The opening scene of 'Love Actually'

The opening  scene of 'Love Actually' Analysis  

In the first part of love actually they use soft, calming music to suggest a theme of love and relationships which indicates that this is a romantic film. In the first few scenes they show people seeing each other at the airport after time apart, these including friends, lovers and family. The narrator tries to show there is more than one type of love and that 'love actually is all around'. The people surrounding the airport are happy and in love which shows a theme of happiness and love to continue throughout the film.

For the opening scene they haven't showed the characters that will be throughout the film they have just shown the theme of the film and the narrator, Hugh Grant to make the film feel positive but also to suggest he shall be a character in the film but not show his face yet so for people who wouldn't recognise his voice he hasn't been introduced yet so that you can feel his love towards others and everyone else's love for people without showing himself yet.

The narrator makes a statement of life and how different people experience different types of experience's and different types of love.

By the narrator introducing the film and the themes we know from this that he shall be one if not the main character.

Analysing shot types in a film opening

Analysing shot types in a film opening

In the escape scene of 28 weeks later the use of camera shots creates tension. these include long shot, close up, high angle and low angle. these are used to show the frustration in the woman as the person who is meant to look out for her has left her to die. They also use the camera shots to show the guilt in the mans face as he leaves his wife to be captured and killed. the use of the long shot is effective in the fact that the women is screaming begging for her husband Dom to come back but he continues to run this shows a lack of care and also shows he is selfish in the fact he cares more about himself surviving instead of his partner. when the zombies come they speed up the camera to make it look as if they are coming fast towards the other characters when really they are at the same speed as everyone else. this causes effect as it makes the audience watch with more concentration in hope that they shall get away from the zombies.

Women in black opening scene

The woman in black is a horror film about a woman dressed in black seeking revenge for the loss of her son. The woman in black's son drowned just before she was to kidnap him. The woman in black saw her son die from the nursery window and died 12 years after him due to heart failure. Because she was never able to be reunited with her son she then seeks revenge because she is hurting. Her pain causes her to want to cause pain for others. In the first two minutes of the opening scene the women in black decides to seek revenge by taking over control of the 3 girls, by doing this she feels people will feel her pain too.

The three children are innocently playing with their tea set and dolls when they all slowly get up and walk towards the window, This creates tension because as the audience you start to worry about if they are going to jump or not. When the three girls jump you want to watch the rest to see what drove them to do this and what is controlling them as they look happy and innocent and would not do this for no reason. At first the use of the pouring without anything coming out of the tea pot suggests the girls are young and use their imagination to play together but before you see the three girls it is confusing as to why they are not pouring anything out. You then see the little hands pouring the cup into the dolls mouth this is when you learn they are innocent little girls. Because this is the opening scene it creates confusion and worry for the girls and makes you want to watch the rest to see what happens next.

When the three girls pause and look up towards the camera shot you feel they have all seen something or someone who tells them and controls them with what they do but the suspense of what this may be makes the audience want to watch the rest to find out. Because one of the girls drops the cup and it smashes this shows control, if  she wasn't being controlled just asked she would have said no but if she then had too she would have placed the cup down quickly she wouldn't have dropped it.

The three girls walk in sync not caring about the toys on the floor just treading on them, also shows control of whatever may be there.

At the end of the clip in the corner where the girls originally stared you see a woman dressed in all black therefore showing she has controlled the three little girls to do this and doesn't feel any remorse towards the girls. 





Genre conventions

I have enjoyed a few films that are Action films, however they are not my favourite genre of films. I like the action to look realistic because when watching a film if it doesn't look realistic I get put off because I don't believe it so I cannot get into the film. When the film looks realistic with a good story line I get into the film and want to carry on watching!

Genre	Conventions/Genre indicators	film titles
Action	explosions fight scenes chase sequences hero  villain	Casino Royale   Indiana jones and the kingdom of the crystal skull  die hard  mission impossible

My influences and interests

My influences and interests 

My favourite film

My favourite film is San Andreas, I like this film because it has a lot of action but also holds a story line about family and how bad circumstances can bring a family closer together. I also like the film because the scenery made the film come to life, it made me feel worried for the characters as the buildings came crashing down because I didn't know whether they would survive or not. Another reason I like the film is because the woman and man lost a child before which makes them want to fight more to find and save their other daughter because she is trapped in a building whilst there is an earthquake and the after shocks happening. The daughter meets two boys and the three of them stick together to escape and survive and the bravery and teamwork to stick together makes the film feel more personal to the audience.

 My favourite director

My favourite director is Brad Peyton because he directed San Andreas and the way the film was produced made me want to carry on watching other films he has directed. This is because he made the film come alive and he made the film to keep the audience constantly on their toes in worry that the characters will not survive.

Genres I enjoy watching

 I enjoy watching many genres these include romance films, comedy, and action/drama. I enjoy some horrors too however there have been many I watched that I have hated every minute of! I enjoy the anticipation of when shall it make me jump however if it doesn't have a good story line with it then I dislike them a lot. I like to watch action and drama films because they are not predictable and there is constantly something going on and normally doesn't take ages to get into the good bit of thee film it is normally all the way through filled with action and drama.

A film I am wanting to see

I am looking forward to seeing 'don't breathe' it is a horror film about a blind man who captures 3 young adults because they break into his house. I have watched the trailer a few times and I have constantly seen new things in the trailer so I feel that when the film comes out it will have a good story line but will constantly have action going on.

 The last film I watched

The last film I saw was San Andreas, as I have previously mentioned I think this film is gripping and makes you want to constantly watch to see what happens next. You begin to worry for the characters because you are not sure if they shall make it out alive or whether or not the family will end up together again which makes you become fixated on the film in anticipation to see if they all make it out alive and whether they end up together.