{"product_id":"9780231544061","title":"Cinematic Overtures: How to Read Opening Scenes","description":"A great movie’s first few minutes are the key to the rest of the film. Like the opening paragraphs of a novel, they draw the viewer in and set up the thematic concerns and stylistic approach that will be developed over the course of the narrative. A strong opening sequence leads the viewer to trust the filmmakers. Other times, opening shots are intentionally misleading as they invite alert, active participation with the film. In \u003ci\u003eCinematic Overtures,\u003c\/i\u003e Annette Insdorf discusses the opening sequence so that viewers turn first impressions into deeper understanding of cinematic technique.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrom Joe Gillis’s voice-over in \u003ci\u003eSunset Boulevard\u003c\/i\u003e as he lies dead in a swimming pool to the hallucinatory opening of \u003ci\u003eApocalypse Now\u003c\/i\u003e, from a stream-of-consciousness montage as found in \u003ci\u003eHiroshima, mon amour \u003c\/i\u003eto the slowly unfolding beginning of \u003ci\u003eSchindler’s List\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eCinematic Overtures\u003c\/i\u003e analyzes opening shots from a range of Hollywood and international films. Insdorf pays close attention to how the viewer makes sense of these scenes and the cinematic world they are about to enter. As she looks at the strategies of opening scenes, Insdorf also examines how films critique and explore the power of the camera’s gaze. Along with analyses of opening scenes, the book offers a series of revelatory and surprising readings of individual films and the works of some of the leading directors of the past seventy-five years.Erudite but accessible, \u003ci\u003eCinematic Overtures\u003c\/i\u003e will lead film scholars and ardent movie fans alike to greater attentiveness to those fleeting opening moments.","brand":"Columbia University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47118688911600,"sku":"9780231544061","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780231544061_p0.jpg?v=1763679371","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780231544061","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}