Analysis of Opening Sequences of Romantic Comedy Films By Divya Sharma

Stuck in love

Analysis

This opening sequence once again starts off with the film production company’s logo. It then follows introducing all of the four main characters one by one and showing us snippets of their life which slowly builds up the story. Then it finishes with the title of the film just on a plain background. This particular opening sequences was extremely long in my opinion, yes although it introduced all the main characters I think some snippets were long however even though I say this I think the way they introduced all the main characters in the opening was clever and not to much. It set up the rest of the film extremely well.

The title

The title of this film is short and simple in terms of colours and font. The title consist of three words and is not all in capitals which does not make much impact but it is in a bold print. The colours are very basic as the writing is just in plain white with a black background and the font is almost like a type writer style as the film is about writing and books so it goes well with what the film is about

Sound

In the opening sequence there is both Diegetic and non-Diegetic sound. As this opening sequences introduces all the characters, every time a new character is introduced the music changes to suit the situation. The music for the first character is soft, sad music that ahs the voice over of the character speaking over the music. The music for the second character is quite party music as they are at a party. The music for the last two characters are the same and it is also sad, tense music which also has both digetic sound of people arguing and the voice over of one of the characters over the music. After introducing the characters is skips into the next scene which has upbeat happy music.

Editng

There isn't much complex editing in the opening sequence as it is just simple jump cuts switching to the change of characters and settings. There are also a lot of straight cuts that are used throughout the sequence.

That awkward moment

Analysis

In the first shot of the opening sequence is the film company that produced the film. The second shot of the opening is where the main character of the film is introduced immediately and we hear a bit of the background story of the film. The next shot is where they rewind back in time and it shows us a bit of the main characters life and what he is like. The last shot of the opening sequence is the title of the film which is placed on top of an establishing shot showing the city that the film is based in.

The title

The title of this film is short a sit consists of three words and has quite a simple font and colour too. The colours that the title has used is a simple white for the first and last word in a normal font that is all capitals and having the middle word in a brighter colour of yellow and having the font in bold instead of leaving it to its original font.

Sound

There is both Diegetic and non-diegetic sound in the opening sequence. The non diegetic sound is up beat almost jazzy music that suits the target audience the film is aimed at and also the main character is has a voice over the music. The diegetic sound is the conversation between the two people.

Editing

There isn't much complex editing in the opening sequence as it is just simple jump cuts switching to the change of settings during the sequence and also to a just a blank screen that gives credit to those involved. There are also a lot of straight cuts that are used throughout the sequence.

(500) Days Of Summer

Analysis

The first shot of the film is the film company that produced the film. The second shot is the title of the film and then it goes into the next shot which introduces the two main characters together and establishing the city they are in. It then goes into showing the two main characters separately and giving an insight into the characters life and establishing the second setting. The next shots are the just the credits of who are the stars in the film and the producers etc.

The Title

The title is simple and short as it has two words and one number. The colour used for the title is white which is a basic, simple colour. The words are in bold capitals and the number is above it in brackets and the font used is like a type writer style of font

Sound

There is only Non- Diegetic sound in this opening sequence. The music that is first played is orchestral and sad and there is a narrator voice over on top on the music. Once the sequence changes to giving credit to people the music changes into a kind of upbeat passionate song which has bittersweet feeling to it.

Editing

There isn't much complex editing in the opening sequence as it is just simple jump cuts switching to the change of settings during the sequence and the to a screen that gives credit to those involved. There are also a lot of straight cuts that are used throughout the sequence.