<div class="seriesmeta">This entry is part 1 of 2 in the series <a href="https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/Best Of 2020/openings/" class="series-4325" title="Openings">Openings</a></div><div class="seriesbox"><div class="center"> <a href="https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/Best Of 2020/openings/" class="series-4325" title="Openings">Openings</a></div><ul class="serieslist-ul"><li class="serieslist-li-current">Writing Memorable Script Openings (Part 2)</li><li class="serieslist-li"><a href="https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/writing-memorable-script-openings-part-1/" title="Writing Memorable Script Openings (Part 1)">Writing Memorable Script Openings (Part 1)</a></li></ul></div><h3>Make &#8216;Em Laugh</h3>
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Of course, comedies need to be funny and that starts right at the beginning of the film. Mel Brooks was a master of comedic openings. Blazing Saddles has a fairly mundane opening with a theme song that sounds just like any western theme song. So where’s the comedy? Being satirical, the humor is exactly that &#8211; it sounds and opens like any western not an offensive, at times hilarious, spoof. And even the man singing the song, legit crooner Frankie Laine, reportedly didn’t know it was the outrageous comedy it was. He thought he was singing a true western opening.
Deadpool and Wolverine has this epic fight scene with *NSync singing “Bye, Bye, Bye” playing over it but before that happens we Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) breaking (shattering) the fourth wall by talking about the logo music, Disney, Fox, etc. And then digging up Wolverine in North Dakota. You’re smiling already and of course the franchise has always been this irreverent to good effect. The opening sequences are absolutely suited to these films.
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<h3>Pitch Perfect</h3>
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Openings need tone. Meaning, they have to reflect the joy, fear, anger, etc., of the film.
Legally Blonde opens with a young woman on a bicycle riding through a college campus. She’s waved at, called out to, and generally happily acknowledged. Over the opening the earworm by Hoku, Perfect Day plays to great effect. Of course most of us wouldn’t be lucky enough to be able to present a pop hit like that in any form let alone in a script presentation, but the writer could suggest the song by writing about how gorgeous the day is, how happy everyone is, etc. This is a credit sequence in the movie and not something normally up to the writer but the concept is valid.
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<div id="attachment_47725" style="width: 783px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-47725" class="wp-image-47725 " src="https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/cswcms/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/KgGowXJE3ZgnGA8dgu7PAP-1024x576.jpg" alt="Creative Screenwriting Magazine " width="773" height="434" srcset="https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/cswcms/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/KgGowXJE3ZgnGA8dgu7PAP-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/cswcms/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/KgGowXJE3ZgnGA8dgu7PAP-150x84.jpg 150w, https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/cswcms/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/KgGowXJE3ZgnGA8dgu7PAP-250x141.jpg 250w, https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/cswcms/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/KgGowXJE3ZgnGA8dgu7PAP-768x432.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 773px) 100vw, 773px" />Moana (Auli&#8217;i Cravalho) Photo courtesy of Walt Disney Animation Studios</div>
Moana 2 has a joyous Polynesian song in the opening and then we see Moana (Auli&#8217;i Cravalho), now a powerful, young woman, running pell-mell through the forest. Again, script-wise we can only suggest an opening song, but any Disney-hire for scriptwriting duties is going to get some of the best in the business to write music for the film. So suggestions are appropriate in the script.
The recent remake of A Star is Born shows a concert stadium venue and rock star Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper) heading to the stage to play his opening number. On the way, he downs drugs and drink, and we hear a raucous crowd before launching into a song called “Black Eyes.”
JACK 
(singing) 
‘Black eyes open wide, 
It’s time to testify, 
There’s no room for lies, 
And everyone&#8217;s waitin’ for you, 
And I&#8217;m gone, 
Sittin’ by the phone, 
And I&#8217;m all alone, 
By the wayside,
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This sets the tone for the film and draws a stark contrast between him and Lady Gaga who comes in with her own song just minutes later.
