Forrest Gump Opening Scene : How to use long shots

The exemple of the opening scene of Forrest Gump shows a good use of a long unique shot : cut based on a moving object (the plume) and Forrest Gump's Reaction to this discovery. This unique shot has one principal purpose : relax the spectators.

The music is also important in this process of relaxing the audition : in this special case, the music grows more as the plume approaches the protagonist (Forrest Gump). Alan Silvestri's song is getting more and more instruments in it to end as a real orchestra. This effect of the music getting intensity also helps the spectator getting in the movie easier.

The unique shot of 3 minutes is a very hard thing to do because of the fact that it has to be done perfectly or every has to be re-done.

The opening scene doesn't show a lot about the movie itself. The spectator has to think about what he sees and, for example, see a metaphor of a life in this long shot based on a feather.

This long cut inspired me for the fisrt part of my openning scene.