Opening sequences have to be effective as they have to grip the audience from the start without giving too much of the storyline away. And there are various opening sequences that do this, like Salaam Bombay, Ali and 8 1/2. All of these opening sequences are different to each other, but still manage to be successful as an opening.
Firstly, in the beginning of the film Salaam Bombay, is a young boy who is carrying some heavy luggage in his arms, with some cheerful music playing in the background. A bit later on we come to find out that the boy has been working in a circus, and they are packing away to move on. Whilst this is going on the boss asks the young boy to go and get some food and slaps him on the head, but he also asks him not to do any of his tricks again. This may suggest that the boy may be mistreated by the boss as he gets slapped over the head, but we also wonder if the boy has been in trouble in the past with his boss for doing something mischievous. The camera shot to show the boy running to the shop and back was an extra long shot with dramatic fast paced music in the background. This shows that the boy is running very fast and may want to get back on time to please his boss. However, at this moment in the film we are left wondering why he is rushing to get back, which makes the audience wonder if he gets back too late will he get in trouble with his boss. And it also makes the audience wonder if the circus have a deadline to leave and by when, so we are left wondering whether the boy will get back to the circus on time or not. When the boy finally gets back to the circus after buying his boss's food, we get a close shot of the young boy stopping with a shocked reaction on his face and the music stops, and the next shot is a long shot of the place were the circus was before, deserted. Leaving the audience feeling sympathetic towards the young boy, as we wonder where will he go or what will he do. It also leaves us wondering if the boss did it on purpose to get the boy back for "playing some of his tricks before." This opening sequence is a very gripping one as we are left asking so many questions about what will happen in the film later on, keeping the audience watching so that they will want to find out.
The next film that has an effective opening sequence, is the film Ali. At the beginning, is a black man running down a road looking very stressed out about something when white police men ask him what he is running from. Also in this shot they flick back and forth from the previous shot of the man running to a man singing some cheerful jazz music. When the man finishes his song, he switches to a calming softer jazz song, which no longer stays as diagetic on screen as it changes to a soundtrack for the next shot. This is of this mans life as a child, when he had to go to the back of the bus were it said "coloured people only." This shows that this film was set in a time where racism was going on. Which makes the audience wonder what happened to him when he was a child growing up to be a man as he seemed like he needed to clear his mind about something. After this shot they show go back to the present with a close up shot of the mans face punching a punching bag prop with the prop faced to the audience. This represents his anger and motivation in this shot, which makes the audience ask questions like, has he got a guilty conscience about something, which he may have done in the past. During this shot, it also flicks back and forth from thing that have happened in his life. They show him at a boxing match when a man makes a remark about his father, they also show his father painting a picture of God, and then later on go to show the father preaching about the rights of black people. This suggests to the audience that the community where this man lives is a religious one. But it makes them wonder what happened to the man and his father, as when the father was preaching he seemed to direct his comments to his son. This opening sequence is also an effective one as we ask questions about this mans life, and we want to know what is going to happen to him and also what has actually happened to him, so the audience will keep on watching to know the answers.
The last film that has an effective opening sequence is the film 8 1/2. The opening sequence of this film was an awkward one as the audience first of all have no clue as to what is actually going on, as it starts off with a point of view shot of a man sitting in a car, then it shows the rest of the area which is packed with traffic and cars everywhere not moving at all. However, the people in the actual cars around him, are just staring at the man in the car. At this moment in the film, some slow drums start to play for quite a while and then it stops and switches to the man breathing heavily and banging on his car window with screeching noises as the people in their cars are still staring helplessly, and not seeming to care. After this action has happened and the man appears to be dead, it shows the man outside of his car escaping all of those people and flying to the sky with noises of the wind playing in the background. However, when it appears he is out of the company of all those people, it shows that he is being used as a kite by a man as there is a rope on his leg. Then he eventually falls towards the sea, and the man wakes up showing the audience that it was a dream. This makes the audience feel that this man has been quite upset and depressed as his dreams seem to reflect that he may feel helpless with no one actually wanting to help him, and when he feels like he is free, it turns out he is not free and is tied down to something that he does not want to be tied down to, which leaves the audience asking why is he upset and why does he feel helpless and tied down. This film is also an effective opening sequence as at first the audience have no clue as to what is going on, and it leaves them asking questions and wanting to know, which keeps them watching.
Overall, I think that these films are have effective opening sequences as they do not give the storyline away and are not predictable. This is a good thing as they grip the audience from the start as they leave the audience wondering what is going to happen next and it also leaves them asking many questions about why things happened too.
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