What Makes A Good Opening To A Film?

There are two things that make a good opening to a film micro features and macro features.

Macro features are vital elements or facts about the film the viewer needs to know which are based around genre and narrative:

Also things such as as settings are needed to make sense of the film a appropriate setting must be chosen for the film to make sense for example it would be very confusing if high school music was set in a jungle.

Characters need to be introduced early as the audience needs to make a connection with them to understand their story and enjoy the film.

Story and genre of film are also important, without this the viewer could be confused, for a example if there is no indication of genre someone may go and see horror instead of a comedy and be rather angry that they have wasted their money. Iconography is used to display the genre effectively for example gangster films should contain guns, suits and drugs.

The narrative of the film which usually starts in equilibrium and quickly becomes unbalanced, a good example of this would be within a sci-fi movie the earth starts of as normal in equilibrium and then becomes quickly unbalanced when the earth discovers aliens.

This usually unbalance creates a hook making the viewer want to see the entirety of the film.

Micro features are also important to the opening of a film, these are important features in the film hat also makes the viewer continue watching.

These include things like mise en scene a encompassing term for; setting and props, hair and make up, facial expressions and body language, lighting and colour and the position of the character and objects within the frame.

There are also aspects like lighting and colour which are useful for setting the mood in a film for example horror films are very dark this is for two reasons it firstly it creates a sense of tension and anxiety nothing is more scary than when it cannot be seen. Secondly in older films when special effects where not advanced it prevents the monster from becoming a man in a suit taking away any fear of the monster.

Editing is also a important micro feature, it can be used effectively. For example very rapid cuts cant create a sense of anxiety, where as a wipe or fade can be used to imply a intransitive narrative.

Camera angles may also used be very effectively within a opening for example a establishing shot can be used to set the scene for example a shot of the statue of liberty will show the film is set around New York in America, they can also be used to emphasise things for example using a extreme close-up make the viewer feel uncomfortable as people do not often get this close to objects. Finally high and low angle shots can be used to emphasize or diminish a characters power, changing the equilibrium of the scene.