The introduction to a movie or book is essential to setting up the rest of the plot. A boring and insignificant introduction will cause the audience to disinterested, or if it is on TV they may even be tempted to change the channel; however, on the opposite spectrum, if the introduction is intriguing and appears to be setting up a classic, the reader or audience will be drawn in and will read on instead of picking another book or settle down on the coach with a bag of popcorn and prepare themselves for and hour and a half to remember. Some great examples of movie introductions are SAW I and The Matrix. In SAW I, the movie opens up from the perspective of a man who is trapped in a torcher-chair set up by the main character. At first you are only seeing the scene through his eyes, so the audience is extremely confused, which draws them in and puts them on the edge of their seats immediately. Once the camera angle backs up to see the whole room, you come to realize the situation; this was a genius idea by the director, for a few seconds into the movie the audience is already captivated. Not to be topped, The Matrix has an introduction that just leaves the audience puzzled. The scene opens up with the main character, Keanu Reeves, sitting at a computer in a dark room. He begins to receive what looks like message, but it is in a code that he can’t decipher. As you try to figure out what is happening, multiple police officers plow through his apartment door ready to fire. By the end of the scene he has fought off and escaped the police force and is taken into an entirely different dimension. There are plenty of great movie introductions, but these are two of my favorites from recent years. From introduction to Macbeth, the reader can get excited about the power greed present in the main characters. The witches are images that I think will be reoccurring throughout the rest of the play. They are the reason source of this power hungry outrage, for they have placed thoughts into Macbeth’s mind that he can become even greater and more powerful than he is now by taking King Duncan’s throne. It has set a creepy mood, that has the reader wondering if the soft Macbeth can really go through with killing King Duncan, or if he will the job for his monstrous wife. To sum up my post, a great introduction is essential to setting up the rest of the book or movie, for it can determine whether the audience turns its attention away or find themselves at the beginning of a classic; the early motifs and mood set in the introduction of Macbeth will by interesting to watch how the develop.
