The pilot episode teaser is the first building block of the first episode of the new project. It depends on the scriptwriter whether the story will captivate the audience from the first minutes, from the first scenes. The main elements of the teaser for the pilot episode - locations, main characters, concept, cliffhanger - on the example of the series "The Walking Dead" and "Grey's Anatomy".
Instructions
Step 1
Geography of the setting (main locations)
The first lines in Frank Darabont's script are right after the title page:
NAT. GEORGIA LANDSCAPE - DAY
Panorama: beautiful fields, gentle hills, shining blue skies.
And the road. Smooth and empty as far as the eye can see.
Fourteen pages later, the screenwriter will tell how Rick Grimes woke up all alone in a ruined hospital, but in the first four minutes of the pilot episode, the author states the main motive of the upcoming story - life on the road in a deserted world, in the struggle for survival.
Line 1 of Grey's Anatomy (originally Grey's Anatomy) by Shonda Rhimes:
SURGICAL MONTAGE
A series of shots with surgical instruments - a visual presentation by the author - "My story is about people who spend most of their lives in operating rooms."
Everything is fair, we were warned. The heroes of the series spend two thirds of the screen time in hospital locations.
Step 2
First acquaintance with the main character
"The Walking Dead", teaser scene 2:
INT. CAR - DAY
Close: fuel level is almost at zero.
Open: Driver, Officer Rick Grimes looks from the pressure gauge to the road and back.
Exhausted, exhausted, unshaven, no tie.
He shields his eyes from the sun, noticing ahead:
NAT. HIGHWAY GAS STATION - DAY
A large cluster of abandoned cars.
"Grey's Anatomy" teaser scene 2:
INT. LIVING ROOM MEREDIT - DAWN
Light seeps through the curtains.
Meet Meredith Gray - 32, smart, awkward, cocky, hardworking, and … naked.
She is trying to find her clothes.
Step 3
Focus: the worlds of the new universe
In The Walking Dead, this is the outside world - what happens around the characters, in the world where they happened to live (survive).
The specifics of external circumstances - on the planet a zombie apocalypse - sets the tone for the entire narrative, guides the plot, determines the arcs of numerous characters.
In the teaser for the pilot of The Walking Dead, we gradually get to know this new merciless world, following Rick, we look at everything through his eyes.
Grey's Anatomy focuses on the protagonist and her personal and professional life, as well as the personal and professional relationships of her friends and colleagues.
Viewers may forget that the action takes place in a city called Seattle, they may forget the name of the clinic where Dr. Gray works.
Because the focus is on her professional successes and failures, and her convoluted, but certainly very interesting for the audience, relationship with Dr. Shepard. We get the first idea of their character already in the pilot's teaser.
When watching "Walkers" it is impossible to forget what world the characters live in, and what fractions of a second separate the living from the dead or doomed to death. No matter how difficult and tense the relationship in Rick's group is thanks to the scriptwriters, the threats of the outside world around them do not let them forget about themselves for a moment.
Step 4
First cliffhanger
Cliffhangers - unexpected plot twists, tense moments, hooks - the writers put down at the end of each structural element of each episode. To keep viewers interested and to ensure they come back to view after a break.
The first cliffhanger in this system is the teaser finale of the pilot episode.
Grey's Anatomy's first cliffhanger does a good job - entertaining and intriguing at the same time. I would like to return and find out what will happen next.
Richard brings the interns to the operating room and informs them that they will literally live here for the next seven years. That many will not stand the strain. He calls the operating arena.
"How well you play is up to you."
Meredith swallows, nervous.
Her voiceover: "As I said - I'm finished."
And the teaser for The Walking Dead's pilot ends with one of the most memorable scenes in television history:
The girl, whom Rick wanted to help, turns around - and turns out to be dead. Burning eyes, hungry wheezing, she reaches for Rick. He shoots her, and from the sound of the shot, dozens of dead people in cars around Rick awaken …
Summary: do not start your story with a mediocre scene, do not use the phrase "the most interesting is ahead" as an excuse. Let it be interesting right away, from the first minutes.
This is the secret and purpose of the teaser - not only to acquaint with the main character and his world, but also to interest, captivate the reader and viewer, to drag him into a new plot and visual universe on an emotional level.
