First page – Close Encounters of the Third Kind

I *love* this kind of movie open.  Note that this was originally Scene 40 and they moved it up to the very beginning.  It’s the first thing we see.

It’s a workplace.  Spielberg — he not only directed but also wrote the screenplay — captures the banality of the workplace.  The air traffic controller is “a bit bored,” and his colleague yells at him “mildly.”

Spielberg isn’t afraid to get a little bit technical.  He uses words that the typical reader won’t understand… midwatch, data block, non-...