Opening Scene

[MindFreak]

Does anyone have any idea roughly how long an opening scene should be?

[dpaterso]

Oh, I'd say one line, e.g.

EXT. ESTABLISH LOCATION DESCRIPTION - DAY

Some splashes of paint, brief and to the point.

...That what you mean? Or do you mean an opening sequence? Theories vary, but an average of 15 minutes per sequence probably wouldn't be viewed as wrong.

-Derek
Derek's Web Page - stories, screenplays, novels, insanity. (http://hometown.aol.co.uk/DPaterson57/scripts.htm)

[MindFreak]

By opening scene I mean something that would happen at a single location, like before the credits. Thats sort of thing. I've heard that most scenes in movies are typically only a minute or two long but I wasnt sure if that would go for the opening scene.

[preyer]

i'm not sure it's something to worry about. start as late into the story as you can without sacrificing logic or characters, etc., but even then, some stories need to start at the very beginning. i mean, you wouldn't start 'alien' out without the exposition there, no? maybe approaching it under the assumption that 'the average opening scene is only a minute long' is limiting and self-defeating. were you writing in as a story, that's where i'd start, too, and see how it plays out.

what's 'raiders of the lost arc''s opening scene entail, anyway? perhaps i just haven't grasped the concept of a scene here, or i'm not placing enough importance on it

[dpaterso]

Maybe we're talking about a short teaser opening sequence? Which doesn't have to intro your protag but can be something else that sets up the story or hints at what's to come. As with all things this can be as long as you like, as long as it's interesting! But we're advised to intro the protag by page 10 at the latest. Maybe this offers a rough guide to the opening sequence length, if the protag isn't involved.

Raiders of the Lost Ark - the Amazonian jungle, the double-crossing native guides, Indy intro, entering the dusty temple, getting past the traps, finding the little gold statue, the giant stone ball, the double-crossing guide, Indy's rival and the headhunter natives, big chase, the plane, the snake... adding up to one heck of an opening sequence, but each of these is a "scene."

-Derek
Derek's Web Page - stories, screenplays, novels, insanity. (http://hometown.aol.co.uk/DPaterson57/scripts.htm)

[preyer]

right, wasn't sure exactly what was being asked. it seemed for a minute that 'scene' was being used in a very, very open way. that's cool as long as we know if there's a loose interpretation we're going by. i'm not happy with the way i worded that last reply in retrospect.

of course, not all movies try to show the protag ten pages/minutes into the movie. 'star wars' and 'titanic' are two examples, although it can be argued in 'titanic' rose was there from the start, so maybe that's not a great example. i agree, as long as it's interesting, these 'rules' should be used just as guidelines. sure, break them at your own peril, but don't be a slave to 'em either. that not only goes with scripts, of course, but also with things like traffic lights which are subject to interpretation, too.

something like a mystery where someone gets killed will naturally delay the protag detective probably, horror if there's an immediate body count, sci-fi if there's some kind of disaster before there's a need to call the protag scientist in.... it's difficult, too, when it's an ensemble and you pick up characters along the way, like 'LOTR' and i want to say 'x-men' may be like that.

to put it another way, i've always believed convention was there if you want to write a conventional story. by breaking the mold, you risk more but the rewards will probably be greater, and even if they're not there's still no value on what you've learned, eh?

[Joe Calabrese]

As long as it needs to be, yet keeping the reader engaged, involved and interested.

No scene, anywhere in your script should be longer than 5 pages, with four being a better goal.

My openings, which include the inciting incident, usually run around two and a half to three and a half pages. By the end of that, you know what kind of movie it is and its tone.

[WritingFool]

How elaborate should you get, on say action scenes, fight scenes, shootouts, which are very technical, and have so much going on in a smll timeframe, that cant simply be expressed with just a simple exchange.

One could describe it as, example.
everyone draws there weapons. bad guys try to surround the 2 good guys. good guys work in perfect unison, showing their masterful cohesion. Bullets fly, windows break, one guy down, shot in the head. Then another, center mass. And finally a 3rd guy is trapped and gives up. youd get the point that the (2) good guys get the final upper hand. But you really dont get feel about how they achieve this.

Or is it better to describe the main movements, and show exactly how they get the upper hand in detail.

Ive always thought of my writing as more of what a director would use, because they're so elaborate. This could be my detriment, because i know you dont want to tell a direcor how to direct. With this much detail, i find a scene that would run 1 minute screen time, but with so much going on needed to make its own point, it turns out to be 5, 6, 7 8 9 and 10 pages of dialogue and discription.

Im wondering if this is good or bad. I know its bad, but thats why all my stories seem extra long. I see too many of my scenes extremely vivid, and when I read scripts that have similiar action, it doesnt read as clear as mine, and that doesnt reflect on screne either. So this makes me confused as to just how much should or shouldnt be written. Should I write ammendments of some sort. Im stuck.

Any help greatly appreciated.

[MindFreak]

Sorry, I guess I should have been more specific. The opening scene does intro the protagonist and kind of sets the story in motion, I guess this would be the inciting incident. Anyways, thanks for your help guys, I really appreciate it.

[preyer]

i wonder that, too, WF. i guess it depends. in the example you provide, i see it happening as just another blasse shootout, guy on the top of the brothel grabs his chest and falls off screen, etc.. if, however, that guy lands on a sign standing out from the side of the building, i'd want to mention that. actually, when i get around to writing something like that, i'll probably do a combination. like in a novel, no one wants to read extended blow-for-blows, but you'd want to put in the highlights.

i'm just experimenting right now with writing a script. i still need to read a whole lot because i'm not sure exactly how it should be written. for instance, i've got a guy who sticks his head out the car window to shoot, so i guess that gets a new slugline? that is, can i imply this without having to write in a new slugline?

so far, i'm being rather light on description. a '35 black Cadillac is expressed as just that. do i need to add some details so the reader can visualize it better, or let it stand? guess that's where reading scripts comes in handy, eh? (yeah, yeah, i know i need to read more, so this is kind of a rhetorical question.) do people who read scripts need something beyond 'a dusty, quiet town in the 30's panhandle', or do they want to read about the lay-out of the town, the kinds of stores there are, what the people are dressed in, etc.?

[odocoileus]

One suggestion is to check out scripts in the same genre as yours, and see what they do. You don't have to imitate them. You can go in an entirely different direction because that could be fresher.

The TV scripts I've been reading lately have cold opens or teasers that run from 1 to 3 pages.

[WritingFool]

Im still looking for HBO Entourage scripts, that I dont have to pay for.
any one wth any links