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<h3>Tangential Threads</h3>
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The Untouchables doesn’t bring in main character Elliot Ness (Kevin Costner) until after we get a total sense of how brutal Al Capone (Robert De Niro) is. There’s a scene with Capone with the press as he’s getting shaved and he’s cut by the barber who reels back in horror showing how capricious Capone’s anger is; but the kicker is when Frank Nitty (Billy Drago) blows up a bar that won’t buy Capone’s rot gut. Brian De Palma and writer David Mamet make sure the impact is felt because it’s a little girl holding the briefcase bomb in the doorway of the bar when it explodes. Welcome to Capone’s Chicago in the 30s &#8211; a great way to set the stakes and introduce the world. We don’t see Eliot Ness until later but we have these moments in mind when we do.
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<div id="attachment_47726" style="width: 781px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-47726" class="wp-image-47726 " src="https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/cswcms/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Arrival-4-1024x640.jpg" alt="Creative Screenwriting Magazine" width="771" height="482" srcset="https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/cswcms/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Arrival-4-1024x640.jpg 1024w, https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/cswcms/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Arrival-4-150x94.jpg 150w, https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/cswcms/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Arrival-4-250x156.jpg 250w, https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/cswcms/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Arrival-4-768x480.jpg 768w, https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/cswcms/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Arrival-4.jpg 1560w" sizes="(max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px" />Louise Banks (Amy Adams) in Arrival. Photo courtesy of Film Nation</div>
The opening of Arrival is a montage which shows scenes with a quiet, serious voice over of Amy Adams’ character and her daughter at various ages.
The somber opening feels more suited to a drama and not a scifi thriller. You’d be excused if you’re wondering what’s going on.
LOUISE (cont) 
Now I&#8217;m not so sure 
I believe in beginnings 
and endings.
(beat)
There are days that define 
your story beyond your life.
(beat)
Like the day they arrived.
That ending line in the opening montage grabs you and sets up the arrival of the aliens but, as mentioned, before that it could have been any drama. The dialogue itself foreshadows the principals in the film that will make the difference. The film focuses intensely after this and tells an amazing story in the best tradition of science fiction tales.
None of this is apparent initially but once you understand the story, that opening, upon reflection, has direct and powerful impact that says so much.
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<h3>The Promise</h3>
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Openings are about the promise of what’s to come. The purpose of this is simple: create questions in the audience’s mind so they’ll stay engaged. Voice- overs are many times used in these types of openings to accomplish some good things.
Famously, Stand By Me uses an adult version of one of the boys who go on the journey to see the dead body. He mentions he was thirteen-yrs-old when he saw the dead body. Hmmm. Interesting. Tell me more.
A drawback to this is you know the character speaking probably survives the adventure &#8211; not such a bad thing, certainly, but writers need to use a V.O. opening with the right technique to ensure they don’t invalidate any suspense in their script’s storyline. It’s hard to be frightened for a character when we see them alive and well at some future point in the timeline.
In Brothers (Peter Dinklage, Josh Brolin), that’s not really an issue. Voiceover is used to good effect as images of someone building a vaguely dangerous, homemade explosive device is intercut with someone else making a typical Americana Thanksgiving dinner. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a juxtaposition like this and it really made me want to watch this film, especially when I heard this:
JADY MUNGER (V.O.) 
Did you ever think about trying to 
unf***(screw) your life? 
Yeah, maybe not. But I have. 
And this is how I did it.
(beat)
Some families have a long line of dentists or lawyers. 
We have a long line of felons.
We find out some funny specifics about those felons and their family and we’re hooked. I imagine reading the script and laughing aloud meaning I’m in. Mission accomplished.
In Joy, the recent docudrama about the first IVF baby, a voice-over from a letter mentions the main character, Jean Purdy (Thomasin McKenzie) and how without her contribution it wouldn’t have happened. Purdy was a twenty-three year old nurse so this is of interest. How many nurses are credited with a world-changing breakthrough in medical science? Probably not nearly enough. The V.O. is a recommendation that she be included in credit for the breakthrough. That’s intriguing and made me want to watch the film and it would likely have propelled anyone to read the script. Again, success.
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<h3>Recap</h3>
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Let’s list some of the ingredients of openings.
