Action movies are movies where people are going in to watch expecting to be entertained. A good action movie opening must have something interesting right away, something that makes the viewer want to stay. There has to be some sort of plot, where the viewer is asking what happens next without giving away too much of the movie. Another essential part of an action movie opening is the fact that there does not have to action, the opening is setting up for the climax which is where all the action should be. The opening should merely set up the action not necessarily include it. This is perfect for me, because I can create an opening that does not need action which I can do even with my limited capabilities. Another essential part of an opening is to introduce the main character and make the audience want to find out what happens to him and root for him, otherwise they will get disinterested from the start.
Examples
Iron Man
This film follows the exploits of Tony Stark who is Iron Man. The film opening is one that does not really develop the character much and more so develops the plot of the story. Here, the main character Tony Stark is riding in a military vehicle with members of the military, it portrays him as a playful person who likes to make jokes. However, suddenly an explosion occurs and Tony leaves the truck only to be blown up by a missile that has his name on it. He wakes up surrounded by people with face coverings who are speaking a different language and are presumably shooting a hostage video. At this point, the title screen is shown. This film opening introduces the audience to the plot of the movie and gets them to ask who are those foreigners that took Tony hostage and why did they take him hostage? The rest of the movie will go on to answer those questions, but the opening has used many techniques to hook in the audience.
The Dark Knight
The Dark Knight is a film that follows the fight between the Batman and the Joker. The film opening is specifically used to develop a character. Here the film opening depicts a squad of bank robbers successfully robbing a bank However, what makes this opening a little different is that it is a sequel film meaning that the main character(Batman) has already been developed, so instead this opening introduces and develops the villain. The Joker is depicted as a ruthless killer who seems to be very smart considering the mind games he plays in this scene to ensure he is the only one left alive and gets to keep all the money. He is introduced as a smart villain that will wreck havoc in Gotham. This film opening instead of making people ask what happens next, likely leaves people asking who is that and what is he going to do next. The rest of the movie displays the rest of his tricks and shenanigans, but the film opening does enough to make the audience stay and find out what the Joker is up to.
Both of these film openings do a good job of capturing the attention of the audience and ensuring that they stay for the rest of the movie. They both take slightly different approaches as one develops a character and one develops a plot, however they are equally as effective. From these openings, I understand what kind of opening is needed to grab the attention of an audience and I am leaning towards doing an opening that develops a character simply because it is more feasible.
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