Line #8 Main/PanFromTheSkyBeginning


1	[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/294b9459_29ad_4332_a5f4_3dd65fae3e7e.jpeg]]]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:How do you know when to stop panning the camera when the sky ''and'' the sea are made of the same material?]]
3
4	This trope is when a work, or an installment of a work, begins with the point of view starting high up in the sky (whether in the clouds or in space) and then zooms down onto the main setting.
5
6	Perhaps the work is themed around space or the sky, or the specific installment does (maybe it's a SpaceEpisode or AlienEpisode) or they're giving us a birds-eye view of what the setting looks like, but sometimes, it happens [[RuleOfCool "just because"]].
7
8	Often precedes a ThemeTune. SubTrope of {{Pan}} (horizontally rotating the camera to get a grasp of the panorama). Contrast PanUpToTheSkyEnding. Often involves AstronomicZoom, FallingIntoThePlot, LogoJoke, and EstablishingShot. Compare WeatherReportOpening which is another atmosphere-related beginning.
9
10	----
11	!!Examples:
12
13	[[foldercontrol]]
14
15	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
16	* ''Anime/LuminousWitches'':
17	** The DistantPrologue of "[[Recap/LuminousWitchesEp1WonderfulWorldNiceToMeetYou WONDERFUL WORLD — Nice to Meet You]]" begins with a shot of a cloudy sky before the camera shifts down to the Dunkirk Evacuation.
18	** "[[Recap/LuminousWitchesEp7TheReasonForTheSun The Reason for the Sun]]" begins with a shot of the night sky as the Luminous Witches' plane flies towards Orussia.
19	[[/folder]]
20
21	[[folder:Fan Works]]
22	* ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'' fanfic ''[[https://theloudhouse.fandom.com/wiki/User_blog:Starkstar502/Ace_Savvy:_A_Cold_and_Chili_Day A Cold and Chili Day]]'' is written [[ScriptFic like it's a TV script]]'', so it mentions that we "open" on the sun obscured by clouds and then "tilt down" to the power plant.
23	[[/folder]]
24
25	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
26	* Some Creator/DreamWorksAnimation films and shorts start out with this trope, including several in the ''Franchise/{{Shrek}}'' franchise. Often combined with a LogoJoke.
27	** ''WesternAnimation/MadagascarEscape2Africa'': The boy in the moon logo dissolves into a blue sky, from which then the camera {{pan}}s down on the UsefulNotes/{{Africa}}n landscape until it stops at baby Alex playing with his dad.
28	** ''WesternAnimation/Madagascar3EuropesMostWanted'': After the usual studio logo of the boy on the moon, the camera pans down to Africa, where monkeys are winding up a plane with the penguins on it.
29	** ''WesternAnimation/ShrekTheThird'': Played with. The camera pans down from the boy on the moon in the opening logo, [[LogoJoke which is covered by storm clouds]], dissolving into a stormy sky, which reveals a beam of light. Then it shifts downwards to a forest and descends upon Prince Charming supposedly riding on his valiant steed, until suddenly... The camera slowly zooms out to reveal that he is actually performing in a dinner theatre play with a hobby horse.
30	** ''WesternAnimation/ScaredShrekless'': The short begins with the boy on the moon, [[LogoJoke only he nervously hides behind the moon]], and then the camera pans down to a Shrek-like pumpkin with the title carved onto it.
31	** In the ''Shrek'' short "The Pig Who Cried Werewolf", after the title appears on the screen, the scene cuts to the clouds and the camera shifts down to Horst and Dieter pushing Heimlich (who broke his leg sometime prior to the short's beginning) on a wheelchair.
32	* This is also a popular trope used in Creator/{{Disney}}[=-=]Creator/{{Pixar}} films as well:
33	** ''WesternAnimation/AGoofyMovie'' begins with a shot of the sky, then panning down to Max, who is in the middle of a dream about Roxanne. [[BookEnds The movie ends with a pan up to the same sky.]]
34	** ''WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}}'' inverts this: After "The Gospel Truth" opening number, the scene switches to a shot of ancient Greece from which the camera pans up through the clouds to the top of Mount Olympus as the opening titles appear.
35	** ''WesternAnimation/{{The Hunchback of Notre Dame\|Disney}}'' opens with a view of the tops of clouds, with the mighty spires of Notre Dame cathedral poking through, like a granite island in a misty sea. The camera pans downward to a view of the common streets of France as Clopin sings "Morning in Paris, as the city awakes / To the bells of Notre Dame."
36	** ''WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'' begins with a view of the night sky, before panning down to Charlotte's mansion.