<ul>
<li style="list-style-type: none;">
<ul>
<li>Match the movie.</li>
<li>All openings need to match the genre. Someone killing someone is not likely to be seen in a romantic comedy unless it’s a black comedy.</li>
<li>The Heathers a satire, has the song Que Sera Sera playing as three expertly coiffed women (all named Heather) tea and stroll on perfectly manicured lawns. They hit croquet balls, the last one bonking a buried Winona Ryder in the head. Brilliant and perfect for the satirical nature of the movie.</li>
<li>Intrigue the audience.</li>
<li>Grab the audience, yes, but really intrigue the audience is a better mandate.
<ul>
<li>Opening with a character beginning their morning routine is just about the lamest, most cliché way to start any film. What about that is even remotely interesting? Now if the character is a rock climber and that morning routine happens in one of those tents that are hung from the side of a cliff then that’s obviously a different color cat.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>The more questions you can create (in a good, not confusing way) in the audience’s mind the more mileage you’ll get.</li>
<li>Connect the dots.</li>
<li>An opening gambit is a set piece that isn’t necessarily connected with the main story. Raiders of the Lost Ark has an amazing opening (eight minutes of suspense and action) that doesn’t have direct relevance to the quest for the Ark. It’s designed for other things. And although we do meet Beloq, Indy’s nemesis, we don’t connect him yet with the Ark adventure.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Be creative.
<ul>
<li>One chance.
<ul>
<li>Imagine your opening scene is the most important writing you’ll ever do. In some ways it is. It’s your handshake, the coffee cup challenge, the only chance you may get to land that gig. Make it count. Let other people read it and give you feedback.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Do an AI or Google search on the concept of your opening. Ask if there are other similar openings out there and research what those openings did right or wrong.</li>
</ul>
Any opening can be connected or not connected directly to the storyline. It’s up to you. But make certain you’re not creating something superfluous to the story &#8211; you just don’t have that much time in a script and every word is precious.
And make it memorable!
<fieldset><legend>Series Navigation</legend><a href="https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/writing-memorable-script-openings-part-1/" title="Writing Memorable Script Openings (Part 1) &gt;&gt;">Writing Memorable Script Openings (Part 1) &gt;&gt;</a></fieldset>

Writing Memorable Script Openings (Part 2)

<div class="seriesmeta">This entry is part 2 of 2 in the series <a href="https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/Best Of 2020/openings/" class="series-4325" title="Openings">Openings</a></div><div class="seriesbox"><div class="center"> <a href="https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/Best Of 2020/openings/" class="series-4325" title="Openings">Openings</a></div><ul class="serieslist-ul"><li class="serieslist-li"><a href="https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/writing-memorable-script-openings-part-2/" title="Writing Memorable Script Openings (Part 2)">Writing Memorable Script Openings (Part 2)</a></li><li class="serieslist-li-current">Writing Memorable Script Openings (Part 1)</li></ul></div>Let’s get the cliché out of the way, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” In movies, that may not be true because people coming to your work may already know about the movie or TV series, but the first people to actually judge your work are reading it, not watching it. They may reject your script if you don’t engage them right away. In any case, if you have an insipid opening, it will be twice as hard to get someone to say yes because they’re already making decisions about your script in the context of a lame opening.
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<h3>The Contract With The Audience</h3>
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Years ago, I was in a theater watching who-knows-what and I noticed I couldn’t get comfortable. No, it wasn’t the guy behind me blowing popcorn breath on the back of my head, or the idiot trying to impress his date with his arcane knowledge of the history of the film &#8211; it was that I never felt like I was given what I needed to enjoy the movie. The filmmakers hadn’t set the film up properly and I was just unengaged and lost.
Afterwards, I came to the conclusion that there’s a process of getting stories rolling. And the most important part of that is the opening sequence. You may think it’s a cliche but that opening does so much you cannot really be without a strong presentation. And it’s only a cliché if you make it a cliché. It’s incumbent on you, as the writer, to elevate openings so they do what they’re supposed to do but in a different manner than the rest of the openings we’ve seen.
I identified the “Contract With The Audience” (Quantum Scriptwriting, Part I, Act I, Setup) as the items you need to accomplish to fully engage an audience, reader or viewer. Again, the opening sequence is perhaps the most important of that list. From a purely practical angle, it’s the handshake with the reader. Readers are typically writers and we are a harsh and sometimes petty group. We resent the reading even though as a reader it’s literally our job! In defense, we can also be impressed with a stunning opening. So cliché away at your own peril.
