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hook, JAMES BOND, JAWS, PSYCHO, STAR WARS, statement of intention, WEDDING CRASHERS - December 08, 2021

Opening Sequence

One of the most important parts of the script is the opening sequence. This is sometimes referred to as the first-10, as we’re talking about business that happens in the first ten pages or so. Basically, the first, opening scenes of the movie. It’s typically best to use the opening sequence as statement of intention. Simply put: we’re letting the reader/audience know right off the bat what the movie intends to deliver. So if it’s a comedy, we open on a funny scene; if it’s horror, we open on a scary scene; if it’s action, we open on an action...

Hook

We’ve touched on macro elements like Genre and Sub-genre, and gotten somewhat more specific with Paradigm. Now let’s talk about Hook, which might be described as “the big idea of the movie” or “what the movie is about.” But Hook can also be seen as the “what makes this script/movie unique,” i.e. what sets it apart from all of the other scripts and movies in the same space. Because: simply going through the motions of plugging in the standard beats of a paradigm, checking off all the boxes, isn’t a hook; it’s just an exercise. The older industry term for...

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