The opening scene or sequence is perhaps the most important element of a screenplay, especially when it comes to beginning screenwriters trying to break into the industry. It’s the moment where an experienced industry insider reading your script can and will pass near-instant judgment on your screenplay, your story, and your writing. 

Because of this undeniable truth, you want to make sure you:

• Capture their attention
• Engage their imagination and interest
• Compel them to read on
• Prove that you know the industry standards, guidelines, and expectations

And you have to do all of that within the first scene or sequence of your script, which equates to the first few pages. 

I’ve worked on both sides of the table in the Film/TV industry: 

1. As a script reader and story analyst for a major studio
2. Currently as a professional screenwriter with a dozen (and counting) produced features (and one miniseries) distributed on network television, Amazon Prime, Hulu, and iTunes. 

This is a unique perspective to have because I learned what major studios and networks wanted and needed in a script on the development end, and I quickly learned what I had to do as a screenwriter to facilitate those wants and needs in my own writing. 

Here we will tackle the subject of opening scenes from every angle, giving both beginner and more experienced screenwriters a taste of the expectations and guidelines of the film and television industry when it comes to the opening scenes of the screenplay submissions being considered. 

What Is an Opening Scene?

An opening scene or sequence is literally the first moment of your story within your screenplay. Since film and television are visual mediums, it’s smart to think in visuals. Opening scenes are the moments when the lights go down in the theater and your cinematic story begins to unfold for all to see.

It’s that breathtaking opening scene in the original Star Wars where a spaceship is evading an even bigger one in a galaxy far, far away. 

A New Hope Opening Scene (1/3) [4k UltraHD] - Star Wars: A New Hope

It’s that bloodcurdling moment in Jaws where a young woman goes for a late night swim and disappears into the dark depths of the ocean, attacked by… something.

Jaws | Opening Shark Attack in 4K | Own it now on 4K UHD 

It’s that engaging dialogue-driven opening moment between two compelling characters in Pulp Fiction that ends with a shocking shift to verbal threats, gunplay, and thievery. 

Pulp Fiction - Opening Scene

It’s that hilarious moment where we see the single-man life of a forty year-old virgin, in, well, The 40-Year-Old Virgin. 

how to start morning 40 years old virgin man

The latter is an example of how opening scenes can actually be opening sequences — moments woven together to create a sequence of scenes that open your story. 

Steve Carell in 'The 40-Year-Old Virgin'

Do Screenwriters Always Need Exciting Hooks to Open Their Scripts?

It doesn’t hurt to have exciting hooks in the opening pages of your script. You really want to make a great first impression. Yes, there are many iconic films that don’t have flashy or engaging opening hooks. Some movies are even referred to as slow burns, taking a good portion of the first act to get things going. 

However, we’re talking about undiscovered screenwriters trying to break through. You break through by writing spec scripts (screenplays written under speculation that they will be bought and produced). To stand out among the tens of thousands of other spec scripts in the market, it’s best to do whatever you can to hook the reader. 

Aren’t Opening Scenes Meant to Introduce Protagonists?  

The biggest mistakes beginner screenwriters make in their opening pages is using them to only introduce characters. Sure, we want to get to know the main characters as quickly as possible, but it’s how you do this that matters. You also need to introduce your concept, genre, and conflict as well. 

Introducing the Concept in Your Opening Scene

In the above examples we showcased, what was accomplished in each of them? We instantly knew what the concept was for each.

• In the opening of Star Wars, we knew this was a galactic space opera about two warring factions — the Galactic Empire and The Rebellion. 
• In the opening of Jaws, we knew that there was a major threat in the waters of an island community. 
• In the opening of Pulp Fiction, we knew this was going to be a story of witty and kinetic  dialogue and crime. An added element was offering us a tease of the finale scene as we spent the rest of the movie wondering how the other characters were connected to those opening characters (more on that later). 
• In the 40-Year-Old Virgin, we instantly knew that the character of Andy was caught in a world of being single — that imagery, matched with the title, set everything up for a hilarious story.    

The opening of your screenplay needs to convey the concept as quickly as possible, even if you introduce it vaguely, leaving the reader hooked and wanting more. 

Introducing the Genre in Your Opening Scene

The genre is key, too. Production companies are going to need to know what genre your story falls under. It helps them decide which scripts fit best for them. Sure, development executives likely know the genre by the time they receive and read your script. You or your reps queried them with a logline and/or short synopsis. However, most script readers don’t. Regardless, the genre should be present within those first few pages. 

Let’s go back to our examples to showcase how opening scenes introduce genre elements.  

