Planning · ScreenwritingNO.152 / 166

Watch: Audience retention for the same video: the gray line is an opening that gives background first, losing more than half the viewers in the first 3 seconds; the gold line opens straight on a question, and most people stay.A line-art demo that only illustrates the technique, not finished footage.

Planning · Screenwriting

Opening Hook / Cold Open开场钩子

In the first 3 seconds, throw out a question, something odd or a conflict, so people don't swipe away.

Category: Screenwriting
Group: Basics
Medium: Planning
Library: 152 / 166

This is a step in making a film, not a visual technique. For the whole process, see Make an AI short from scratch.

Prompt templates are written from how generation models usually behave and have not yet been verified one by one with real generations. “Common pitfalls” are judgment from experience, not official limits.

When to use it

The first shot of a short video or short drama; any opening that has to fight for attention in a feed.

Prompt template

Design 5 alternative opening hooks for the story below. Each is one concrete shot filmable within 3 seconds plus one line of dialogue or caption, creating a question, anomaly, or crisis, with no backstory. Story: [logline]

Sample prompt · ask a chat model

This one is written for chat models like ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini: replace the ideas in brackets with your own and it will help you write the story or revise the script.

Design 5 different opening hooks for the story below. Each is a concrete image that can be shot in under 3 seconds plus one line of dialogue or a caption, creating a question, something abnormal or a crisis, with no background explanation. Mark the one you'd recommend most. Story: a delivery rider who lost his job wants to get back to his hometown on Lunar New Year's Eve, but the last long-distance bus has already left. Vertical 9:16, 60 seconds in total.

Common pitfalls

The opening gives background and introduces the characters first, and nothing happens in 3 seconds.
A hook that has nothing to do with the film, so viewers feel cheated.
Too many messy hooks, with no clear focus.

Parameter tips

The first shot is the event itself; use pictures rather than captions when you can; the hook must be answered by the end.