How film openings attract audiences

Film openings attract audiences by giving them a brief overview as to what can be expected in the rest of the film, when it come comes to the narrative and the tone it creates, while addressing it's target audience. Openings can also have some subtle character development within them to generate empathy in correlation with the character and the audience. In regards to 'The Uses and Gratification Theory,' depending on the genre, a film can appeal to any or even multiple of the following needs that audience members expect from such a time investment: the need to be entertained, social interaction, personal identity and information.

In the case of 'The Dark Knight Rises,' it's clear in the opening that this film fulfils the need to be entertained, due to the action orientated and quick pace of the sequence. It also attracts audiences and compels them to continue watching by creating numerous questions that they want answered by the end of the film for the sake of closure, such as why did Bane need Doctor Povel so badly that he was willing to bring down an entire plane?

Another way this opening attracts audiences is the use of iconography, in the sense that Bane's physical appearance is very distinctive and very much relates to the comic book character in which this interpretation is based upon. This use of iconography makes both fans of comic books and films a like to join together and witness this particular version of the characters, resulting in a wider target audience and inevitably a high box office grossing. 'The Dark Knight Rises' also surprises audience when it comes to the scale of the action set piece of the opening, having a plane ripped apart and destroyed. This already makes the film more memorable and establishes somewhat of an epic tone that is reflected in the rest of the narrative.

Another example of a film attracting a specific audience can also be found in 'The Social Network.' It's clear that their target audience is teenagers, due to the main protagonist being conveyed as a part of that age group and the setting of the bar relating to the rebellious stereotype of teenagers. The long shot lengths result in quite a slow pace, combined with the low lighting conditions and artistic cinematography suggest that this film is a drama, specified towards the teenage age group. Because this film is based on a true story, it fulfils the 'Uses and Gratification' need for information as well as entertainment, enlightening the audience with a moral as well as presenting this story in an enjoyable way.
















By contrast, the romance genre is seen to take a more sincere and sympathetic approach to introducing characters, which is fitting (considering romantic films are usually based around
that singular dynamic of the men and women falling in love). 'Dear John' is a good example of this sincerity, with multiple close ups of every day objects to incorporate verisimilitude and continue that emotional connection that was established. Because the characters within this opening are grounded and realistic interpretations of their genuine counterparts, it can fulfil the need for personal identity, because they're more relatable as people and therefore set standards for who people are, how they define themselves and how they are presented to others by the director.

Looking at these examples, it's apparent that films attract audiences by establishing a certain tone that's often enigmatic to entice and intrigue audience members, while they also use iconography to make their film distinctive and generate a fan base. This information will aid us in knowing what particular techniques we should use to attract our target audience and identify them as our main focus. After looking at these openings, an exemplar technique for appealing to our target audience of male teenagers and young adults would be to incorporate a character of similar age to make that person more relatable and therefore make it easier for our audience to invest in the film's narrative.