Welcome to DAY SEVEN in the thirty days to a first draft screenwriting thread.
It’s time to start writing. It’s good to spend some time dreaming about your project, but there’s a time to stop dreaming and start writing and that is now.
We’ll begin with the beginning, The OPENING IMAGE.
The opening image of a movie should have some power. It might start with an image that has a symbolic power or immerses us right into the story in some compelling way. It may also rhyme with the closing image.
It may introduce the character. The opening of LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE shows us Olive, staring into the TV as it plays a beauty pageant, the pageant winner reflected in her coke bottle glasses Then it pulls out to show Olive in full workout gear, walking on a treadmill.
Check out this video by editor Jacob T Swinney juxtaposing the first and final frames of several famous films:
TODAY’S PROMPT
Craft your opening image and then keep going. Write your first five pages, introducing the character and the world of the story.
Tomorrow we’ll continue with the first ten pages.