Jan 06, 2009
Word of the Day: Cold open
Categories: Daily Advice
COLD OPEN – The technique of jumping directly into a story at the beginning or opening of the show, before the title sequence or opening credits are shown. In television, cold opens are used to capture the audience so they won’t switch to another channel. Cold opens are popular in films as well. A well-known example is the pre-title teaser which occurs in nearly all of the James Bond films.
By Alisha, InstantCast assistant editor
Cold open is a new vocabulary term for me. Thanks.
I like it when television and films do a “Cold Open”. I know I’ve been caught up in quite a few “cold open” situations while watching television. It did capture my attention and keep me from changing the channel because I was curious about the title versus what I was actually watching.