Opening and Closing Image

Another in the terrific screenwriting series Raising the Stakes.

Jonathan W. Stokes is a screenwriter with a unique credit to his name: Five of his original screenplays have been named to the annual Black List. That alone should get your attention, but there’s also this: Over the last few years, he has produced an excellent video series called Raising the Stakes.

It’s been a while since the last video dropped and it took the Writers Strike to provide the time, but Jonathan has produced six more installments in the series. Here is Season 4, Episode 5: Opening and Closing Image.

Jonathan suggests there are four ways opening and closing images contribute to a story:

• Introduce Characters
• Show Character Growth
• Encapsulate Theme
• Establishes Tone

All valid points. As screenwriters, we should be thoughtful about this subject. Don’t leave it to the director or production designer. Tie it together in the screenplay like this:

To check out previous episodes in the Raising the Stakes series:

Season 1

Episode 1: The Objective Correlative
Episode 2: Breaking Suture
Episode 3: Nuking the Fridge
Episode 4: 10 Ways to Invest Your Audience in Your Hero
Episode 5: Heightening

Season 2

Episode 1: Theme Shown
Episode 2: Raising the Stakes on the Call to Adventure
Episode 3: 7 Ways To Do Bad Exposition
Episode 4: 9 Rules For Good Exposition
Episode 5: Magic Flight

Season 3

Episode 1: The Act One Break
Episode 2: Atonement with the Father
Episode 3: Seven Set Pieces
Episode 4: The Midpoint
Episode 5: Anaphora and Epistrophe

Season 4

Episode 1: The Tarantino Principle
Episode 2: Why Does Point of View Matter?
Episode 3: What is Aesthetic Distance?
Episode 4: Is “We See” Bad Writing?

For more background on Jonathan W. Stokes, you can go here.

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You may read my interview with Jonathan here.