Comparing our Film Opening to Other Films

Now having compared our overall film idea to other existing romantic-comedies, I am going to look specifically at comparing our film opening idea to other films. This is to ensure that our opening uses the generic conventions of a rom-com as well as giving hints to the storyline and keeping the audiences interest. I am going to compare our opening using the categories I have previously used to analyse other film openings with: Narrative, Character, Atmosphere, Setting, Sound and Titles.

Narrative and Setting

Our opening consists of a woman at her desk typing her new column for her magazine. The camera will establish the setting by panning around the room and give hints to themes that will appear later in the film by tracking over her desk where there will be magazine cuttings and articles hinting her job and interests. We will hear a voiceover revealing what she is typing in her article talking about love and relationships however her face will not be totally revealed to keep the audience interested. Other films that use the voiceover technique are ‘Bridget Jones’ Diary’ (2006) and ‘A Cinderella Story’ (2004) – both use the voiceover technique, specifically in the openings.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aFhQ9uPsxM

The idea of the main characters face not being entirely revealed is also used in the film ‘Confessions of a Shopaholic’ (2009) where we hear a voiceover but do not see the characters face until the very end of the opening sequence.

The opening will also introduce the city style, office setting as we will see her typing at her desk. The film ‘The Proposal’ (2009) also introduces this city setting along with the busy office life in the opening sequence which is quite common among films of this genre.

Office Setting - The Proposal (2009)

Character

In our opening, only the main character is properly introduced which is similar to most other films of this particular genre. We are also introduced to the characters job and where they work as we see the main character Penelope Fox working at her desk in her office and we are made aware that she is a relationship columnist for a magazine. The film ‘Never Been Kissed’ (1999) uses a similar type of opening as in the first two minutes we only focus on the main female character who is speaking in the voiceover and on the screen. The character herself is not similar to our character but she has a similar career and the techniques used to present her are similar to the way we are planning on presenting our character.

We also plan on introducing the male protagonist through a photograph in the opening to hint to the audience that he will be a main character but not as main as the female character present in the opening. It is also to hint his relationship with the main female character as the photo will show them as a couple who are clearly romantically involved. Another film that uses photographs in the opening to show the characters relationship is the film ‘The Break-Up’ (2006).

Atmosphere

Most rom-coms open with a light hearted, romantic atmosphere and this is what we would like to depict in our opening. The voiceover will be discussing love and romance and we are thinking about having a romantic, relaxed song playing in the background to be in-keeping with the light, comfortable feel to the opening. We plan to introduce the comedy element by making the atmosphere change very suddenly by having an interrupting phone call that will cut through the relaxed feel.

Titles

We have decided that we would like our titles to be very simple, fading in and out of the shot however we would like to make our main title more creative by integrating it into the narrative of the opening. We are considering using white text for the titles as this is very common among romantic comedies and goes with the light hearted feel of the film.