This dramatization of the investigation into the CIA’s post-9/11 detention and interrogation programme provides a good example of how to effectively structure the opening few pages of a screenplay.  

Director: Scott Z. Burns

Screenwriter: Scott Z. Burns

Script source: Deadline

Based on: The US Senate Intelligence Committee study of the CIA’s detention and interrogation programme (https://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/senate-intelligence-committee-study-on-cia-detention-and-interrogation-program) and, in part, on the Vanity Fair article, ‘Rorschach and Awe’ by Katherine Eban (https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2007/07/torture200707).

Synopsis:

*Spoilers* Daniel Jones, a committed staff member at the US Senate, is tasked with investigating and compiling a report for Senator Dianne Feinstein’s Intelligence Committee on a programme of detention and interrogation introduced by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon on 9 September 2001 (9/11). Jones works tirelessly for seven years to uncover the truth about the program, which involved the use of torture against those suspected of having information on terrorist organisation, Al Qaeda. Jones’ report revealed that the programme failed in its objectives, in the process, flouting the law and involving a CIA cover-up.

Opening sequence:

*Spoilers* The Report begins with a sequence in flashforward. However, before the story even begins, it’s worth noting that the title page reads: The Torture Report. So already we know this is going to be about the use of torture, which makes a generic title specific and emotive, as well as a potential cover-up involving information that certain parties want to keep hidden.

One page one alone, the screenwriter weaves in important exposition that sets up the story. This information is incorporated in a variety of ways. For example:

– A visual of Dan, 30s, introducing us to our protagonist.

– Dan’s office, which is located in a secured space (alluding the fact he’s dealing with classified information).

– Dan flipping on the office light, introducing the motifs of light/darkness and, specifically, the process of revealing/hiding information.

– Dan’s office, which discloses the extent of his efforts, with walls papered with documents and what are described as “mugshot-like photographs”, suggesting criminal behaviour.

– Pre-lap dialogue between Dan, and an initially unidentified male that reveals: a) he’s been working on a project for five years; b) he’s been giving up nights and weekends to do so; c) his single status, due to the fact that this work comes first.

– Dan takes a file, the “Panetta Review”, from a drawer (while this means nothing now, it will, of course, come into play later).

The scene in Dan’s office then shifts from to a lawyer’s conference room. It’s revealed that Dan is talking to a lawyer, Clifford, highlighting that he’s into something that requires legal advice. Cryptically, Clifford says: ‘Five years — and it could all go away…’. The conference room scene is intercut with Dan entering a dark stairwell with the Panetta file.

Through dialogue, it becomes apparent that Dan is suspected of doing something wrong involving the Panetta file; something he takes responsibility for. We also learn that a senator may be involved, revealing that Dan is working on something to do with the government.

The conference room scene is then intercut with Dan having a brief but important encounter with a security guard, who stops him as he leaves his office building with the Panetta file. This provides a moment of suspense, as Dan is intercepted. The guard then half-heartedly asks him the stock question of whether he’s removing any official documents. Dan doesn’t answer, simply wishing him a good night. It’s obvious from this friendly encounter that they’ve been having this exchange every day for a long time, and the guard doesn’t think Dan could possibly be up to no good. Dan is clearly a trusted employee who is free to come and go at will and is assumed to be adhering to official protocols.

Setting up this casual and familiar exchange allows Dan to remove his file without scrutiny, answering the audience’s possible question of why, if what Dan is doing is so important, he can just waltz out with a document bag (albeit under the watch of the men guarding the door) without undergoing a search.

Outside (in the dark), Dan hurries towards his car with his document bag visible. Clifford (in voiceover) asks him, ‘So you did steal the document?’. Dan admits that he ‘relocated’ it and the lawyer tells him that he could go to jail.

The opening sequence ends with Dan getting into his car and taking a deep breath. The title card is inserted, ‘The Torture Report’, with the word ‘Torture’ then redacted. Over a black screen, Dan says: ‘I think I should start at the beginning’ and we’re taken back to 2003, from which point the story unfolds.

Analysis:

The main things to take from this compact three-page pre-title opening sequence is just how much we learn and how many questions are raised that hook us and propel us into the story.

Questions include:

– What is so important about this project that Dan, 30s, has been willing to sacrifice personally and commit so fully to its completion?

– What is the relevance of the Panetta Review?

– What has Dan been working on that has required him to potentially break the law and could land him in jail?

– How is torture involved?

The opening effectively sets the tone of the film – underlying threat, with dark corridors, official documents being snuck out of a government building at night, and a committed protagonist willing to take a personal risk over something he wants to reveal or hide (at this point, we don’t know). The script has an overriding and ominous feeling of government oversight and control.

Also note how much ‘movement’ and action is incorporated; an important element of a film that essentially involves a static investigation. Within three pages, we’ve been in a lawyer’s office, a secure government building, a parking lot and dark stairwell. We’ve seen out protag at work, talking with two other characters, carrying his file out of a building, and getting into his car. We’ve heard dialogue within a scene, as well as in voiceover and pre-lap. We’ve experienced darkness and light.

Notes from the film:

It’s worth noting that while the film is officially titled The Report, the opening titles insert the word, ‘torture’, which is crossed out, which also highlights the theme of missing, redacted and mis- information that is a key feature of the story. The film also includes a title card that states it is based on the Senate Intelligence Committee’s study of the CIA’s detention and interrogation programme. This adds important exposition and provides clarity that the script does not include.

See our review of The Report