37	** Simulated in the first ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory1'' film. The first scene is a field of azure blue with crisply defined white clouds. The pan down reveals that this "sky with clouds" is actually a pattern of wallpaper in Andy's bedroom, where he's playing with his toys.
38	** ''WesternAnimation/WallE'' begins in space with "Put on Your Sunday Clothes" playing, then it zooms into Earth from above, on which we see WALL-E moving along, then it zooms down to the ground and we see that he's cleaning up and [[DiegeticSoundtrackUsage playing the song on his radio]].
39	** In ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'', the scene in which Jin is seen cooking begins with a pan down from the sky to a shot of the Lee house.
40	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Anastasia}}'', much like ''WesternAnimation/{{The Hunchback of Notre Dame\|Disney}}'' example above, following the opening prologue, opens up with the opening titles appearing in a view of the tops of clouds with the spires of the Imperial Palace poking through before panning down below to the dingy streets of St. Petersburg showing how much the city has changed for the worse in the ten years since the prologue.
41	* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouseMovie'', it zooms in from above on a younger Lynn Sr.
42	* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls1'': The film starts with a shot of the moon and three stars before panning down to reveal a bird's eye view of the Crystal Empire and the train station.
43	* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTheMovie2017'' starts by following a team of Pegasi flying above the clouds before they dive towards the ground. The camera then follows them as they fly to the city of Canterlot where everypony is arriving for a celebration.
44	[[/folder]]
45
46	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
47	* ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartII'': After the opening recap of the end of Part I, we then cut to a shot through a cloudy sky as the opening credits play to Music/AlanSilvestri's title theme before panning down to a [[FlyingCar sky freeway]] as the Delorean arrives in 2015.
48	* This is how ''[[Film/BadTimesAtTheBattleRoyale Bad Times at the Battle Royale]]'' starts, with a quick camera pan down from the clouds to the parking lot outside the institution building where the movie takes place.
49	* ''Film/ForrestGump'' opens with a LongTake of a bird feather falling from the skies (with the camera initially pointing at the clouds) and eventually landing at the title character's feet.
50	* ''Film/Ted2'' has one, leading right up to Ted's wedding.
51	* ''Franchise/StarWars'': The mainline films traditionally transition from their {{Opening Scroll}}s in outer space by panning down to an orbital view of a planet, a startship, or both (except in ''Film/AttackOfTheClones'', where it pans up instead).
52	* ''Film/RedDawn1984'' begins above the clouds before moving downward to show the town of Calumet, Colorado. The unspoken implication being that it's showing the flight path of planes carrying paratroopers it's about to drop into town.
53	[[/folder]]
54
55	[[folder:Literature]]
56	* At least one Literature/{{Discworld}} novel begins this way, with the reader invited to contemplate the majestic star-turtle, elephants and flat world making their way through the ocean of space. Then the perspective shifts with a plummet onto the flat world and through the clouds, narrowing down further and further until the perspective of the reader is drawn to [[Literature/{{Mort}} a particular character]].
57	[[/folder]]
58
59	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
60	* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
61	** The first episode of the revival era, “[[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E1Rose Rose]]”, begins with a shot of Earth before we zoom down to Rose Tyler’s bedroom in the Powell Estate, East London.
62	** This is repeated in "[[Recap/DoctorWho2005CSTheChristmasInvasion The Christmas Invasion]]", although this time, it eventually zooms down into Jackie preparing the presents in her living room.
63	** Again repeated in “[[Recap/DoctorWho2006CSTheRunawayBride The Runaway Bride]]”, with the zoom going down to a church in Chiswick, West London where Donna Noble is about to get married.
64	* ''Series/HouseOfTheDragon'' starts with Rhaenyra flying on her dragon among the clouds above King's Landing.
65	* Every episode of ''Series/MorkAndMindy'' begins with a shot of outer space with [[AmusingAlien Mork]]'s egg-shaped spaceship zooming through the sky, then it pans down to Earth.
66	* The pilot of ''Series/StrangerThings'' opens with a shot of the night sky and then pans down to the secret lab at Hawkins.
67	[[/folder]]
68
69	[[folder:Puppet Shows]]
70	* ''Series/SesameStreet'': The "Madlenka" cartoon segments begin with a scene of outer space, then it gradually shifts down to the eponymous girl's apartment. This fits in with the lyric in the theme song: "Madlenka, Madlenka, lives in the universe. Madlenka, Madlenka, lives right here on the Earth."
71	[[/folder]]
72
73	[[folder:Video Games]]
74	* ''VideoGame/BorderlandsThePreSequel'': The intro cutscene starts with the camera pointing at the Helios Station in the sky, and then zooms out of it into [[DeathWorld Pandora]], and a Skag appears. Cue the theme song.
