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. LIKE THIS EPISODE? Send us feedback. Thanks to our Patrons, especially Casimir, Lloyd, Eduardo, Jennifer, Leigh, Thomas, Garrett, Bjorn, Randy, Jesse, Sandra, Alex and Khrob. ——— 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 ——— More Draft Zero is brought to you by our awesome Patreons. If you enjoy the show, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, a rating on Spotify, or a review on Podchaser. We are @stuwillis, @mehlsbells and @chasffisher on Twitter. You can find @draft_zero and @_shotzero on Instagram and Twitter. Full show notes at: https://draft-zero.com/2022/dz-89/