How can a film opening attract an audience-Blog Post 4

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 films need to bring there audience into it for the whole duration of the film and not just one bit of it.

2) According to Director Jean Jacques Beineix, what are the risks of 'instant arousal'?
The risks of instant arousal means that the audience will expect the film to be as good as the beginning was the whole way through. If the film does not live up to the standard, then a lot of the audience members will not be interested in it.

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"?
A good beginning must make the audience feel that it doesn't know nearly enough yet because then the audience will start developing questions and have to see at the end if there questions have been answered or not. An example of a film with a good beginning is Brian De Palma's 'Snake Eyes'.

4) What does critic Stanley Kauffmann describe as the classic opening? Why does this work?
The classic opening that Kauffmann describes is a shot of New York City. This works because after that we see the close up of the building and then the protagonist who we are introduced to.

5) Why is Kyle Cooper's title sequence to the film Seven so effective?
This title sequence is effective because the opening is already showing us what is about to happen in the film and also gives us a sense of the genre.