• In Star Wars, we obviously knew that the genre was science fantasy or science fiction the moment we were in space and saw spaceships. 
• In Jaws, we knew immediately that this was a horror thriller tale after an unseen monster killed that young woman violently. 
• In Pulp Fiction, we knew we were in store for an exciting crime drama. 
• In 40-Year-Old-Virgin, once we saw Andy’s hilarious morning routine, we knew this was going to be a comedy full of laughs and hijinks. 

You always want to inject the genre elements to your script in the opening scene. You can accomplish this in a fairly simple manner — and you can be subtle with it too.

Let’s say you had a dramatic story that was actually set in space as a backdrop. The story itself was otherwise a drama, but let’s say a family was actually living on a spaceship as that drama unfolds. Simple visual reveals can hook the audience and showcase that the story is not just any family drama — it’s science fiction as well. Perhaps you open with a family dinner — something everyone can relate too. But then when one of the kids is asked to take out the garbage after dinner, they open a door, revealing a metallic spaceship hallway leading to an airlock where the kid inserts the garbage bag in through a futuristic shute, sending it out into the depths of space. 

That single visual introduces your story as science fiction — all within the first scene.  

Susan Backlinie in 'Jaws'

Introducing the Core Conflict of the Story in Your Opening Scene 

Conflict is everything in any story — especially movies. Whether it’s present in a drama with the inner conflict a character is dealing with (grief, sadness, depression, anxiety, ailments) or in an action flick where a hero must prevail over the threat of a villain. 

Hollywood needs to know what the story is about. Conflict is central to the story. 

• The galactic threat of the Empire.
• The unseen threat beneath the waters. 
• Criminals running amok. 
• A 40-year-old man that has never had sex (the title alone sells the conflict) living in a world where that is looked upon as strange. 

We need to see the conflict as early as possible — preferably in the first scene. Yes, you can be subtle with it. You don’t need to reveal the whole central conflict right away. But you do need to give us a taste of it at the very least. 

So How Do You Introduce Your Characters in the Opening Scene?  

The opening scene doesn’t always need to introduce your main characters. If you look at the horror classic Scream, the character introduced and dealing with the initial conflict of the whole story is killed off in the first scene. We don’t meet the real main characters until afterwards. 

SCREAM “Opening Scene” Clip (1996) Wes Craven

You can use the opening scene to introduce your concept, genre, and conflict, and then use the following scenes to introduce your characters, leaving the reader (and eventual audience) wondering how they will face the conflict introduced in the opening moments. That’s a natural hook right there. 

That said, most screenplays do introduce their main characters in the opening. The key is to not use the opening pages to do so without also introducing the concept, genre, and conflict. 

The trick to introducing your characters effectively is to briefly introduce them in their ordinary world first. We need to see them in their ordinary life before they face the conflict that will most certainly shake their world apart. Why? Because that begins their character arc. They start in one place both internally and externally, and end up in another place internally and externally by the end, completing their emotional and physical arc.

Tim Roth and Amanda Plummer  in 'Pulp Fiction'

What Are Some Creative Ways to Hook the Audience in the Opening Scene?

Here are two creative ways you can hook the audience in your opening scenes. 

Throw Your Protagonists Into the Conflict Right Away

You don’t always need to spend time introducing your characters in the opening scene. Sometimes the most effective way to hook an audience in the opening scene is by throwing your characters into the concept and conflict right away, and then allow us to discover them as protagonists as they deal with the conflict they are forced to face. 

The perfect example is John Carpenter’s The Thing. 

We open on a wolf being chased and shot at by men in a helicopter. Then…

The Thing 4K HDR | Opening Scene 
 
We haven’t been introduced to any of these characters. But the conflict is thrust upon them in that opening sequence. We later get to know them as they deal with the ramifications of being introduced to the conflict. 

Start with the End

There’s a common story structure called Fabula/Syuzhet Structure, where you essentially begin your screenplay with the end of the movie, just before the final climax. This allows you to start your script with more of a bang, leading to compelling intrigue as the reader (and eventual audience) are left trying to figure out how the characters you then introduce are connected to that scene. 

Look no further than the Pulp Fiction example above. 

But an even more effective way is to open with your main protagonist in some sort of climactic pickle, where the conflict of your story is at its highest and they seem to be in a predicament or place that looks inescapable. 

Fight Club is a perfect example of this. 

Fight Club opening dialogue

Find Your Own Creative Solution

My favorite part of screenwriting when I’m on a professional writing assignment is crafting a compelling opening scene. It’s fun. It’s exciting. Go into it with the goal of engaging the reader/audience and making sure that there’s no way they can put the script down or stop watching. 

Writing climatic endings is fun. Creating awesome launching points for your cinematic stories is even better.