by Gary Fearon
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| Frequent establishing shot from TV's Seinfeld |
At the beginning of any story, the first thing the audience wants to
know is what's going on. Those first few sentences have a duty to
satisfy that curiosity by identifying some sense of who, what, when and
where. In a song or poem, where much has to be conveyed in even fewer
words, it's especially appreciated when the scene is set up front.
Just like the establishing shot in a movie, a good opening lyric gives
the listener an instant understanding of the current state of affairs so
that they feel caught up on whatever they need to know to jump right in
with us...
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