Extension Task: Questions 1-4

WATCHING DOCUMENTARY
Questions 1-4 (of 8)

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 irresistable"?

 The quote above, said by Thomas Sutcliffe, is a way of explaining how a film must grab its audience in the very beginning, and by doing so it will seduce them into long term commitment, i.e. they will be intrigued and interested enough to follow the film through until the end. The idea of 'instant arousal' explains the notion that instead of slowly building tension up in a film and gradually leading up to a climax, the film starts off with a highly dramatic opening which will hook the audience almost immediately.

2) According to director Jean Jacques Beineix, what are the risks of 'instant arousal'?

Beineix suggests that the idea of 'instant arousal' is not necessarily the best way to go about doing things. He claims that if you start off with a really dramatic opening that has the audience hooked on to, the question will be: what happens next? He suggests that, because you have already started off with high tension, the problem is that you may not be able to answer this question and may find trouble in topping your dramatic opening throughout the rest of the film. Beineix says that the film should nurture your desire, which, after waiting, should deliver the satisfaction which other films give you immediately.
 

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."

Creating a good film beginning is difficult because it needs to introduce the film's genre without giving away too much about the plot, and it must grab the audience whilst still leaving them something to wait for. This idea is captured perfectly by the above quote, which demonstrates the fact that an audience needs to feel like they have something to wait for, because there's no point in watching a film that has nothing to give, but at the same time needs to feel in connection with the plot - i.e. they don't want to feel like they know nothing, because this will distance them from the storyline and will release them from their hook. 

4) What does critic Stanley Kauffmann describe as the classic opening? Why does this work?

Stanley Kauffmann describes the classic opening as one that establishes the setting and characters. It does this by first introducing the setting through an establishing shot, which is a shot of the city (for example) that a film is set in. Then the camera would slowly get closer to introducing the character, i.e. through a close up of the building he/she is in, then going up it to do a close up of a window, then going through that window into a room where the protagonist would be positioned. This "simple, classic process" works because it gives many things away to the audience through just establishing the setting; you become familiar with the city, the characters, the genre. Stanley Kauffmann also says it works because everything is "expected", "orderly" and "rational". Everything is in its place and that is what the audience expects from the opening of the film.