Comparing Openings
Consider some of the following:
Would it be suitably dramatic?
Would it raise matters that an audience might want to find
out more about?
Would it be confusing for any reason? Are there bits
that are just too vague?
Does it jump into the world of 1960s South Africa too rapidly
– is more opening information needed?
Are there any parts of it that are too literary to
be included in a film?
Consider sudden jumps in time or place or point of view,
including authorial comments (bits expressing the
biographer’s views).
Think about anything that a writer can include with a few
words such as the ‘She wondered’ introduction to
SKIN to Sandra’s thought processes which can be very
hard to capture in a film, unless a voice over is
added?
If you were making a film of this story – which bits of
this beginning from the biography would you include or
drop?
What would you do about someone speaking Afrikaans –
translation or sub-titles?
