Textual analysis - My sister's keeper

Analysis from beginning to 2:36

The first shot the audience see is a medium long shot of the main character. The character is sat on a picnic bench looking out over a lake which we can see in the right of the shot. The mise-en-scene is used to signify the emptyness in the character's life which we soon find out is due to the death of her sister. The non-diegetic sound is a piece of piano music that connotes the sadness and emptyness the main character is feeling. By experiencing these emotions the audience feel more connected to the character.

The film opens with a montage of clips and still images which feature images of the main characters and events from their life. All of the images appear to be shot on a personal video camera and are sequenced as if they are in a photo album. This allows the audience to feel connected with the characters on a personal level as photo albums often feature images to remind people of an event in their life. The images are in a random pattern which suggests that the main character is confused with what has happened so far in her life. The montage is narrated to tell the story so far so the audience can follow what has happened so far.

Editing is used throughout the opening to emphasise the feelings and emotions of the main characters. For example the opening shot lasts for aproximatley 15 seconds. This shot is used when the main character is sat looking over the lake. The length of this shot not onlly makes the audience emphasise with the main character but also makes them feel slightly awkward. Also the style in which the montage is edited allows the audience to feel a deeper relatinship with the character.

Use of Garageband

In some of our lesson I was allowed to use garage band to create a soundtrack that will feature in the opening of our film. I decided to use some of the prerecorded bars of music and use them to create our track as I don't have the ability to play the keyboard. I hoped to create a soundtrack which will relate to the characters emotion as we move to the opening of our film. So the beginning of our film starts with some devastating news, so I opted to use a deep sound played by a piano and strings to represent this feeling.
Overall I believe our soundtrack will fit well with the video and it will represent the feelings of the characters, as this is a convention of drama films.

Textual analysis - Pursuit of Happyness opening

The film begins with the opening credits which are in plain white writing on a black screen. The simplicity of this opening sequence allows the audience to interact with the soundtrack more. The soundtrack connotes a light happy feel which introduces the film and allows the audience to connect with the feeling of the film.
The next medium shot is of a dark bedroom where a young boy is led in his bed. The only light entering the room is coming through the window. This is significant as the lack of curtains shows that the characters are poor and the light is white and harsh which is how the characters are treated by the outside world. We then hear the lead male entering the room and he wakes the young boy. A two shot then displays that the two characters have a close relationship as the lead male, the father, is touching the young boy, the son, on the arm to wake him.
We then see an establishing shot of a city, this tells us where the film will be set and also a low angle shot of the American flag flying on top of a building. This relates the film to the American dream which the main character is going to pursue.

Drama Films

As further research into the genre of film in which I will be producing the beginning two minutes of I have decided to analyse some posters which are from drama films.

All of the poster include a two shot to display a relationship between two characters, whether its a mother and a daughter a husband and a wife or old friends. This shows that the film will be centered around these characters. Also all of the posters have a warm colour scheme. This connotes a sense of happiness and also signifies the warmth the characters feel for each other.