“Discuss the various ways in which directors engage an audience in the opening sequence of a film.”

The opening sequence is arguably one of the most important parts of a movie, as it has to grab the audience’s attention and convince them to watch the rest of the film. If an audience gets bored in the first 5 minutes, it is highly unlikely that they will keep watching. The first film I will be discussing is ‘The Purge’. This thriller turned heads when it came onto screens in 2013 due to its completely new and controversial plot of America legalizing all crimes for one day every year, to keep crime numbers down on average. This day of mayhem opens the door for theft, kidnapping and even murder without consequence.

In the opening sequence of ‘The Purge’, the first thing the audience sees is a black screen with white bold text saying ‘Universal Pictures presents’. This text is in a ‘reverse-out’ format making to attract the audience’s attention. The fact that it is not a complete sentence creates a deliberately vague mood and keeps the audience anticipating what is to come.

Following this brief introduction, the film delves right into the action. After a static effect, footage from what looks like a CCTV camera appears on the screen. This static transition is very important, even though it only lasts for one second. It has the effect that there is something not right about the footage you are about to see or that it has been tampered with, or possibly tried to be destroyed. Alongside the visual confusion of a static transition, it carries a crackled, short, sharp sound with it that creates a possible impact scare for the audience. When directors use short chunks of loud sound, it is often to signal a turning point, in this case, no action suddenly into violent scenes of murder.

The entire opening sequence cross cuts between different shots of action from CCTV footage. The effect of using this perspective of footage creates a sense of realism and incorporates Blulmer and Katz’s audience theory of personal identification, because the

audience may have seen themselves in CCTV footage before, or at least they will be used to it being used frequentley in the real world. This theory offers gratification to the audience as they can transport and emmerse themselves into the scene and experience an authentic and empathetic atmosphere. To add to the realistic nature

of this sequence, ‘Purge Feed’ is shown in the top right corner of every shot. This gives the plot more authority and shows that this savage behaviour is accepted in modern America in this movie – adding to the disturbing quality of the film.

The second film opening I will be discussing is the opening of the 5th installment of the Action Adventure hit - Fast and Furious. The first thing the audience sees in this film is an establishing shot of a dry, barren desert with a bus driving along a distant road. This establishing shot engages the audience into where the scene is set and gives a focus point - the bus. Where is it going?

Following this shot, there is a tracking shot of the passengers inside the bus. The camera tracks down the line of people in towards Dom - the main protagonist in the entire franchise. The audience recognizes Dom immediately, this is why his entrance is somewhat subtle and slow, it builds tension and makes the audience create a link back to the previous film, as this is how Fast 4 ends. This shot of Dom offers the audience a pleasure of recognition.

These initial shots have been silent, and this build in suspense causes the audience to stay in anticipation as they know that something big is about to happen. The following shot is an extreme long shot of the bus. This shot is soon interrupted, however, by 3 sports cars driving towards the bus, coming past the camera and creating a Point of View shot for the drivers - creating danger and excitement as we can see that they are headed straight for the bus. The sound of the car’s engines is extremely emphasized to break the silence of the scene and signify a main theme of the franchise that the audience and fan base with instantly be entertained by - fast cars. The film’s focus on the spectacle of beautiful cars plays an important in offering the gratifications of personal identity, as it brings all car-lovers together as a community and allows audience members to find a basis for social interaction and, identifying with others and establishing a sense of belonging. This also applies with Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs in the ‘Love and Belonging’ section in finding oneself in part of a group.

Close ups of the characters driving the sports cars are used as the audience can recognize them from previous films and link them with the inevitable action about to take place. There is one close up shot of a man - Brian, looking calm and collected in this tough

situation. This gives him a sense of power and skill at what he does. Next, there is a similar shot but of a female. This shows an unconventional representing of a female in action adventure in that she is equally powerful and professional as the male. This representation is also reflected in the low-angle shot that is also used of her. Low-angle shots signify that the subject is dominant, capable and authoritative. This representation offers a personal identification gratification to a larger demographic and engages a wider audience, because now women can see themselves in the action and feel more positive about themselves and realizing their potential, addressing Maslow’s need of self-actualization.

