense and tension. The camera work should usually contain close up shots and extreme close ups. There is a use of match cuts quick cuts and a selection of camera shots. The shinnings producer Standly kubrick used a very long empty road in which the camera was following the car driving on the road constantly, that built up tension which give us a thrill. The shinning is a very good example of a thriller.This lesson was really helpful and useful as we gained ideas for our thrillers and gave us a clear understanding in what made a successful thriller and a successful opening.