It starts with the Universal's logo, Earth. Then it changes to show the exodus from Earth, which a voice-over explains, and it's become a classic SF info-dump. Then it changes to reveal we are actually in a class-room, this is part of a history lesson, and the voice over is merely the teacher. Then we pull back yet again to reveal it is a dream of River while she is being tortured. And then we pull back a final time to see that what we thought was real-time footage of River was in fact a recording being replayed by the Operative. So that's five levels of frame-breaking.
Then we switch to Serenity, and we have a very long scene that introduces all the passengers and crew, and effectively gives a tour of the ship itself, all without cutting. Big contrast to the repeated disorientation of the first bit.