You’re a filmmaker. You’ve spent 2 plus years working on a film. You’ve written and re-written the script between your self and potentially a handful of other writers. You’ve gone through pre-production, and fought through production, making adjustments to the story map that is the script along the way. You’ve constantly had to make more right decisions than wrong ones. This is a world where there are only compromises. You’ve gone through the edit for months, maybe some scenes switch location entirely - maybe the edit lines up perfectly with the script. But one thing remains firmly in your mind as you prepare to show your film to the world. How does this film open? What's the first thing you are going to let the audience hear and see? What’s the best introduction to the world that you’re about to lay out in front of them? The lights go down. An anticipatory hush falls over the cinema, the curtains roll back. How do you grab them, surprise them? What follows are two great examples that you’ve probably already seen but are more than worth a rewatch. These are pure cinematic openings with almost no words uttered.