A good example of a successful opening scene is Alfonso Cuarona's The Child of Man. The scene was shot in a single shot and in two and a half minutes we get an exposure, a presentation of the main character, a setting and a first exploration of the leading themes of the film.
- The first thing we see is a black screen. The first thing we hear is the off-screen words: "The thousandth day of the siege of Seattle … The Muslim community demands to remove the soldiers from the mosques …" - and we learn that the world that we knew is plunged into chaos and violence. Everything is very bad, and it will probably only get worse in the future.
- The news anchor goes on to announce the death of "Baby Diego, the Youngest Man on the Planet" - the first mention of no more children being born in the new world. The tone of the report reflects the depth of the problem - Diego is only spoken of as a celebrity because he was born. Sad music sounds and the presenter calls the exact age of Diego at the time of his death - eighteen years, four months, twenty days, sixteen hours and eight minutes.
- In a good script, the exposition is filled with emotion and action. And that's what Alfonso Cuarón does in his film. In the opening scene "Human Child" we see a crowd of people gathered in a cafe in front of a TV monitor and listening to the tragic news. They are absorbed in reporting, and judging by their faces, they take it hard on what they hear. Some are crying. This is how we, the viewers, understand how acute the problem of infertility is in this world.
- Then we are introduced to the protagonist - Theo. And they immediately make it clear that he is different from the people around him, opposed to them - Theo enters a cafe and pushes through the grieving crowd to order coffee. Theo barely glances at the TV monitor, turns around and walks to the exit, while the others continue to watch the news broadcast as if hypnotized.
- Once on the street, we get more information about the world in which Theo lives. We see a dirty city, a garbage dump on the street, everything around is gray, repulsive, people in dark clothes, indifferent face-masks. Gray-yellow sky. Signs of decline and desolation are everywhere - on buildings, transport, and the city as a whole.
- After walking a little down the street, Theo stops and pours alcohol into his coffee. So we get an insight into the psychological state of the main character - detachment and despair, in which Theo is at the beginning of the story being told.
- And then there is an explosion. At the coffee shop Theo just got out of. This is the world we find ourselves in. A world where murder and violence takes place in the middle of the day in completely ordinary places like cafes. A world where innocent people are no longer safe. And after all, it is the protection of the weak and innocent that will be one of the main themes throughout the film.
- The opening scene ends with a short but terrible moment - a bloody woman gets out of the blown-up coffee shop and in one hand she carries her second - severed - hand. This is how we make sure that the film will be visually gloomy, dark, psychologically heavy, full of violence. And the authors are not going to embellish anything and spare the audience.
- In just two and a half minutes, we receive a huge amount of information and completely immerse ourselves in the world invented and created by Alfonso Cuarón. The result is three Academy Award nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography and Best Editing.