75	* ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeonGatesToInfinity'': In the opening cutscene (prior to the title screen), several Pelipper are flying in the sky and the scene zooms down from a birds-eye view into Post Town.
76	* ''VideoGame/ShantaeRiskysRevenge'': A new game opens into the sun in a cloudless sky and pans down through some clouds into a scene of Shantae in front of her lighthouse and fighting 3 scarecrows.
77	* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'' opens this way, except when the camera pans down, all it reveals is more clouds -- the Cloud Sea, and a lone [[OurTitansAreDifferent Titan]].
78	[[/folder]]
79
80	[[folder: Webcomics]]
81	* A video trailer for ''Webcomic/VampireGirl'''s second season utilized this in an interesting manner by using the comic's first panel, which was a long shot of the Vampiress' castle. Both of these are rectangular, but while the comic panel is vertically rectangular, the video trailer's aspect ratio is horizontally rectangular, which gave the panel something of a pan-and-scan effect from the moonlit sky downward.
82	[[/folder]]
83
84	[[folder:Western Animation]]
85	* ''WesternAnimation/AlvinnnAndTheChipmunks'': The opening for Season 3 begins with the Bagdasarian Productions Logo in the sky, which is wiped away by a plane before we go into Dave and the Chipmunks jumping out of said plane.
86	* The opening to the obscure cartoon ''WesternAnimation/BB3B'' begins with a shot of the planet Earth before cutting in further on a plane going from the UK to America with Lucy and Louie's grandmother on it.
87	* ''WesternAnimation/BigCityGreens'' combines this with InSceneTitleText:
88	** The episode "Tilly's Goat" begins with the title spelt out in the clouds before panning down to the Green house.
89	** "Football Camp" begins with the title appearing on a blimp before it pans down to Bengal Stadium.
90	** Though not really in the sky, "Heat Beaters" begins with the title displayed as a thermometer against a telephone pole with the sky in view before panning down to Keys' car.
91	** "Winter Greens" begins with the title on a snowflake falling from the sky.
92	** Due to the double-length episodes beginning with a ColdOpen, "Green Christmas" starts with a pan down from the snowy sky to the Green house on Christmas Eve. In a case of BookEnds, the episode ends with a PanUpToTheSkyEnding with that scene played in reverse.
93	* ''WesternAnimation/TheDragonPrince'' starts the introduction this way, as an EstablishingShot. The magical nature of the world is immediately established by weird-looking, brightly colored flying creatures. Then a shot-reverse-shot reveals the perspective character: Thunder, the Dragon King.
94	* ''WesternAnimation/TheJetsons'': Every episode begins with a shot of Earth, then it pans down to the family in their FlyingCar.
95	* One ''WesternAnimation/LittlePrincess'' episode begins in the sky with a closeup of the flag and the narrator notes, "The flag's up; that means the family is at home".
96	* ''WesternAnimation/TheMrMenShow'':
97	** "Rainy Day" begins with a shot of the sky before storm clouds begin to cover the sun. The camera then pans down to the ground, where the Mr. Men are doing things in the rain.
98	** "Sun and Moon" starts with a shot of the sun in the sky (hence the title) before the camera pans down to Mr. Bump and Miss Sunshine laying down beach towels.
99	* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': The intro starts with Twilight Sparkle in her hot air balloon, then Rainbow Dash flies past, then Twilight lands.
100	* ''WesternAnimation/ReadyJetGo'': Almost every episode begins with a brief shot of the sky before the camera pans down to whatever the characters are doing. This is fitting, considering that the premise is about Jet and the gang going to space.
101	* ''WesternAnimation/RoliePolieOlie'': The intro begins in space, then pans down to Earth, to go along with the theme tune lyrics "Way up high in the rolie-polie sky".
102	* ''WesternAnimation/RowingAcrossTheAtlantic'': The opening shot shows seagulls flying around in the sky, before the camera pans down and shows the abandoned rowboat as it washes up on a beach.
103	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': Each episode begins in the sky with the title being sung by a chorus as clouds uncover it written in the sky. Then, it shifts down to Springfield Elementary where Bart is WritingLines.
104	* ''WesternAnimation/TamagotchiVideoAdventures'' opens with a view of outer space that pans down, eventually reaching the surface of Tamagotchi Planet. A FlyingSaucer is then seen zooming by before the scene cuts to a panning shot of a town on the planet that slowly approaches Tamagotchi Museum, one of the video's main settings.
105
106	[[/folder]]

Context Main / PanFromTheSkyBeginning