What Makes A Good Film Opening?

Micro Features

• The titles of the film can make a good opening depending on what font they are in and how they enter the screen, if the titles professional and creative it could hook the audience as it shows high effort levels have been put into it and therefore the rest of the film should follow. As well as the titles attracting an audience in this way they can also attract them by foreshadowing what is to come in the film e.g. if the film is spiritual to use a 'ghostly' looking font.


• The music of a film can also make a good opening especially if it has a suspense feel to it, it builds up a sense of excitement, happiness, fear or sorrow depending on which film genre you are watching meaning it could 'hook' the audience. Jaws is a classic example with this with the music being representative of both the characters and the audiences fear levels increasing as Jaws approaches.

Macro Features

• A hook makes a good opening to a film as if there is something that the audience wants to find out in the film they will carry on watching it. This can be done if the equilibrium in the film is disrupted early on in the film as the audience will want to see how the situation can be resolved and return to the natural equilibrium (Todorov). A good example of the equilibrium being disrupted early is Shrek when his hut is under threat of being destroyed, the audience is then intrigued as to how he will resolve this problem.
  



• If the film shows glimpses of what genre it is at the start of the film it also makes it a good opening. For example if watching a comedy film and it made you laugh at the beginning it may be considered as good and therefore the audience will continue to watch it.