The beginning of something can be the hardest, as you don’t really have the momentum that starts a boulder rolling down a hill, instead you have to roll the boulder over to the hill. But luckily we have found this great video by YouTube content creator The Closer Look. He makes all kinds of stuff relating to the art of storytelling and film, we can suggest that you go check him out and subscribe. In this video TCL will be looking at what makes a good starter, as well as a some misconceptions of starting a movie. It is also good note that much of the advice given can also be related to the writing of a novel, with only a few differences such as the visual aspect and lack of internal narrative, but the main parts are still helpful to both novelists and filmmakers. And for those of you searching for a quick recap of the video after you’ve clicked it and given TCL a view, then we have one down below. Enjoy the video.
Summary
The start of a movie should have a few elements that are established through it, like tone, characters, and even the plot. A bad opening is an opening that establishes elements, but does it an uninteresting way(such as the info dump that is a voice over). But it’s also important to ask why you’re establishing what you’re establishing, if you’ve already built up something in a previous installment of a series why cover it again. One major rule in writing, is that there are no rules, or rather every rule can be broken, and you shouldn’t be afraid of trying to bend the mold that has been set. One misconception that lots of people get told is that you have to get started right away into the action of your plot, otherwise it’s useless or filler, but this is not always true. If you have a bit of a side quest at the beginning of your movie be sure that it is used to establish the premise of a story, where if you started at the actual story everything would work, but you have created entirely different expectations from the audience. And thats what a beginning is all about, setting up promises of what the story is going to be about.
Links
Go to The Closer Look’s channel by clicking here.
View the original video on YouTube by clicking here.