If you do the opening right, you establish a bond with the audience (the reader) that then will gain you a lot of goodwill throughout the script and make that script even more interesting.
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<h3>Big Openings</h3>
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Recently, a student wrote an eleven-page scene of mayhem that his character, a rock star, engendered. The character was nude from start and finish and flashed his frank and beans all over L.A. while being chased by various cops and offended citizenry. It was fantastic if a little over the top. Ultimately the opening pages were reduced in length but it still made a great opening introduction and showed the vision he had of that character’s world.
Look at other big openings: Raiders of the Lost Ark has an eight-minute insane opening sequence that starts the movie. Baby Driver has a really tense anticipatory opening that roars into crazy-ass drifting and driving once the bank robbers jump in. I love the moment when one of the robbers points to go and Baby, Ansel Elgort, zooms backwards. 
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<div id="attachment_47715" style="width: 782px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-47715" class="wp-image-47715 " src="https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/cswcms/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Drew-Barrymore-Casey-Scream-1024x512.jpg" alt="Creative Screenwriting Magazine" width="772" height="386" srcset="https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/cswcms/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Drew-Barrymore-Casey-Scream-1024x512.jpg 1024w, https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/cswcms/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Drew-Barrymore-Casey-Scream-150x75.jpg 150w, https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/cswcms/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Drew-Barrymore-Casey-Scream-250x125.jpg 250w, https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/cswcms/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Drew-Barrymore-Casey-Scream-768x384.jpg 768w, https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/cswcms/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Drew-Barrymore-Casey-Scream.jpg 1400w" sizes="(max-width: 772px) 100vw, 772px" />Casey (Drew Barrymore) in Scream. Photo courtesy of Dimension Films</div>
Scream plays with genre and expectations as Drew Barrymore answers a phone call and flirts with the caller &#8211; until he reveals he’s been watching her and things start to get weird.  Of course, no one thinks they’re gonna kill a star like Drew Barrymore. And then they do.
These openings shout to the audience to pay attention and put that popcorn away &#8211; things are gonna get mental.
Reading these scripts would have been such a dream to any producer. Nothing is what it appears to be and everything that follows should be a pure joy to read.
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<h3>Bond. James Bond</h3>
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The big opening is nothing new. Movies from the dim days of film history have always shown the audiences the sizzle and the steak.
Perhaps no more faithful adherer to this are the James Bond films. In watching all twenty-five recently, I was shocked when one of them, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, did not open with a huge action set piece. No car chases, fights, bombs &#8211; and the only gun in the sequence is a disassembled rifle that Bond only uses to scope out something in the scene.
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<div id="attachment_47716" style="width: 781px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-47716" class="wp-image-47716 " src="https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/cswcms/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/maxresdefault-1024x576.jpg" alt="Creative Screenwriting Magazine" width="771" height="434" srcset="https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/cswcms/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/maxresdefault-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/cswcms/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/maxresdefault-150x84.jpg 150w, https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/cswcms/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/maxresdefault-250x141.jpg 250w, https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/cswcms/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/maxresdefault-768x432.jpg 768w, https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/cswcms/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/maxresdefault.jpg 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px" />George Lazenby as James Bond. Photo courtesy of Eon Productions</div>
Contrast this to the amazing openings in all the Daniel Craig Bond movies where frantic chase scenes on foot and in cars take place.
The next Bond should be interesting in that the producers lately seem determined to re-invent the master spy. Will they then do away with the great opening set pieces? No more Bond driving a motorcycle off a cliff and skydiving to a pilotless airplane? Doubtful. Bravura openings have become a franchise expectation and no matter what they do with character, the Bond films are action films and require an action opening.
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<h3>Small, But Memorable</h3>
&nbsp;
American Beauty is a challenging movie on many levels these days. You’re shown this by an opening that can be described as, well, if you haven’t seen it try it on. But the most memorable part of that opening is the main character’s contention that this (what he does in the shower) is the high point of his day. In mere moments we already know a lot about this sad sack of a man who will upend his life completely.
Get Shorty doesn’t open with a bang but has a quiet buildup to a moment with Chili Palmer (John Travolta) and Ray Barboni (Dennis Farina). Travolta translates the character perfectly. He’s calm, calculating, in charge of himself and the small things that happen lead to a moment that will have implications throughout.
