Romantic Demographic Questionnaire

'Forrest Gump' - Film Opening Analysis

Forrest Gump 

Codes and Conventions

Creation of Enigma

• In the beginning of the film we are able identify a signifier which is a feather floating around the city through the use of long shots and tracking camera movement. This creates enigma towards the audience because they have no idea what it’s significance is yet. However, it connotes innocence with the white feather as we stereotypically associate it with angels. This is also accompanied by a non-diegetic and diegetic sound in order to creates a sense of realism for the audience to understand that it will be something can relate to. The classical music (non diegetic) is played with a soft piano with strings accompanied which creates a sense of peacefulness, calm and happy mood. Near the character, he has a small suit case and a gift this creates enigma as we questions what it’s purpose.

Introduction to Characters

• We are introduced to a character through a close up shot of his legs and then camera tracks it towards his face as he picks up the feather. In the mise en scene we are able to distinguish that his costume such as his shoes are very muddy and this connotes that he has come a long way and we are able to also see how worn out it is. This then signifies his experience as a character as the feather landed on him. This character is also introduced at a city near a bus stop sitting in a very strict position. As we get a close up of his face, he has a neutral facial expression which is kind of unconventional as he seems unfamiliar of the place (setting) because we stereotypically get characters to be in a middle of an act in their daily routine whilst they’re being introduced whereas, the character in this is plainly sitting at a park bench and waiting for the bus ‘supposedly’. As he has a suitcase with him this connotes that he has been on quite a journey as we can distinguish he has multiple socks and shirts in his suitcase. He has have a children's book which is quite and unusual as to why and this could suggest that he has a son or this could reflect his personality.

Setting up the plot 

• In the beginning, we are introduced to a feather being followed by the camera through a tracking camera movement. Through the use of non-diegetic music played by an orchestra and as the piano is prominent we can get a sense of an ‘adventurous’ theme in the beginning as it the feather lands on a specific person after it travelled quite a long way from the sky. Therefore, the audience could will form an expectation that it must be the main character and has a link with the feather. 

Pace and Rhythm

• In this film opening no edits have been used except the use of camera movement tracking the main signifier which is the weather through the cities. In the mise en scene, we can identify a stereotypical setting such as the city and the bench in the ‘romantic comedy’. Moreover, as there is only one editing, it connotes that the narrative will have a reflection onto the whole narrative which means that this character will have a journey to tell. 

Mood and Tone 

• The mood and the tone of the film opening has a very calm, and tranquil mood. It also gives a sense of ‘drama’ and ‘fantasy’ because it is accompanied with a natural and high key lighting. This is reinforced through the use of non-diegetic sound which is played by an orchestra. We usually associate this type of sound to have an ‘adventurous’ and an ‘inspiring theme. The non-diegetic sound is also accompanied with a diegetic sound  to create a sense of realism to introduced the narrative which means it will be relatable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7voy1vit6Y

'Fifty Shades of Grey' - Film Opening Analysis

Fifty Shades of Grey

Codes and Conventions 

Creation of Enigma

• In the beginning we hear a very enigmatic music (non - diegetic sound) being played such as ‘I put a spell on you’ the piano increases it’s volume of sound in the beginning which creates a mischievous, and an adventurous atmosphere. Also, the film begins with a time lapse of the clouds in a very low key lighting which creates a mysterious atmosphere. This also suggest that a time has been anticipated and has finally come which again creates enigma and towards the narrative. As the time lapse ends, it has a fade out (white to black). The colours that were associated in the beginning were dull colours such as ‘Black, Grey and White’ which also creates enigma because they are often associated with the darkness which are linked to pain, sadness and death.  On the other hand, we get a series of a very long shot of cities, which means that it’s very chaotic and filled with drama as the city is mainly associated with different lifestyle and people and in films it’s conventions are that people live in a very small world which leads to possible conflicts which again creates enigma

