Make ‘Em Laugh

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 – 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.

Pitch Perfect

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.

Moana (Auli’i Cravalho) Photo courtesy of Walt Disney Animation Studios

Moana 2 has a joyous Polynesian song in the opening and then we see Moana (Auli’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’s waitin’ for you,
And I’m gone,
Sittin’ by the phone,
And I’m all alone,
By the wayside,

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.

Tangential Threads

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 – 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.

Louise Banks (Amy Adams) in Arrival. Photo courtesy of Film Nation

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’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.

The Promise

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 – 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.

Recap

Let’s list some of the ingredients of openings.

• • Match the movie.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Intrigue the audience.
  • Grab the audience, yes, but really intrigue the audience is a better mandate.
    • 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.
  • The more questions you can create (in a good, not confusing way) in the audience’s mind the more mileage you’ll get.
  • Connect the dots.
  • 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.
• Be creative.
  • One chance.
    • 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.
• 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.

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 – you just don’t have that much time in a script and every word is precious.

And make it memorable!