2. The very first shots we see in this film opening is the logos of ‘UNIVERSAL’ ‘STUDIOCANAL’ and ‘WORKING TITLE
PICTURES’. These three companies produce high production value films and so this creates an expectation for the
audience of the quality of the film and how much they are going to enjoy the film. These have purposely been used as
the first shots as the audience will relate the logos to other films that they have seen, and as Universal, Studio Canal
and Working Title pictures have produced some very successful films, it creates an expectation for this film. Studio
Canal and Working Title are both subsidiaries of Universal. The same sound is used for all logos that is always used
when they are shown in films. Another reason these logos are shown is to create a name for the production
companies, almost advertising them.
3. From the production logos there is a fade into the establishing shot showing a busy scene with lots of
people in it. A montage of ‘love’ is shown using the people, showing them hugging and kissing etc.
Slow, orchestral music starts playing as the montage takes place and the titles appear in a plain, white
font at the bottom of the shot. A voiceover then begins, explaining the scene which we are informed is
the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. The audience will recognise the actors voice which grabs their
attention. Throughout the montage many different shots are used for different purposes/ For example
close ups of people’s faces are used to show their happiness and other facial expressions.
4. The non-diegetic sound of the voiceover and music continue throughout the
montage and then as the voiceover’s monologue comes to an end, the words
he is saying appear on screen- “love actually is all around”. The audience
recognise the title of the film here ‘love actually’.
5. As the montage ends, the non diegetic music fades out along with the screen which
fades to black showing only the title of the film. The red and black writing stands out
against the black background and the whole shot signifies the beginning of the film.
The screen then fades from black into a close up of an older male character. The
beginning of a Christmassy pop song starts to play as the screen fades and we see that
this scene is set in a recording studio, making the music diegetic.