Ted Danson’s recent turn as Charles Nieuwendyk in A Man on the Inside (show runner Mike Schur) has a very mundane opening, more like an extended montage, to show Charles’ sleepy world of retirement and widowhood. It’s done to contrast what he will be doing, but also to show that he’s living a boring, repetitive life at this point. I’m not sure how I would have approached this, but I can understand and embrace its efficacy. It also shows us how meticulous Charles is in his grooming and coffee making, using a scale to weigh exactly the right amount of beans. It’s a quiet opening that accomplishes a lot. By the way, this funny series is based on a documentary, shown on the screen, which makes it even more interesting.
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<div id="attachment_47717" style="width: 780px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-47717" class="wp-image-47717 " src="https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/cswcms/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/22inside-review-pwmz-videoSixteenByNine3000-1024x576.jpg" alt="Creative Screenwriting Magazine" width="770" height="433" srcset="https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/cswcms/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/22inside-review-pwmz-videoSixteenByNine3000-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/cswcms/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/22inside-review-pwmz-videoSixteenByNine3000-150x84.jpg 150w, https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/cswcms/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/22inside-review-pwmz-videoSixteenByNine3000-250x141.jpg 250w, https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/cswcms/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/22inside-review-pwmz-videoSixteenByNine3000-768x432.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 770px) 100vw, 770px" />Charles Nieuwendyk (Ted Danson) in A Man On The Inside</div>
Small openings are a challenge because you have to be working at a high level of skill to know how to hook your reader with a gentle brush as opposed to throwing a gallon of paint at the canvas.
&nbsp;
<h3>The Hook</h3>
&nbsp;
X-Files perfected the opening hook for series TV. Episodes showed deliberately mysterious events that were then investigated by Scully and Mulder. Taking his X-Files sensibilities with him, Vince Gilligan created many more memorable openings in Breaking Bad. 
For example, Season 3, Episode 1 had one of the best openings I’ve ever seen anywhere.
In a rural village many people are shown crawling in the dirt. A new car pulls up and expensive boots set down in the dirt. The boots have death’s heads on them. The men are dressed in $3,000 suits. They suddenly drop down and begin to crawl with the rest of the villagers. They are heading to a shrine to make an offering to give them luck against the man they’ve been hired to kill &#8211; Heisenberg (Bryan Cranston).
I’ve never seen a more compelling or original opening. And I could no more turn that episode off than turn down a bowl of Chunky Monkey. Gilligan had hooked me into watching it and I did. I guarantee if this had been a spec script whoever was reading it would have continued to turn pages.
Masterful.
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<div id="attachment_47718" style="width: 781px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-47718" class="wp-image-47718 " src="https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/cswcms/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/maxresdefault-2-1024x576.jpg" alt="Creative Screenwriting Magazine " width="771" height="434" srcset="https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/cswcms/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/maxresdefault-2-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/cswcms/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/maxresdefault-2-150x84.jpg 150w, https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/cswcms/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/maxresdefault-2-250x141.jpg 250w, https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/cswcms/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/maxresdefault-2-768x432.jpg 768w, https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/cswcms/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/maxresdefault-2.jpg 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px" />Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) in Mission Impossible 3. Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures</div>
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<h3>Non-Linear Openings</h3>
&nbsp;
Trickeration, as the sports pundits call it, is doing something unexpected. One of my favorite examples of the unexpected is the Mission Impossible III movie. It opens with Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise), tied up in a chair and being questioned. Across from him is his wife. If Ethan doesn’t tell Phillip Seymour Hoffman what he wants to know, they will kill his wife. He swears he doesn’t know and they shoot her. Shocking! Well, maybe not. But it is a grabber and you sit there thinking, did they really just kill her?
The purpose of opening this way is if you have a slowly developing story and you want to show the audience they need to stick around. If they’re killing main characters off in the opening then where is this crazy movie going?
Hoffman is involved in another non-linear movie, Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead which keeps folding in on itself to tell the story of two brothers who will be robbing their parents’ jewelery store. The opening shows a married couple (Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Marisa Tomei) making passionate love &#8211; it piques your interest, and then falls back to display a suburban neighborhood and The Day of The Robbery. Hmmm. Intriguing. Gotta follow that.
