The great film opening . . .

To me, a great film opening doesn't spoonfeed information to the audience. It slowly draws them in generating a sense of pull through character development, vibrant mise en scene, fluid camera technique, or symbolic composition. Of the film openings shown last class, my favorite one was the one from Scream. While the opening does not use have an extreme artistic appeal to the frame composition and camera movement initially, it transforms the plot into one that viewers don't expect—from the casual hot girl popcorn flick to one where that same actor is at the height of her fears.

The intro scene that Scream presents does quite a few things well. One is the establishment of the characters on a screen through the repetitive phone call. Although the woman repeatedly tries to shake off the caller, she eventually gives in to him, showing that even the most stubborn could succumb to his charisma. The gradually diminished lighting also establishes the tone of the piece, allowing the viewers to register the transition from the film's jovial start to the tense scenario it soon brings. And of course, the film doesn't show the man calling leaving wonder in the audience as to who and what this man's intentions are.