Film Openings and Audiences

For this task, I am going to look at how films attract audiences by finding out specifically what's involved in their film openings that draws the viewer into the film and by finding out what they would expect to see in an opening of a film. I am hoping this task will help me think of ideas for what I can include in my own film opening that will draw in the viewer and want to watch more.

How film openings draw in audiences

The main concept of a film opening is to introduce a film to the audience so they have an idea of what sort of film it is going to be and what to expect. They draw the audience into the universe of the film as it clears their minds so they forget everything and only notice what the film is showing and telling them. I think that a good way to draw in an audience is to introduce a baseline of the story without giving it away as it opens up lots of unanswered questions making the audience what to carry on watching to find out the answers. By putting the audience in this perspective it makes them more interested and intrigued, therefore they enjoy the film more. A good example of a opening that draws me into a film is the Divergent film opening. The titles match the theme of the film really well and it begins with a shot of the sunrise which represents the beginning of the film as well as the day. It shows many establishing shots of the landscape to make the audience have some understanding with what's happening without having any idea of what the film is about i.e. it shows that something destroyed the world but there is a city that is still standing where the survivors live. The main character then does some narration talking about how they live. I find that this immediately draws me into the film because I know what's going on but I want to know why its going on and what actually happened to the world so it makes me want to carry on watching.

Divergent film opening:

Audience Theory

There is a audience theory known as the 'Hypodermic Needle Theory' which is quite commonly used in the film industry to trigger engagement between the film and the audience. This theory involves making the audience so drawn into the film that they almost feel like they are a part of the film and that they are in the universe of it. The films give people ideas and change their mid-sets which influences them to do something in reality that has influenced them to from the film. This is partially why films have certification - to protect younger children from seeing things they may not understand yet and influencing them to do it. An example of this is an incident that happened in 1993 with the James Bulger case where two 10 year old boys watched chucky and it influenced them to horrifically murder and 2 year old child. Obviously, films aren't trying to influence people to do things like this as people of the certification would be older so they shouldn't be influenced - the children were too young and weren't meant to be watching the film. I believe that people enjoy a film more if they are more draw into the story rather than just watching it which is why I want to try as use this theory within my film opening.

Conclusion

To conclude, by during this work I have analysed the aspects and techniques used in film openings that draw in an audience as well as myself. Therefore I now know what sort of things I can include in my own film opening to help make my audience intrigued and taken into the universe of the film. I have also looked at an audience theory to learn how it effects an audience and how I could make use of it in a good way.