Extension activity- Watching documentary (Research)

After I had watched this documentary about different film openings and the purpose of them, I gained a better understanding of what title sequences intend to do for the audience. By answering these following questions I had learnt more about how directors try to produce and present different reactions:

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?"

Thomas Sutcliffe is implying that the audience must be instantly fascinated into the beginning of a movie so that they are satisfied and are encouraged to keep watching, almost as if they should be obligated to watch the rest.

2. According to Director Jean Jacques Beineix, what are the risks of 'instant arousal'? 

The risks of an 'instant arousal' to an audience puts the director into a position where the rest of the movie has to almost have the same expected quality of the the opening scene. The main risks to Jean Jacques is having to ask himself or others asking him planning out how the rest of the movie is going to be as exciting and as the opening.

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." 

A beginning of movie must make the audience begin to make assumptions about the movie with the little information they have received, therefore the audience will want to know more, so they will want to watch the rest of the movie.

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

According to Stanley Kauffmann, a classic opening would be startig with an establishing shot of  a location, then the camera moving moving upwards to the building, then to the window, to the receptionist's desk and finally to the private office. This classical process shows an orderly progress to the location of the movie and what's to be expected.

5. Why is kyle Cooper's title sequence to the film seven so effective?

This was because it almost told a story as it foreshadowed what was to be expected in the movie and started to introduce the obsessive nature of a particular character while introducing other main characters.

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? 

He intended to his opening scene to be presented to the audience without any title credits or title music. He did this so that the audience are automatically plunged and engaged with the story without having the need to get prepared. However, the studio didn't like his sense of originality and didn't believe that it would have a good affect on the audience and so, they added credits.

7. What is meant by "Favourite trick of film Noire?" What is the trick?

It is putting the ending of a scene at the beginning of the film to look ahead as to what's to come

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

The scene starts with an uplift of a helicopter shot showing a car, the camera pursues the car as a predator and follows the car almost telling the audience that the people in the car are travelling in a wrong direction