Analysis of an Opening Sequence

Love Actually (2003)
Director and writer: Richard Curtis

http://youtu.be/PMScPVO4rLw   (unable to embed this clip) 

Sound: 
The non diagetic music in the opening sequence of this film is soft toned, slow and sounds as if they are violins along with other string instruments. I believe this has been done to create a romantic mood and enabling the audience to understand the genre (romantic comedy) of the film. There is then some more non diagetic sound of a British man talking over the scene, he has a posh accent and instantly tell us this is a British romantic comedy. It also portrays this character as being very important and key in this film as he is the first person you hear. 'When the plane hit the twin towers' By the actor saying this, it makes the audience feel very sad and as the main viewers are Americans they can instantly relate to this making the film see more natural and real life.

Mis-En-Scene
The opening sequence of this film is set in the arrivals gate Heathrow Airport, London. This shows natural peoples reactions when they see their loved ones making the sequence look more realistic, also it portrays the film to be a film about love in a variety of relationships. Fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, siblings, boyfriends and girlfriends, husbands and wives are all shown in this clip therfore portraying the different love you can find. 'love is everywhere'

                     

   

Editing
There is not much abstract editing in this opening scene suggesting the naturalistic atmosphere they want to portray. It simply cuts from one reaction of an arrival to another, showing us the variety in relationships, and the similarities they have enhancing how natural the opening sequence is. However they do include a slow motion effect which draws the audience into the reactions of these people making their movements and expressions more important and bold, also enhancing the love. Therefore this establishes that the film is about love and romance.

Camera
Most of the shots in the opening sequence are tracking shots, following the people in the airport approaching their loved ones. This again is done to enhance the love the people have, and us following their relationships. There are many shallow focus' shots in this clip as many people are seen to be out of focus, where as the reactions are the only things in focus. This draws the viewers in to these reactions to be important and a main aspect of the opening sequence. Connotating that love is important and should be key in everyones lives. There is also one clip where a couple of shown to be framed around other people in a shallow focus in a shape of heart, enhancing how love is shown in this film.

Titles
At the beginning of this opening sequence there are only two titles shown very small in white simple writing 'A working title production' This is not very distracting but is still visible therefore are attention is still on the characters. Throughout the natural reactions there are no title shown which again keeps the viewer focused on the people and also again enhances the natural atmosphere the director wanted to create.

When the British actor says 'love actually is all around' these words appear on the screen, almost like a typewriter, this emphasizes the words he is saying as being important and the words are meaningful, creating a clue that the film is all around this statement. Also the fact the word 'is' is shown boldly in red suggest he wants to enhance this point.  Then 'is all around' fades from the screen and the title 'love actually' remains, turning the word love in red. This is a subtle way of including the title of the film in the screen, and due to the fact that love is now shown in red draws you to this word and again emphasizes the love narrative the film may have.

Dominant Ideologies
There arent really many key dominant idelogies portrayed in this film as there are a strong variety of different people shown that we don't find much about. Therefore it's hard to put key stereotypes on them. However they portray love to be a very happy feeling as every character has a strong happy expression on them whereas this could not always be the case. Also the British character we hear speaking has a very distinct posh accent, therefore making the viewers believe that every British man is like this. 


Conventional Elements
Titles, opening credits, indication to genre, introduction to main characters, narrative enigma.
This scene has included many of the elements that opening sequence should have. The scene has opening credits and titles which clearly inform the audience of the production company and also the title of the film. This means they can get an idea of the genre of the film due to the title, and also they may have seen films from the same production company. Indication to genre is important and should be included in the opening sequence of every film, here the actions of the characters and the film title clearly signifies the film is a romantic comedy and is based around love. Although we do not see the main characters, we do hear one. This introduces him to be important and one of the main characters, this creates a narrative enigma, as the audience will want to find out who he is, what he will bring to the film, what he looks like. Therefore will carry on watching to find out. Also the fact we do not see any other main characters, and we do not know anything is going to happen apart from love, is also a narrative enigma. Sound is also a conventional element that is included which also indicates the theme of love. 

                                                                                                               

Genre /Narrative signifiers

There are many clues in this clip that inform the audience this film is a romantic comedy:
Firstly, the main character we hear has a strong posh british accent. This soft toned voice is a connotation to the feeling of love and clearly makes us believe it's a british romance film. They have used natural reactions of real people coming through the arrival gate at heathrow airpot creating a loving mood to the film and signifying that this is a film that includes love you find in real life and is not just seen in movies.