Stock Characters 

• The first character that we are able to identify is the supposed ‘Prince Charming’ however he is represented to be very isolated. In the beginning, his face is not clearly shown and is introduced in a low key lighting which could signify his lifestyle and personality type. On the other hand, this character is introduced through a long shot accompanied with a zoom in which creates enigma. Through the long shot we are able to establish his ‘wardrobe’ in the mise en scene. The amount of space and the organisation into his room signifies that he is wealthy and a sophisticated gentleman where are able to see a selection suits which connotes that he is a business man. This suggests that he is from the upper class, which means that he is control over people which makes him even more dominant which supports a stereotypical dominant ideology such as ‘Patriarchy’. He supports the stereotypical ideology that he is the ‘prince charming’ because he is rich, sophisticated and organised. However, this does create enigma because his room looks almost too ‘perfect; that it’s hard to believe that the precision of the clothes and shoes in-between each other are the same which tell us something unusual about him. Later on, we see that he is introduced as mysterious because we get a close up shot of his feet running, long shot of him running but his back is facing the camera, a very long shot again of him running, medium shot of with nude back facing the camera and this creates enigma because as we were just slowly getting to know this character as get closer and close we get pulled back again through the use of very long shot and this disables the audience to form a deeper connection with him yet because we can’t distinguish his face, voice  and how he socializes with people yet to know him properly. In the beginning we only get to see him day to day normal activities such as ‘running’ and ‘getting changed’ which doesn’t give us a full assumption about him. Moreover, we get a sense of impression that he is good looking man because we are able to see he is fit and we get a medium shot of his back which connotes he takes pride in himself and how he looks. On the other hand, the second character that has been introduced which is introduced in a different environment which is a ‘school’ she is introduced through a long shot from a crowded corridor of student which differs and signifies 2 different world compared to the first character that we have been introduced too (Binary Opposites of Class and Status -  Upper Vs. Middle). She is also introduced in natural which create a sense of realism of which the audience can identify this character that they can relate to. Her costume and mise en scene is more colourful which again creates binary opposites of two worlds.

Themes

1.  Seduction
2. Mystery
3. Secrets
4. Unknown
5. Love
6. Passion
7. Conflict  

Reinforced through:

1.   Low key Lighting
2.  Close up shots
3.  Intense body language from the guy
4.  No Camera Shots of face of the guy
5.  Non Diegetic Sound
6. I put a spell on you – seductive love song
7. School - stereotypical stock setting
8. Office - stereotypical stock setting 

Narrative

• In the narrative, we are able to see clear binary opposites through the use of natural, high key lighting and low key lighting between the two characters in the beginning and different environments through the mise en scene who they’re with and what they are doing. This contributes to the addition of enigma in the narrative because we already know as an audience that these two character from different worlds are about collide which might could result to different themes such as conflict, love and a mystery to unravel. However, we don’t see them directly together in the beginning which creates anticipation for the audience of how, where, what and when they will meet to see how they will build on in the narrative. 

Iconography

• The iconography, is the typical business wear of the guy first introduced into the narrative in order to connote an upper class lifestyle. The girl’s costume is the stereotypical conservative wear of a man which connotes that she is very secluded and doesn’t like to be provocative. Whereas, the guy is already introduced to dominant in a high class fashion which might be a magnet for a lot of girls as we have been exposed to his body.  We also see an iconography of the city as a stereotypical setting instead of a countryside because in the city we tend to associate them as a small world when it comes to characters from there. 

'500 days of Summer' - Film Opening Analysis

'500 days of Summer' - Film Opening Analysis 

Codes & Conventions 

Creation of Enigma

• In the beginning, we are immediately introduced to the two main character which are the supposed ‘couple’ of this story of love.  They are introduced through a medium shot of them two sitting at the bench with their back turned which already makes the audience assume that they are lovers through their body language. This creates enigma because it has been accompanied by non-diegetic sound in-between the two character who have no dialogue but intensely looking at each other eyes and it creates enigma in-between the character of what stage they are in. However, in the very beginning before this scene, the movie opens up with the illustration of a tree blossoming with the faded city scape in the back ground, this connotes stock setting and this connotes the city which provides new beginning to different people in the city. The beginning has an unconventional structure of a film because it doesn't follow the stereotypical chronological order in the narrative and this helps enigma because we are still trying to construct the narrative from random orders. In contrast to this, there is a sudden transition with an illustration of a blank bench to symbolise themes of loneliness and misery. This is because benches are normally associated with more than 2 people at a park and a place known to share emotional intimacy towards a relationships /friendships .

Introduction of characters 

• In the beginning we are introduced to a guy character whose body language and facial language in the mise en scene denotes that he is miserable with his life. For example, in the beginning, we can see that he is in a meeting through a medium shot and he not paying attention to the speaker in the mise en scene as he looking down with his back slouching whilst everyone is looking forward and indicate that he not happy with his life and where he wants to be at that very moment and reflects his emotions. In the positioning of the frame, we can see that he is in the middle which could signify that he is a prominent character accompanied with a camera movement zooming into him. In the mise en scene we are able to see that he is wearing business wear but casual compared to his colleagues which could indicate that he more laid back and has lack of motivation daily life activities and doesn't really care about his appearance. This scene is also in natural lighting which creates a sense of realism into the narrative which an audience can automatically relate to. On the other hand, we are he introduced to another character which is the girl from the sideways view of her talking to customer on the phone with natural lighting and her body language is differed from the guy as she is more focused in everything she does and more attentive as she faces in different directions. The girl has a ponytail with a bow at the back and is wearing a blouse with complimentary blue trousers which reinforces the ideology that women mainly focuses on their appearance to please people

Setting up the plot 

• In the plot we are introduced to the themes of ‘love’ and ‘intimacy’ as the two character in the beginning as they get lost in each other’s eyes whilst they are smiling and a close up shot of their hands on top of each other with the girl’s hand with a wedding ring so we automatically think she’s engaged to him which is accompanied high lighting which indicates that it’s a significant moment and that narrative is going to be based on them. In the narrative, through the use of non-diegetic sound the voice is very storytelling and the tone of his voice helps the audience feel calm but focused at the same time because it’s neutral. After the intimate scene, it then transitions to the guys miserable life which then directs the audience attention.

