Research

TO THE DRAWING BOARD

 I looked up how to structure movie openings and stumbled upon this video on YOUTUBE.

   

Here are two things that I've learned from this video.

1. The movie's opening needs to be ambiguous to the audience for them to get excited about the plot. Spoiling integral parts of the work in the introduction could potentially ruin the entire film. For example, the movie Annihilation used the Flashforward technique to tease the plot without revealing information as to how the characters arrived at that specific conclusion at the start.

2. Multiple techniques could be used to present the story, such as Flashbacks, a prologue of the past that influences the present, Flashforwards, a prologue of the future that influences the present, Media res, a prologue that opens in the middle of plot, Red Herrings, an intro meant to misdirect the viewer,  Bookends, an opening that's similar to the closing scene, and Dream sequences, which lay out what is dominating your main character's psyche; using abstract symbolism and imagery to directly put us in their subconscious.

For my project, I decided to go with a Flashback to summarize my protagonist's background and current struggles that will affect him throughout the film.