2. Camera Work
In the first shot the camera is out of focus but the audience can make
out that a girl has her back to us and all we can see is a close up of her
blonde hair. When the name of the film appears on the screen then the
hair comes into focus. The following shot cuts to a close up of a bicycle
basket with a card inside it and this allows the audience to presume that
the card is for the main character which we are shown cut scenes of.
The director also uses a tracking shot to show exactly how the card got
to where it was being delivered to, which is effective as it feel as if the
viewer is also present and sees ever step until the point that they put the
card through the door
3. Editing
S Through out the whole opening sequence there are two parallel
actions happening, Which is the main character getting ready and the
card being signed being signed by all the friends. The camera cuts in
between the two actions to show this and to show continuity and what
is going on in the two different situations. The opening is in
chronological order, since Elle goes from being not ready to ready, and
the card gets passed around to everyone until everyone has signed it.
The time duration of the opening feels quite long as it shows a lot of
people doing activities, getting ready and signing the card, The
director done this effectively to show the stereotypical view that girls
take long to get ready.
4. Mise-En-Scene
S The costumes the actors were wearing were summer clothes as you
could see from the colour which was mainly bright and colourful.
However the boys were mainly shirtless and the girls were all dressed
in very feminine clothing such as skirts and dresses. These really
made the characters fit into there stereotypes as all of the girls were
girly girls and all of the boys were sporty. The opening sequence had
many props, little things that would be stereotypical for a girl to use.
these props were the one of the important things in the opening
sequence as they made the whole environment that they are in more
girly. The majority of the props we saw were in Elle's room as she was
getting ready, girly things around the room. For example, when Elle is
painting her nails we can see her sorority and as the camera pans
over it we learn that she is the leader of the group "Delta Nu". Other
small things we see are nail polishes, the make-up brushes, the pink
photo frames and the pile of magazines all of these props show us
what a girly character the protagonist is, the fact the practically
everything in her room is pink.
5. Sound
S The film starts with no background music, just the roar of the lion in the
MGM logo. Straight after that we hear song "Perfect Day", it is non-
diegetic but immediately sets a happy mood to the film as the lyrics are
supposed to be quite fast pace and the tune is one that makes you feel
like you can dance to it. The music also sounds girly and if instantly makes
you think of a chick flick. This song plays for the duration of the opening
sequence. Over the top of the background music we hear the sounds from
the actions that people on screen are doing for example having a water
fight and wrestling. You hear people say hello to each other as the camera
is following the girl with the letter. All of these activities are fun and people
are enjoying themselves which also makes the audience feel happy
watching them. In a way the people in the opening are having so much fun
that it seems slightly unrealistic - but then again, this is an American
romantic comedy, There isn't much, if any, conversational dialogue in the
opening sequence.
6. Questions
S Who is the main character?
S Where is it set?
S What is in the letter?
S Do they all live together
S Are they a group?
S How old are the characters
7. What can we learn?
S We can see that the main character is getting getting
ready as there are many shots to show where everything
is set, we can also see that the word in which the
characters are living in is happy as everyone is having
fun.
S The characters seem to be really girly and we can see
this by the use of the color pink which is a stereotypical
color for girls.