Pace & Rhythm & Editing/mise en scene/camera shot

• The pace and rhythm is a variety of mainly slow paced and fast paced motions in the beginning. The slow paced movement signify a sense of sadness but can also a sense of realization each. The slow faced duration of shots of the characters accompanied with zoom ins are used to create enigma to make to direct the audience’s main attention to to these characters. Towards the end of the beginning we then begin to see face paced movement through the use of pan camera movement to the girl which then transitions from a sad atmosphere to a happy atmosphere in order to start the narrative.

Mood and tone (non diegetic music)

• The non-diegetic music in the beginning is a soft orchestra music with a guy whistling in the beginning which is like a stereotypical fairy-tale/ fantasy music to make it seem more conventional. 

'The Notebook' - Film Opening Analysis

'The Notebook' - Film Opening Analysis

Codes & Conventions

Creation of enigma

• In the beginning of the film, we are able to identify a sunset through the use of ‘fade in’ and has a ‘warm’ lighting and a very long shot. The warm lighting reinforces the romantic genre and this creates enigma because the sunset represents that something has ended and something is about start. The colours that we see are ‘red, black, orange and yellow’. Since the audience already knows that it’s romantic film, red connotes passion and love which could lead to danger and the colour red could symbolize blood and death. Also, the non-diegetic sound is a soft piano music at the background which could give us an impression that it’s bittersweet because contrasting with the very vibrant colours.  The non-diegetic sound creates enigma to the audience because they provide different interpretations associated with the soft piano as peaceful but some interpret in a way such as a ‘sad and gives a sense of tragedy for loss. This then makes the audience anticipate for what, why, how and when something is going to happen. 

Introduction of Characters

• In the beginning we are introduced to a guy character whose body language and facial language in the mise en scene denotes that he is miserable with his life. For example, in the beginning, we can see that he is in a meeting through a medium shot and he not paying attention to the speaker in the mise en scene as he looking down with his back slouching whilst everyone is looking forward and indicate that he not happy with his life and where he wants to be at that very moment and reflects his emotions. In the positioning of the frame, we can see that he is in the middle which could signify that he is a prominent character accompanied with a camera movement zooming into him. In the mise en scene we are able to see that he is wearing business wear but casual compared to his colleagues which could indicate that he more laid back and has lack of motivation daily life activities and doesn't really care about his appearance. This scene is also in natural lighting which creates a sense of realism into the narrative which an audience can automatically relate to. On the other hand, we are he introduced to another character which is the girl from the sideways view of her talking to customer on the phone with natural lighting and her body language is differed from the guy as she is more focused in everything she does and more attentive as she faces in different directions. The girl has a ponytail with a bow at the back and is wearing a blouse with complimentary blue trousers which reinforces the ideology that women mainly focuses on their appearance to please people. 

Setting up the plot 

• In the opening of the film, its mainly focus on the character because they ‘re in a variety of long shots, medium shot that are used of them in a canoe in the middle of the sea and they are always positioned in each and single shot to show that they are significant to the film itself and the narrative. As I already said in the beginning the warm lighting is used and is reinforced by the dark and vibrant colours which creates theme of loss, passion, love and danger which are the stereotypical themes needed in the romantic genre because they are needed to form the plot and a disruption into the equilibrium. In the beginning, we identify a sunset which gives us an impression that something has ended which could give the audience the structure of the plot where they are about to reminisce on the past because the sunset gives a sense of ending in the narrative with fade in and fade out used. The low key lighting creates sad mood throughout the beginning but it might contrast and reinforced with the non - diegetic sound where it has a soft piano playing in the background which gives us an impression that the character is troubled or is going through a traumatic time. The colours used in the mise en scene can open text to the audience as soft and intimate or it can be distorted and mysterious which prepares the audience for the plot.

Pace and rhythm - Editing/mise en scene/camera shots

• The editing used are mainly straight cuts in order to create a sense of realism, in order to make it relatable to the audience. Moreover, the slow paced movement used in the beginning are able to remind us that when time is slow we associate with sad events because they are traumatising. Whereas, we are able to associate fast paced movements as fun events