* Kenneth Branaugh's film adaptation of ''Theatre/HenryV'' starts with the Chorus speaking backstage on a soundstage, and after the final words he throws open a door to show the first scene of the play.

* The "Dance of the Hours" segment of ''Disney/{{Fantasia}}'' starts with the opening of stately palace doors. It ends with the same doors falling off their hinges.

[[AC:Advertising]]
* ''Advertising/HealthHotline'': The first thing we hear is Ellie opening the door to talk to Grandma.

[[AC: Anime & Manga]]

[[AC:AsianAnimation]]

[[AC:{{Film}}]]
* The "Dance of the Hours" segment of ''Disney/{{Fantasia}}'' starts with the opening of stately palace doors. It ends with the same doors falling off their hinges.
* Although not at the very beginning of the movie, the famous door opening into Oz in ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'' plays the same role in starting the adventure.
* ''Film/TheSearchers'' opens with the camera moving through an opening doorway, into a panoramic view of the desert. A [[BookEnds matching scene]] of a [[DoorClosesEnding closing door ends the film]].
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas'', the initial shot carries the viewer down among a ring of trees with holiday-themed doorways, and through the jack-o-lantern door to Halloweentown.
* Kenneth Branaugh's film adaptation of ''Theatre/HenryV'' starts with the Chorus speaking backstage on a soundstage, and after the final words he throws open a door to show the first scene of the play.
* ''Film/TheRocketeer'' starts with hangar doors opening and Cliff's brand new plane being rolled out.
* In the Creator/RodgersAndHammerstein musical of ''Cinderella'' from 1965, a pair of gates to the castle garden opens at the beginning of the film.

[[AC: LiveActionTelevision]]
* The opening credits of ''Series/TalesFromTheCrypt'' feature a continuous shot in which the camera closes in on the Cryptkeeper's house and enters the front door.

[[AC: Music]]

[[AC: {{Radio}}]]
* The ''Inner Sanctum'' [[RadioDrama radio show]] began with the creaking door opening, and [[HorrorHost Raymond]] inviting the listener in to the Inner Sanctum.

[[AC:TabletopGames]]
* Many early ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' adventure modules used this trope, as they tended to omit depictions of the world outside a dungeon so that [=DM=]s could seamlessly transplant their content into homebrew settings.

[[AC:{{Theatre}}]]

[[AC: VideoGames]]
* Although there's a short {{Cutscene}} before it, the player first takes active control in ''VideoGame/{{Riven}}'' when a cell's gate drops down into the ground, setting the Stranger free to explore.
* An early subversion in ''VideoGame/{{Zork}}'': The house you start in front of has the door boarded shut, and it feels natural to look for a way of opening it. In fact, [[spoiler:it can't be opened. You have to go in through the rear window]].
* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil''
** Used in the early games (1, 2 and 3) to instill a feeling of suspense.
** [[https://youtu.be/Yx9twBg2Zs0?t=39s This]] was done in ''VideoGame/SweetHome'', where Shinji Mikami got the inspiration from.
* Most of the "Ravenhearst" StoryArc adventures from ''Videogame/MysteryCaseFiles'' start out with the Master Detective unlocking a gateway, or approaching the door to her client's residence.
* In ''Videogame/DevilMayCry'':
** One of the first things that happen in the original ''Videogame/DevilMayCry'' is Trish breaking in Dante's office by driving her bike through his door.
** ''Videogame/DevilMayCry 3'', Mission 1 ends with Dante kicking his office door open to go outside, Mission 2 begins with said door ''flying outward'' from the impact with Dante walking out shortly after it.
** ''Videogame/DevilMayCry 4'' has Dante pulling a SuperWindowJump from Skylight in the Opera Theater, kickstarting the plot after the Intro Cutscene.

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
* A multitude of doors open and close in the opening animation of Pixar's ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'', indicative of doors' importance to the monsters' operations. The last door opens to the apartment of Mike Wazowski and Jimmy Sullivan as their workday morning begins.
* The opening sequence of ''WesternAnimation/PinkyElmyraAndTheBrain'' begins with a camera zooming through the front door of Elmyra's house and through various rooms, while Pinky and the Brain themselves do the "What are we gonna do today?" exchange. The camera reaches the titular trio just in time for the Brain to declare, "Endure Elmyra, then try to TakeOverTheWorld!"
* A series of increasingly-weird doors and gates open up during the opening credits of ''WesternAnimation/{{Beetlejuice}}'', and the viewer's perspective passes through them.
* Several members of the family pass through doors as they head home and converge on the couch in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'''s opening credits sequence.

* The eerie opening montage of the British anthology series ''Shadows'' has the central door of a ''paper'' house swing open for the camera to advance through.

* Vastly-lower budget, same idea: ''Series/{{Svenghoolie}}'' opens each episode's round of movie-viewing and movie-riffing by swinging open the top end of the upright coffin he's standing inside.

* Vastly-lower budget, same idea: ''Series/{[Svenghoolie}}'' opens each episode's round of movie-viewing and movie-riffing by swinging open the top end of the upright coffin he's standing inside.