Wicked opens with the Wicked Witch having been destroyed by Dorothy. Galinda (Ariana Grande) is asked about the nature of evil and she recounts the past history of the witch. It’s a brutal tale filled with rejection and prejudice and we can begin to understand how Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) went bad as the story rolls forward.
<fieldset><legend>Series Navigation</legend><a href="https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/writing-memorable-script-openings-part-2/" title="&lt;&lt; Writing Memorable Script Openings (Part 2)">&lt;&lt; Writing Memorable Script Openings (Part 2)</a></fieldset>

Writing Memorable Script Openings (Part 1)

<div class="seriesmeta">This entry is part 2 of 2 in the series <a href="https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/Best Of 2020/raiders-of-the-lost-ark/" class="series-4319" title="Raiders Of The Lost Ark">Raiders Of The Lost Ark</a></div><div class="seriesbox"><div class="center"> <a href="https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/Best Of 2020/raiders-of-the-lost-ark/" class="series-4319" title="Raiders Of The Lost Ark">Raiders Of The Lost Ark</a></div><ul class="serieslist-ul"><li class="serieslist-li"><a href="https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/deconstructing-raiders-of-the-lost-ark-part-1/" title="Deconstructing &#8220;Raiders Of The Lost Ark&#8221; (Part 1)">Deconstructing &#8220;Raiders Of The Lost Ark&#8221; (Part 1)</a></li><li class="serieslist-li-current">Deconstructing &#8220;Raiders Of The Lost Ark&#8221; (Part 2)</li></ul></div><h3>Heart And Soul</h3>
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I’ve been teaching this film for decades and I am honestly surprised when  students mostly miss the serious themes here.
I ask, “Is Indiana Jones a nice person?” On several levels he is not.
RE: Marion. Their backstory is involved. They knew each other when Jones was a student and Marion’s father was his mentor. They had an affair. He left her high and dry, not taking responsibility for the romance even ten years later.
Marion stops, stares, shocked.
INDY 
Hello, Marion.
She HITS HIM with a solid right to the jaw. He rubs his jaw.
INDY 
Nice to see you, too.
MARION 
Get out.
— cut —
MARION 
I’ll tell you something, Indy. I’ve 
learned to hate you in the last ten 
years. But somehow, no matter how 
much I hated you, I always knew 
that someday you’d come through 
that door. I never doubted that. 
Something made it inevitable.
INDY 
I need one of the pieces your 
father collected.
Marion’s eyes go icy. She swings at him again with her right, 
but this time he catches her at the wrist.
MARION 
You son-of-a-bitch! You know what 
you did to me, to my life? This is 
your handiwork.
INDY 
I never meant to hurt you.
MARION 
I was a child!
INDY 
You knew what you were doing.
MARION 
It was wrong and you knew it.
Which begs a troubling question about how old everyone was at the time and exactly what happened.
&nbsp;
<div id="attachment_47672" style="width: 779px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-47672" class="wp-image-47672 " src="https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/cswcms/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/MV5BMTdkNDI2ZWYtMjNkZC00Nzc2LTk1NmEtMWE1ZDA2ZGRkN2Q2XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjQ4ODE4MzQ@._V1_-1024x527.jpg" alt="Creative Screenwriting Magazine" width="769" height="396" srcset="https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/cswcms/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/MV5BMTdkNDI2ZWYtMjNkZC00Nzc2LTk1NmEtMWE1ZDA2ZGRkN2Q2XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjQ4ODE4MzQ@._V1_-1024x527.jpg 1024w, https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/cswcms/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/MV5BMTdkNDI2ZWYtMjNkZC00Nzc2LTk1NmEtMWE1ZDA2ZGRkN2Q2XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjQ4ODE4MzQ@._V1_-150x77.jpg 150w, https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/cswcms/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/MV5BMTdkNDI2ZWYtMjNkZC00Nzc2LTk1NmEtMWE1ZDA2ZGRkN2Q2XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjQ4ODE4MzQ@._V1_-250x129.jpg 250w, https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/cswcms/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/MV5BMTdkNDI2ZWYtMjNkZC00Nzc2LTk1NmEtMWE1ZDA2ZGRkN2Q2XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjQ4ODE4MzQ@._V1_-768x396.jpg 768w, https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/cswcms/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/MV5BMTdkNDI2ZWYtMjNkZC00Nzc2LTk1NmEtMWE1ZDA2ZGRkN2Q2XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjQ4ODE4MzQ@._V1_.jpg 1600w" sizes="(max-width: 769px) 100vw, 769px" />Indy Jones (Harrison Ford) &amp; Marion Ravenswood (Karen Allen) Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures</div>
This section is important because it points out, by intuitive logic, that this was what tore Indy away from his mentor, Ravenwood. Indy says to the Army men that he hasn’t seen Ravenwood for a number of years. This is why.
