Watching Documentary Response Questions

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"? He means that most films have to start the opening scene with a big 'shocker' therefore the audience is intrigued to what will happen next and the director wants the audience to be into the film right from the start.
2. According to Director Jean Jacques Beineix, what are the risks of 'instant arousal'? A risk of 'instant arousal' is that you have to raise the question 'What do i do next ?' and take the risk that you will never answer the question, that's the whole problem in making films.
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 audience is open and receptive. They hope to have their moneys worth.
4. What does critic Stanley Kauffmann describe as the classic opening? Why does this work? The film begins with a establishing shot for example, New York City seen from the East. Then there is a close up of the building. Then the camera went up the building to a window. Then it went in the window. Then it went past the receptionist desk to the private office and there sat the main character. The audience is told by the 'classic opening': Where the film takes place. What the occupation of the character is. The organisation of the world as everything is in place and everything is expected.
5. Why is Kyle Cooper's title sequence to the film Seven so effective? The sequence tuned the viewers to the right genre from the beginning. It started of as a thriller, it waked everyone up and feels like part of the same movie. It's very frequent. It foreshadowed a lot of things that where going to happen and represented the obsessive nature of the main character.
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? He intended it to be seen without credits and without title music. He wanted to plunge the audience into his story without giving them time to prepare themselves, The Universal Studio was far more cautious, therefore the effect was lost once they edited it.
7. What is meant by a "favourite trick of Film Noir"? What is the trick? The beginning of a film is actually a type of ending, not a beginning at all. That is the famous trick. They look ahead to what has to come and if the audience doesn't see it first time round, it will be clear when they watch the film again.
8. How does the opening to the film the Shining create suspense? The lift of the overhead camera creates suspense as the camera pursues the car like a predator, high up and behind. Everything tells the audience that these people in the car are travelling in the wrong direction. This builds up suspense as not much is revealed.