DZ-89: Opening Sequences

Listen if you want to understand how great opening sequences establish character, genre, and theme while defying genre conventions

Inspired by her tweet on how subversive an opening OCEAN’S ELEVEN has, Chas and Stu invited amazing writer/director Jessica Ellis onto the show to deep dive into opening sequences. How does a good opening setup character, genre, and theme?

In exploring how best to open your story - instead of looking at the almost mandatory studio note of “dropping you in the action” - Stu, Chas and Jess look at the inventive openings of OCEAN’S ELEVEN, LONG SHOT, ARRIVAL and A SERIOUS MAN. Each of these films opens in a way that seems to defy its genre conventions and yet still provide all the set-up it needs to perfectly tell its story.

Thanks to Chris Walker for editing this episode.

As always: SPOILERS ABOUND and all copyright material used under fair use for educational purposes.

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CHAPTERS

00:00:56 – Intro

00:12:04 – Ocean's Eleven

00:30:26 – Long Shot

01:01:32 – Arrival

01:22:22 – A Serious Man

01:41:17 – Wrap Up

01:46:47 – Patreon thanks

FILMS

OCEAN'S ELEVEN (2001) — (w) Ted Griffin (d) Steven Soderbergh

LONG SHOT (2019) — (w) Dan Sterling, Liz Hannah, Dan Sterling (d) Jonathan Levine

ARRIVAL (2016) — (w) Eric Heisserer (d) Denis Villeneuve

A SERIOUS MAN (2009) — (w) Joel Coen, Ethan Coen

SCRIPTS

Study the script: OCEAN'S ELEVEN (2001) — Ted Griffin

Study the script: ARRIVAL (2016) — Eric Heisserer

Study the script: A SERIOUS MAN (2009) — Joel Coen, Ethan Coen

LINKS

Read: What Lies West

EPISODES IN THE SEQUENCES SERIES

DZ-43: Driving Sequences - Character and Plot Intensity

DZ-54: Thematic Sequences

DZ-89: Opening Sequences

RELATED EPISODES

DZ-15: World Building Rules, Okay?

DZ-43: Driving Sequences - Character and Plot Intensity

DZ-44: Marvel - First Acts and Establishing Characters

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Full show notes at: https://draft-zero.com/2022/dz-89/