It’s also a major part of the B-story which we’ll cover in the next section.
&nbsp;
<h3>A&amp;B Story</h3>
&nbsp;
All well-executed movies that come from well-written scripts have a strong A- and B-story.
The A-story is the plot. The B-story is the Emotional Core, in many cases the theme. Articles on this site have covered the Emotional Core, but let’s briefly discuss it here.
Indy is flawed. He values the artifacts he obsessively hunts, but not deeply. As an archaeologist he’s top notch; as a person &#8211; not so much. He understands full well the extrinsic value of the artifacts he goes after, but not their intrinsic value. In other words, he only acknowledges that they have value in a real-world sense.
The Ark is a religious artifact and everyone but Indy believes in its power. They understand the spiritual or intrinsic value. Indy does not.
BRODY 
No one knows its secrets. It&#8217;s like nothing 
you&#8217;ve ever gone after before.
INDY 
Oh, Marcus. What are you trying to do, scare me? 
You sound like my mother. We&#8217;ve known each other 
for a long time. I don&#8217;t believe in magic, a lot 
of superstitious hocus-pocus. I&#8217;m going after a 
find of incredible historical significance. 
You&#8217;re talking about the bogeyman.
There, in nutshell, is how Indy feels about the spiritual significance of the Ark. And for most of the movie, he maintains this attitude.
This cavalier approach also reflects how he treats people. He uses them like he used Marion ten years prior. Indy is a great adventurer but not really a good man. His journey chasing the Ark will change that, but it will nearly cost him his and Marion’s life.
Because there are two stories here, the A-story is resolved and also the B-story. By the time we get to the last act, Indy is much more in touch with himself and his actions, and it opens him up for he and Marion to rekindle their romance.
And in the last scenes, he tells Marion:
INDY 
Marion! Close your eyes!
Because he now believes in the spiritual significance of the Ark. That it is actually magic and has powers that he completely dismissed earlier and for most of his life.
Quite a change.
A brilliant and complete ending with an also incredible coda in Washington that satisfies both the A- and B-story.
MARION 
Hey, what happened? You don&#8217;t look very happy.
INDY 
Fools. Bureaucratic fools. They don&#8217;t know 
what they&#8217;ve got there.
Then, with a dazzling smile, Marion offers to buy him a drink and they walk off arm-in-arm. Indy has had a 180 degree change of mind.
&nbsp;
<div id="attachment_47673" style="width: 782px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-47673" class="wp-image-47673 " src="https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/cswcms/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/717cd2fb-9721-4759-b858-d096b6392c50-raiders1-1024x471.jpg" alt="Creative Screenwriting Magazine" width="772" height="355" srcset="https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/cswcms/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/717cd2fb-9721-4759-b858-d096b6392c50-raiders1-1024x471.jpg 1024w, https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/cswcms/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/717cd2fb-9721-4759-b858-d096b6392c50-raiders1-150x69.jpg 150w, https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/cswcms/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/717cd2fb-9721-4759-b858-d096b6392c50-raiders1-250x115.jpg 250w, https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/cswcms/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/717cd2fb-9721-4759-b858-d096b6392c50-raiders1-768x354.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 772px) 100vw, 772px" />Marion (Karen Allen) &amp; Indy Jones (Harrison Ford) Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures</div>
&nbsp;
<h3>Set Pieces That Rise Above The Noise</h3>
&nbsp;
I preach the gospel of uniqueness. With so much derivative material flooding the market, it’s incredibly inspiring to see a movie that still sets the bar so high.
