Extension Task: 'Watching' Documentary about film openings

 As an extension task I have written my response on a documentary called the 'Watching', which explores the opening title sequences to films.   

When Thomas Sutcliffe 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” he means that the instant the film starts it has to grab the audience ‘seduce them’ because it will be ‘the start of the ride’ and they need to want to say for the ride in this case the duration of the film. So the first impression means everything. He is basically saying that with any film to work, within the first 5 minutes the audience needs to be grabbed in ‘seduced’ or they won’t like it like because the film will no longer appeal to them. But if the opening of the film is good no one can deny it because it would be visible for people to see and make people want to stay for the rest of the ride/film and see how it plays out ‘it would be almost irresistible’.

Thomas Sutcliffe is suggesting that the film director should seduce the audience into a long term commitment by creating a unique beginning to a film opening that will then grab the attention of most viewers and will encourage them to want to watch the rest of the film. He is also saying the typical film openings to the films now are not standing out and the audience are demanding something more creative and unique which creates suspense/tension to the openings.

According to Director Jean Jacques Beineix the risks of ‘instant arousal’ is that the audience come into watching the film expecting something to happen and if it doesn’t happen within the next 20 minutes they’re gone. He says people have to accept to wait and let the story/film grow and then something will happen. So he lets the film/story build up because he says that after a strong start people ask questions “what will happen next?”, and then the director and crew have to answer the questions, but they take a risk never to answer the question.

“A good film 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” This is because it is like the rules of engagement to make sure the audience is giving their full attention. So this wakes the audience and instructs them on how they should be watching the film and how’ll they be while watching the film. Making sure they get their moneys worth. This is done by making the being crucial, so the film is established and they have an early adjustment to the genre of the film and establishing many things at once.

Critic Stanley Kauffmann describes the classic opening as it starting of with an establishing shot (seen from the east), a close up of a building, the camera going up a building to a window, then the camera goes into the window, then goes past the receptionist just to a private office and there would be a person. The classic opening worked because it showed were the thing is taking place, what the occupation the person is in and most importantly the organization of the world.

Kyle Cooper’s title sequence to the film Seven is so effective because the sequence tuned the viewers because it set the genre of the film and settled the viewers into their seats because it was part of the transition and it gets them right on the head, waking them up so they could get ready for what was going to happen next. So the sequence became a scene of the film and introduced the obsessive story of the main character.

Orson Welles wanted to achieve having the audience plunged into the story of the film with out giving them time to prepare them selves so he deiced the opening of the film would been seen with out credits and with out title music in the opening to the film ‘A Touch of Evil?’ because an opening of a film should lead the audience into the film/story, letting the know slowly. Telling the audience the nature and the kind of story the film is by introducing some important characters or characters that will become important. But the studio wanted it there so they put a score, source and credits underneath the opening. So the effect that Welles wanted to achieve was lost.

“A favorite trick of Film Noir” is a thing directors like to do in a film were the beginning of the film starts with the ending of the story. This is a trick because it should be the other way round. So the beginning of the film feels like a destination point, unlike a departure point looking ahead of what to come and anything that the audience doesn’t see the first time they will see once they see it again (foreshadowing what is to come).

The opening of the film The Shining creates suspense because the way camera techniques and the music are used during the opening. First you can see an easy up lift of a helicopter shot and the second viewing you can see the camera pursuing the car like a predator high up and from behind but at the same time see the surrounding/setting. Letting the audience just guess them selves that the people are travelling in the wrong direction.