1. The opening scene of The Notebook uses long shots of a lake at sunset to establish a sense of romance and equilibrium. Jump cuts are used to introduce the main character Noah swimming in the lake. 2. The second shot shows Noah closer to shore with the film title above him. This emphasizes Noah's importance as a main character. 3. The third shot shows Noah approaching land from a low angle, further highlighting his significance. Minimal editing and a piano soundtrack maintain the relaxed atmosphere. 4. The second main character, Allie, is then introduced through a shot reverse shot as she watches Noah from shore. Doves in the shot represent the peace between the characters. 5. The closing

1. Synopsis within the shot Camera Work Mise-en-scene Editing Drama Conventions portrayed?
1. In the first shot of the
opening scene we see a
lake which the suns
reflection is present in.
The director of The Notebook has
used an extreme long shot to
portray the scenery in this image,
it also constructs what time of
day the film the film has opened
on (the sunset), which has
connotations of love, and also
romance which is a sub-genre of
the film. Because of this
equilibrium is depicted
automatically through the use of
camera in the opening scene.
From the long shot, a
large proportion of the
image is filled from the
lake, because of this
the equilibrium is also
clear as we can only
see clear and quite
waters.
Like many drama films,
the opening shows a
large background
which then jump cuts
are used to become
closer to one of the two
main characters in the
film (Noah), this is to
introduce the audience
to the film.
Because of this shot we can see that The
Notebook conforms to Todorovs Narrative
theory which has become a necessity in drama
films to be successful, this also applies to the
Uses and Gratification theory because the
disruption of the equilibrium which can be
relatable for the viewing audience highlights
the entertainment of drama films which is the
reason so many people watch the drama genre.
2. In this shot the film
name is shown and
Noah who is one of the
main characters can be
identified in the middle
of the lake.
In the first shot we see an
extreme long shot which then
changed to a long shot to slowly
introduce the first of the two
main characters.
This makes it easier for the
audience to identify Noah
because the opening scene only
focuses on two people.
The title of the film which has
been edited into this shot shows
the importance of this character
because we see him above the
actual title but also the font used
is very dull, not conforming to
any genre which reinforces the
equilibrium to the audience.
Similar to the first shot
the lake takes up a
large proportion of the
image which also
reinforces the
equilibrium.
The jump cut to this
shot from the previous
shot introduces Noah
to the audience, they
are made aware of this
because he becomes
more clear even after
the third shot where we
see him approaching
land.
The jump cuts also
emphasises his
importance because if
he wasn’t an important
character a large
amount of the opening
scene wouldn’t be
based around him
(which it is).
A typical convention of drama films is basing
the whole film around a specific character or in
this case two because of it having a sub-genre
of romance, we can see because of the
introduction of Noah a large proportion of the
film is going to be based around him as of the
opening scene being based around him.
Showing a character on an emotional journey or
quest in a drama film builds a relationship for
the viewing audience but also suspense when
the equilibrium is disrupted.
3. We can see from this
shot that we can now
identify the gender of
this character
portrayed who is more
towards main land.
As a low angle shot has been
used, the significance of this
character in the film is
emphasised and made clear to
the audience.
Also as this shot is a long shot, it
shows the character coming
closer to main land which shows
the beginning of the film but also
the importance of this location
because of the opening scene
being based around this one
location.
As we can see the large
grass in the
background, we can
identify that the main
character is heading
for the mainland but it
can also be generalised
by the viewing
audience that this film
is filmed in Southern
America because large
grass and lakes have
connotations of
Southern America but
A minimal amount of
editing has been used
in this shot to
emphasise the
relaxation.
A backing track of a
piano is used (non-
diegetic) to reconstruct
a representation of this
character and also film,
this representation
consists of equilibrium
and relaxation so that
In drama films, minimal editing is used because
of the real life relatable situations that the
audience encounter when watching drama
films, in order for the drama film to be
successful it has to be realistic which is why the
director and producer of this film has kept
editing minimal in order to portray the film as
realistic as possible.

2. there are also
stereotypes of this.
when the disruption of
the equilibrium occurs,
tension is significantly
high for the audience.
4. After being introduced
to one of the main
characters we are then
introduced to the
second main character,
both of these
characters are most
important to the
synopsis The Notebook.
In this shot we can see that the
second main character Allie, is
introduced for the first time.
She’s introduced through the use
of a shot reverse shot from the
other character, this highlights
the importance of her role in the
film because the shot reverse
shot was previously facing Noah,
but this also introduces her to
the viewing audience.
A long shot has also been used as
we can see Allie looking at Noah
which informs the audience that
both Noah and Allie will have
some sort of relationship in the
film as she’s portrayed as
watching him come towards her
as he crosses the lake.
The most clear object
in this shot are the
doves, this depicts the
equilibrium that Allie
and Noah are currently
encountering because
doves have
connotation of peace
which shows the
relaxation and sense of
normality to both Allies
and Noah’s characters,
this then shows the
tension when the
disruption of the
equilibrium comes In
the film.
In this shot the backing
track of the piano
continues in order to
reinforce the image the
doves are creating of
peace.
Drama conventions are always key in order for
the film to conform to its genre, the use of the
doves create the idea that drama film show real
life situations, which the doves show, from my
research I know that this is a key convention in
drama films which shows that The Notebook
conforms to its genre.
From my research I also concluded that a key
convention is the involvement with society, as
the whole opening scene highlights involvement
with society it is conforming to genre, showing
the key conventions.
5. In the last two minutes
of the opening scene,
Allie is shown looking
out of her window.
In a large proportion of the
opening scenes shots, a long shot
or extreme long shot has been
used. This makes the opening
scene realistic but also
continuous. As the scene is
continuous it has an emphasis on
the relaxed environment the
audience receive from viewing
the opening scene because of
how they have been introduced
to the film and to the main
characters.
We can see Allie
looking out of her
window, the
director/producer has
made the reflection of
the sun in the window
clear which is to show
the audience that Allie
is one of the main
characters as it is the
ending of the opening
scene , it is also easy
for the viewing
audience to identify
that the opening scene
A shot reverse shot has
been used to clearly
show Allie looking at
Noah, this then informs
the audience that they
will have involvement
with each other in the
film.
A huge part of this opening scene is making the
equilibrium as clear as possible, which is a huge
part of drama films. The camera work, editing
and mise-en-scene have all been used in this
opening sequence to clearly show the
equilibrium which can then be disrupted. This is
so significant because it hugely entices the
audience when the equilibrium is disrupted as a
viewing audience can find this significantly
entertaining.
Also in this opening scene it is also made clear
that both Allie and Noah are the most
important characters in the film. By basing the
whole opening scene to these two characters

3. is coming to an end
because they show
Allie in a house.
introduces the audience to the characters but
also encourages the importance of them both to
the viewing audience.