I’m going to list some of the set pieces (scene sequences) that make Raiders so incredible.
<ul>
<li>Opening cave scene. That rolling ball still makes me grip the sides of the chair.</li>
<li>The teaching scene. I’ve never seen a girl print “I love you” on her eyelids.</li>
<li>The Army scene. Because of the information being given.
<ul>
<li>Also note the way the exposition is skillfully shuttled between all four characters in rotating fashion. Great technique.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>The Nepal scenes including Marion’s intro and the fighting scenes.</li>
<li>The medallion reveal and dead monkey moment.</li>
<li>The marketplace scene.</li>
<li>The cafe scene where Indy is in mourning over Marion and willing to commit ‘suicide by Nazi.’</li>
<li>The Well of Souls moment which leads to Indy and Marion’s entombment.</li>
<li>The fight near the spinning propellers.</li>
<li>The insane chase on horseback.</li>
<li>The funny and touching ship scene between Indy and Marion.</li>
<li>The entire ending sequence.</li>
<li>The coda and that amazing scene in the government’s secret warehouse.</li>
</ul>
Of course, there’s also a hundred smaller moments that continue to delight even now, decades later.
&nbsp;
<h3>Structure</h3>
&nbsp;
As mentioned at the top of this article, this is my go-to movie for discussing structure. Charting it out according to my Informed Structure paradigm (Quantum Scriptwriting) it falls almost perfectly on the major tentpoles with those tentpoles happening every 15 &#8211; 20 minutes.
<ul>
<li>Indy on the quest.</li>
<li>In Egypt, Nazis digging in the wrong place.</li>
<li>Losing Marion.</li>
<li>Getting the Ark.</li>
<li>Losing the Ark.</li>
<li>Finding Marion.</li>
<li>Getting the Ark back.</li>
<li>Losing both Marion and the Ark.</li>
<li>Captured, all is lost.</li>
<li>Resolution.</li>
<li>Coda (potential for sequel)</li>
</ul>
Each carefully built tentpole adds, enhances and moves the story forward. There is no fat in this movie. It’s a marvel in how to actually deliver on a concept in major fashion. An entire scriptwriting course could be (should be) built around this movie.
&nbsp;
<h3>Enduring Legacy</h3>
&nbsp;
I’ve mentioned this but it bears repeating. This movie has the same impact today that it did when it premiered. I once assigned this to a class and one of the younger students had never heard of it. She came back after watching it in love with this adventure tale.
And sure, many others have imitated it, but nothing has diminished the quality of the script or the production.
None of the sequels have come close. I think it’s an almost impossible task to replicate such a nearly perfect movie. It never really feels dated. I can think of dozens of movies done in the last ten years that don’t hold up as well as this one. Sure, certain 1980s attitudes show but if you excuse them on the basis of this was a period piece and reflected the culture of the time (1936) then it’s not as egregious &#8211; just a little uncomfortable.
&nbsp;
<h3>Conclusion</h3>
&nbsp;
This film fulfills the most important mandate of any movie &#8211; it entertains. From the opening gambit to the last stunning image it grabs and holds you. It does the big things right and the little things even better.
For example, in the coda sequence on the steps of the building in Washington, Marion chases Indy up and down two or three stairs in comedic fashion. Is that necessary to anything? No. But it’s funny and it give you one last smile before our two heroes head off together arm-in-arm.
The small things as well as the big things.
Together with the amazing story, action set pieces, intense characters, interesting McGuffin and just everything combined, “Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark” remains one of the greatest scripts ever written and films ever produced.
<a href="https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/indiana-jones-and-the-last-crusade-learning-from-stoppard/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">[More: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: Learning from Stoppard]</a>
<fieldset><legend>Series Navigation</legend><a href="https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/deconstructing-raiders-of-the-lost-ark-part-1/" title="&lt;&lt; Deconstructing &#8220;Raiders Of The Lost Ark&#8221; (Part 1)">&lt;&lt; Deconstructing &#8220;Raiders Of The Lost Ark&#8221; (Part 1)</a></fieldset>

Writing Memorable Script Openings (Part 2)

Writing Memorable Script Openings (Part 1)

Deconstructing “Raiders Of The Lost Ark” (Part 2)

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