Film Opening Presentation-1

8/14/2019 Film Opening Presentation-1

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.his film falls into both romance and drama genres An.xample of a Hybrid genre

/arget audience is most likely to be American teens young, ,dults it may also appeal to lower classes as the main

.haracter also has a poor background

-he film made no real effort to achieve cross over appeal

eleased 17th ovember 2000

( )irector Matt Williams Relatively unknown

‘ ’ased on the novel Where The Heart Is by Billie Letts

t won one award and was nominated for two

.ain character and most famous is on the DVD cover

ubsequent copies of the novel were printed with a cover

.ith the character on the films on



20th entury fox , ,ho are owned by Rupert Murdoch.roduced this film They have produced some of the biggest

; , - ,ovie franchises to date such as Star Wars X Men Die, , ,ard Ice Age Night at the Museum The Chronicles of

.arnia and Home Alone It was also produced by a company

alled ind Dancer .

istributed by US companies such as ,ntermedia New ilms International ,nd UK company .he BBC

,his film was produced with a very low budget only 15

million . his is surprising compared to the lavish.udgets of some the films listed above This instantly

,uggests that the movie is basic possibly set in poor, , ’ocations wont require special effects and won t have any

.ig named stars

’ ,he film didn t screen out of the USA on its opening eekend it had ,437 creenings which is relatively low

or the US and made just under . .8 3 million owever its ross intake grew over each week that it screened and

ontinued to screen for .8 weeks



he film begins with the 20th entury Fox company logo and.heme tune These have not been altered to signify any

.pecific type of genre This takes up the first 20.econds of the opening

,one of the opening is filmed at night or with a colour. ,ilter Connoting that this is a realist genre film not a uturistic or horror genre film

.ollowing this is a black screen The sound of dripping reates an audio bridge as the shot fades into a close up

,f the underneath of a car the close up shot signifying.hat the object is crucial to the plot This image is very, ,olysemic it could signify an action film or a drama it

’ .oesn t suggest a romance film It does however suggest, ’hat the characters will not be well off as they re unable

.o afford a decent car



hen some dialogue begins which provides exposition as it nstantly tells the audience where the opening is set and

hat the characters are planning to travel from Tennessee,o California it also provides some anchorage as to the

ocial class of the characters before we actually see any

, ( )f them on screen the American Tennessee accent ignifying that they will probably be poor and possibly, .ot very clever either as this is the stereotype

, -his shot gives the first indication of setting the mise- ,n scene realistically portrays a trailer park it would

e the preferred reading that the character on screen so.ar all live there

he first shot of the car is 5 seconds long which is quite,long take then a clean cut switches to a medium shot of,young man he is the first character on screen which

.ignifies that he is the central protagonist However he

, ’s not the central protagonist is Natalie Portman s,haracter Novalee and she is in fact the 4th haracter to

.ome onto the screen



,he is heavily pregnant she has long brown hair tied up, ’ - ’ith a scrunchie she s wearing no make up and she s

,ressed in a sundress and flat sandals therefore it is ot signified that she is on screen for male

,ratification this connotes the film is aimed more

. ’owards a female audience However she isn t a countertype’ .haracter either as she isn t an intellectual individual ater on it is discovered that she is incapable of reading

. ,ell The other two females are also rather unattractive hich fits the stereotype of poor Americans living in a

, ’railer park and also shows they re not on screen for male

.ratification he first character that came onto the screen hits

’ ,ovalee s bottom this instantly gives the audience insight.nto his character The preferred reading would be that he

,s her boyfriend negotiated reading might be that he is. ’ust a pervert It shows that the character isn t

.espectful towards women



ore dialogue further anchors the idea that these,haracters are poor as one of the character points out

’hat the car s floor is missing and Novalee tells them, , “hat her boyfriend Willie Jack got the whole car for 80

.”ucks The shot switches back to the close up of the.nderneath signifying how poor the car is This is an

mportant bit of dialogue as the fact that the floor is-issing is what leads Novalee to go into the Wal mart in

.he first place as she looses her shoes

nother crucial bit of information about the plot and,haracter follows this as Novalee goes on to discuss why

.he dislikes the number 5 As the plot develops the number,leads to numerous bad events therefore is it important hat it is in the dialogue before the plot goes any

.urther A close up shot of the number plate allows the.udience to see the number plate for themselves

here is also one more factor in the dialogue from the,pening which is key to the rest of the plot and that is. ’he camera However the director hasn t chosen to include a

lose up of the object this early on so it is unlikely hat on the first viewing of the film the audience would ick up on the preferred reading that this object is of

.ny importance to the plot



he takes are quite long throughout this section of the, ,pening as well mostly medium shots of Novalee some shot

everse shot with the two characters she is talking too.nd two cut away shots to the man in the background This

s now beginning to signify that she is the central

.rotagonist

,atch on action is used as Willie Jack flicks his igarette and then it lands on the oil which was dripping

.rom the car earlier and creates a fire

,he screen then fades away and another shot fades in this

.ignifies an ellipsis of time There is also an audio-ridge as the first bit of non diegetic music begins to

, ’ ‘ ’ .lay it s slightly country n western and rock

t 2 minutes and 6 seconds into the opening is when the,itles begin this would be a good reference to use for a

’ilm that doesn t put any titles up on screen until the.ery end of the opening two minutes It also fits the

ntire opening sequence prior to the rest of the film into, .lmost exactly 2 minutes include the company logo



’p to this point the plot is at Todorov s equilibrium. -tage Dis equilibrium comes in at only 6 minutes into the

ilm which is relatively quickly into a film of a drama.nd romance genres

owever there is still no signification that this film is romance until much further on into the film

ther films in the drama and romance genres from the 21st ; , ,entury are The Notebook Pearl Harbour Brokeback

, & ,ountain Pride Prejudice Atonement and The Time

’ .raveller s Wife,lot of these are historical films as most modern

- .omance films are Rom Com hybrids

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Film Opening Presentation-1