How do film openings attract certain audiences?

Mainstream and independent films use different techniques in their openings to attract the certain audience for the specific genre of the film. For example, a film like 'The Dark Knight' (TDKR) Rises uses lots of high budget props, complex camera shots, high cost locations and an action scene, compared to a film like 'This is England' (TIE)  uses very simple shots, is all shot on locations and the props are basic.

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The three factors that I mentioned in the first paragraph all play big parts in mainstream and independent films attracting their desired audience, however for TDKR the main attraction from the opening scene for the audience is that there is action throughout the opening sequence, keeping the audience plugged in at all times, preventing them from getting bored. As TDKR did so well with regards to box office and opening weekend, a lot of mainstream film companies will see it as a template, and put action into a lot of their newer film openings to try and attract a wider audience.

TIE uses techniques such as music and tries to make the film seem as realistic as possible within its opening to attract audience. The music used is quite upbeat, giving off a positive attitude towards the rest of the film, and the song is from the 1980's, which is when the film was set (1983 precisely), and this is done to try and make the people who grew up in that time period be interested in the film, as well as younger generations so they can see what average life was like back then. The film is set in 1983, and the film opening is very clear in telling the audience that it is set in the 1980's, which instantly makes people born in that era interested, and that age group is one of the main target audiences for this film, so doing that is very effective in attracting that audience.

As one of the films is mainstream, and the other is independent, this affects the whole film, as well as
the opening. Due to the fact that TDKR is a mainstream film and has been made by a big name company means that they will get a lot more funding, therefore can make more of an effort and spend more money on the opening of their films, in order to attract a wider range of audience. However, as TIE is an independent film, it wouldn't have the funding that a mainstream film has, therefore cannot spend as much money making a good opening to try and attract their specific target audience, which is why mainstream films are always more successful at attracting more people, as their openings are most costly, making them more effective and make them a higher quality.