Watching (BBC)

During class we watched the documentary "Watching" which was produced by the BBC. This helped explain film openings and what they generally consist of and why. It became present that any good film opening needs to grab the audience's attention immediately as Ken Loach said this is "the most precious moment of the film" as this is what hooks the audience as it sets the mood and also reveals what you should expect from the rest of the film.

A good film opening should include enigma codes which leave the audience to question what is going to happen next. Although not all film directors agree about how much should be revealed in the opening scene as JJ Beneix believes you need to make them wait and "do not give them instant gratification" while Danny Boyle believes you have "an obligation to announce as much as possible" therefore as directors have different views on what the opening scene should contain and as there are no set rules, it allows all film openings to be drastically different as it could be said that it is down to the directors personal opinion of what they want to include. But the one thing they all agree on is that it must hook the audience and make them want to continue watching.

Thomas Sutclidd stated that "a good beginning must make the audience feel they don't know nearly as much yet but at the same time, doesn't know too little" this is generally what a good film opening should consist of as you do not want to reveal too much but you need to build up the drama so the audience are interested so consequently continue watching. As peter Bogdanovitch said you need to "get the audience on your wave length".

All in all the documentary gave me an insight into what you should expect from a good film opening with personal opinions from a number of directors. Some of the most memorable film openings are those that shock the audience for example the film "Psycho" is considered to be one of the best film openings die to its shocking opening.