Ted Guest 14/9/03
The opening scene in any film is important as it introduces the hero and other main characters. The idea is to catch the imagination of the audience and draw them into the film so they wish to watch all of it. There are lots of factors the director has to take into account when making the opening the scene these range from camera shots all the way through to sound.
The opening scene of “Gladiator” is remarkable as it lasts twelve minutes most opening scenes only last from 4-8 minutes. By doing this Ridley Scott as set the task of keeping the audience interested and drawn in the movie, for an event that last twelve minutes long. He was able to do this by making us feel as if we the audience were part of the film and played on the emotions of an audience. He does this by using variety of methods which spark our interest.