The first few minutes of a film will often either leave the audience full of excitement and eager to see how the story of the movie will play out, wondering what hints they were shown in the opening credits to what they're about to watch. Sometimes these opening moments are grander than the film that follows them. Sometimes you talk to your friends about the notebooks instead of the head in the box, or the silhouetted men running around more than the prodigy delinquent. Ian & Alex of The Art of the Title Sequenceare two curators of a collection of title sequences best described as fine art.
If you make a car chase using only one camera angle, it will be the world's most boring chase, no matter how fast the cars are going. The key to making chase scenes work is an abundance of coverage. The more cuts in the scene, the more effective it tends to be. Adding the right soundtrack to accompany the visuals finishes off a more effective action scene. Videomaker's first mag and online tutorial will cover the technique of making exciting chase scenes.
It was the summer of 1990. I had just finished filming an Indiana Jones spoof with some friends on my home video camera – the old ones that rested on your shoulders and only came with a black and white viewfinder.