The build up of tension and danger leads onto the bus crashing into a car and flipping over onto the road causing massive spectacle and a break of the tension. This part of the scene offers a huge audience gratification of

entertainment. The scale, spectacle and varied camerawork creates an effect of escapism and awe from many angles that we as humans would not be able to witness. The opening scene comes to a close on a mid shot of the bus rolling towards the camera, immersing the audience and makes them feel almost at risk. As an audience, we do not see the action come to a stop before the

screen cuts to black. This indicates continuous action and suggests that there is a lot more to come. The last thing the audiences sees is the film’s title appear on the black screen in big bold letters. ‘Fast and Furious 5’ is abbreviated to ‘Fast Five’, indicating that this franchise is globally known and loved by millions. It is short and punchy and rounds off the opening sequence effectively.

The next and final film I will be looking at is a war drama called Saving Private Ryan. The first thing the audience sees in this film is a black screen with simple white font introducing the film. This is a classic start to a movie and contrasts Fast and Furious 5 where the action happens and then the film is introduced. This title engages the audience

by being clear and direct, preparing them for the story’s beginning. The black screen cross-fades into a close up shot of the American Flag. This visually attractive shot allows American’s to experience the gratification of Integration and Social Interaction enabling them to connect with family, friends and the society that they are a part of. Patriotism is very popular in the United States, so this shot would engage an audience from the outset and make it very relevant to them.

Following this, the audience is introduced to the characters. There is a divide between the older man at the front and the group of what looks like his family behind him. This shows the audience that he is the focus point of the scene as he stands out as leading the group. This makes the audience wonder - where is he leading this group and why?

Next, the audience receives the gratification of information in the form of satisfying curiosity and general interest, as we are shown where the older man is going through the technique of eyeline match. The mid shot of the man gazing up at something whilst standing by a tree cuts to a low angle shot of the American flag. This repetition of the flag reinforces the effect of the gratification that was incorporated from the outset. Eyeline match is an effective way of revealing an iconic object because it shows the audience the object through the eyes of the subject, whilst creating suspense as we wait to see what has caught their attention in the first place. This perspective brings us into the experience and makes us empathize with the character.

Following this, there is a very emotive mid shot of the old man kneeling at the graves of soldiers lost in the war. The audience starts to piece together the fact that this man may be a war veteran and he is visiting graves of his fallen friends. The shot is cleverly positioned so that it is wide enough to capture the family of the man comforting him. This shot engages the audience further because it adds to the sympathy that the audience have for the man. In addition, the

tracking shots of the cross shaped headstones are filmed from a low-angle. This low-angle shot is used to respect the soldiers and portray them as powerful and courageous men. The fact that the camera is looking up at the headstones pragmatically reflects the fact that the audience looks up to the soldiers that fought for their country. These shots are emotionally engaging and offer the gratification of Information about the cruelty of war, a relevant subject in history and todays society.

The ending of this opening sequence is gripping and tense due to the tracking zoom into the old man’s face. There is a mid shot of his upper body and head that tracks all the way in to a close up of his eyes. As the camera gets closer and closer, the emotional pain in the old man’s face intensifies and the audience’s engagement gets stronger, as if they are being pulled into the characters situation with the camera. When the shot is zoomed in fully to the man’s eyes, there is a cross fade transition to a low-angle shot of an object in the sea, with waves crashing over it. Here, the date ‘June 6th, 1944’ appears on the screen. This shift in period is effective as a follow up to the extreme close up because it is almost as if the audience travels through the man’s eye into his brain where we can see his vivid memories of the war. This flashback sets the tone of the plot and the effective build up to the memory we are about to witness engages the audience as we are desperate to find out more about this war veteran’s story.

To conclude, these three directors use textual features, (editing, camerawork, misé-en-scene and sound) the audience uses and gratifications model, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and other audience pleasure theories to engage their target demographics in very different and innovative ways, resulting in an exciting and successful piece of creative film.