Editing Cold open (section)

==Nomenclature==
Cold opens sometimes employ a segment known as a "teaser" or "tease". A memorandum was written by [[Gene Roddenberry]] on May 2, 1966, as a supplement to the Writer-Director Information Guide for the original ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek]]'' series, describing the format of a typical episode. This quotation refers to a cold open, commonly known as a teaser:
{{quote|a. Teaser, preferably three pages or less. Captain Kirk's voice-over opens the show, briefly setting where we are and what's going on. This is usually followed by a short playing scene which ends with the Teaser "hook".<ref>{{cite book|last=Alexander | first= David|title=Star Trek Creator: The Authorized Biography of Gene Roddenberry|url=https://archive.org/details/startrekcreator00davi |url-access=registration | publisher=Roc Books|year=1994| isbn= 9780451454409}}</ref>}}

The "[[Narrative hook|hook]]" of the teaser was some unexplained plot element that was alluded to in the teaser, or cold open, which was intended to keep audiences interested enough in the show to dissuade them from changing stations while the titles and opening commercial roll.

In television series, a similar technique called a ''[[cliffhanger]]'' is often employed before [[commercial break]]s, to keep the audience from switching channels during the break.

A closing scene at the end of a show, after [[end credits]], is known as the "[[post-credits scene|tag]]".