Watching documentary on thriller and film openings

AS media studies

‘Watching’ documentary on film openings

1. 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.”

What Thomas Sutcliffe mean by using the word “seduction” it simply means to engage. So what he is expressing is that when opening a thriller it needs to engage the audience without delay and allure the audience to carry on watching the thriller. Furthermore he states that it needs to be a “long term commitment” meaning that it cannot stop it needs to remain consistent throughout the film and not to go off track. However he is also suggesting  that it is hard not to put all the entertaining content at the start because it is the producers best part of their work, and so they want to show it off to the audience. This is what he means by “instant arousal”. In my opinion this could be a negative consequence as the film won’t be consistent throughout the film and make the audience experience boredom.

1. 2)     According to Director Jean Jacque Beineix, what are the risks of “instant arousal”?

The Director Jean Jacque Beineix in his view he starts talking about when opening a thriller, a director needs to nurture their audience and keep them highly anticipated before acknowledging the suspenseful atmosphere. The risk that he states is that if you start arousing the audience you have got to remain with the high tense atmosphere and keep delivering it to the audience.

1. 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”?

The idea of making a good opening to a thriller are that the audience are able to establish what genre the film is and what it might entail. In addition it needs to keep the audience guessing by not introducing a lot of the main content and plot at once. Moreover in the beginning of a thriller the audience needs to establish the characters. This is what is meant by ‘...make sure that it doesn’t know too little’. However the audience need to consider how the characters are in relation to the film by the audience. This is done by letting the audience contemplate about the characters to find out about their characteristics and their main role, as the thriller plays out. This is what it is meant by the audience should know ‘enough yet’. A good opening should instruct the audience how they should watch the film by embedding the important aspects slowly and by the end they should understand. An opening should keep the audience questioning so their answers are revealed at the middle or the end

1. 4)     What does critic Stanley Kauffman describe as classic opening? Why does this work?

Stanley Kauffman states that a classic opening should start off with an establishing shot of the setting, starting from the east. Then there should be a close up of a building. Then the camera will go up a window until it reached to a specific window, then it when into a window. Then it should go past an object or a character, to a door where it will establish the main character. This shot could be a tracking shot or a pan. This works because it enables the audience to establish where it is set and the main character. In addition it works because it is done in a systematic process so the audience watching the film does not get confused at the opening. Lastly it allows the audience to assume what genre the film is.

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

Kyle Cooper’s title sequence is so effective because it is part of the plot it starts of telling the story. It engages the audience immediately while watching the lengthy credits, and getting them to get ready for what the film is going to produce. The film allows the audience to establish the genre and put their presumption across in the audiences head. In addition it foreshadows what is going to happen.

1. 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?

What Orson wanted to initial achieve was to introduce the movie without title music and no credits this is because he wanted to force the film on to the audience without getting them ready. So the audience forget that they are watching a film, but then realise they are by introducing suspense. For example in the Touch of Frost it is a normal setting following a couple but then a car blows up. The studio was unsure about whether to open the film this way because they didn’t get it, so the studio embed the credits on top of the film opening of cars driving on the road. The credits were not really the main focal point because they were on the side but still Orson was not happy about this.

1. 7)     What is meant by “a favourite trick of film Noir”? What is the trick?

Is when the opening of the film is like an ending. It is like a destination had started then instead of a departure, it is done so the audience re-watches it so they can understand the beginning of the film.

1. 8)     How does the opening to the film “The Shining” create suspense?

  The shinning creates suspense by shooting a bird’s eye view at various positions of high angle shots on a car. At first it does not create suspense until you realise the shot is shooting behind the car making it vulnerable and as if it is going to get attacked by an unknown predator. The car is established as the main and important focus for the audience.

Watching the “Watching” documentary has allowed me to understand and what I should expect when creating my own opening thriller. I know what works and what doesn’t. I will take all of the information and consider entering them into the opening of the film.