Opening 2 mins of a film: Inglorious Basterds

In our groups, we all analysed the opening two minutes of the film Inglorious Basterds, directed by Quentin Tarantino. These are the main points that we discovered about the opening:

• The majority of the opening was the titles, however, these varied, as they had different font styles and sizes, depending on their role in the making of the film e.g. Director, Starring and Co-starring etc. all had different font styles and colours.  This use of the lengthy titles added to the enigma of the opening, as the audience will be waiting for the visuals to start. However, it could have the opposite of the desired effect, as some viewers may find it boring, and so may skip the opening titles, thus not creating the desired mood.
• You are also shown an establishing shot of a man chopping wood with an axe, followed by a shot of a woman hanging laundry on a line, which she then goes to look around as she hears a motor approaching  You are only shown a small section of visuals in the opening 2 minutes, which adds to the enigma of the clip, as the audience is only shown a snippet, and so are curious to find out more.
• Sound: The sound in the opening titles tells the audience a lot about what to expect from the movie. The music that is playing with the titles is not of this era, and so the audience can assume that the film is going to be a period piece.

Overall, I believe that this makes a very effective film opening, as it creates an enigma for the audience, and so keeps them wanting to continue watching to find out more.