A teaser is a type of introduction that is "intended to hook the audience from the get-go by generating curiosity and/or conflict that leaves the audience wanting more." Many films employ this such as Steven Spielberg's Jaws and as I have talked about before, Christopher Nolan's Memento. In Memento, the teaser is the mystery behind why everything is progressing in reverse and who is the dead man.
An opening that introduces the Theme and Tone does exactly that. A great example of this would be in the film Goodfellas. The introductory scene sets up the theme of life as a gangster as well as the dark tone that will persist in the movie.
The film Raising Arizona introduces one of the main characters and his backstory as a repeat criminal through a voice-over narration.
However, as the article explains, most opening sequences use all of these tactics in conjunction to create a complete story.
I have noticed that in mystery movies, they use a teaser to draw in the viewers as well as setting the tone of the mystery and the theme of the story. Sometimes they introduce a character, but more than likely not.
A move such as Memento uses purely a teaser, however, an implied dark tone is apparent throughout.
The film Se7en's opening scene is a combination of extreme close up shots of seemingly unrelated actions, yet the teaser shots in this sequence help to create a sense of mystery behind the meaning of all of these shots.
Even in the film Pyscho, a teaser is used to make the audience ask the question, who is the woman, why was she killed, and who did it.
So it seems that I should definitely go the way of a teaser in the writing of my opening scene. By next post, I should have a plot written out and will be working on a storyboard to post.
Til next time!
Sources:
How to Start Your Script: A Killer Opening Scene is the Hero Your Screenplay Deserves. (2016, October 04). Retrieved March 08, 2018, from https://www.moviemaker.com/archives/moviemaking/screenwriting/opening-scene/
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