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Film & Television vocabulary · Television Formats and Series

Cold open

Meaning in film & television, with examples

nounCommon term

In film & television, cold open means: A scene or sequence shown before a programme's opening titles.

In Turkish: jenerik öncesi açılış

How it is used

Used in television writing; a cold open can introduce a mystery or a short joke.

Example sentences

  1. The cold open shows a locked room before the title sequence begins.

    The mystery is introduced before the regular titles.

  2. We shortened the cold open so the opening joke landed more quickly.

    The revision changes the pace of the pre-title scene.

Common collocations

  • write a cold open
  • cold open scene
  • seriesA TV or streaming programme made of many episodes that share the same characters, subject or story.
  • episodeOne part of a TV series, podcast or web series that is broadcast or released as a separate programme.

More terms: Television Formats and Series

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