‘The Notebook’ opening scene analysis

“The Notebook” (2004) is a romantic film, set in the 1950’s, directed by Nick Cassavetes, staring Ryan Gosling, James Garner Gena Rowlands and Rachel McAdams. The opening sequence is very effective in the way in which it sets up the rest of the story in terms of genre, characterisation, setting, narrative and the time and place.

Firstly, the viewer is presented with a close-up of the character introduced as “Duke” (Garner). This shot enables the viewer to see clearly the age of this him so they can quickly establish who he is. Then mise-en-scene is used to emphasise the fact he is an old man by having him put on a pair of over-sized glasses, stereotypically associated with an older character. Then there is a mid shot which allows the viewer to briefly see where this character is. He is in a small room which appears to be his bedroom. There is an armchair in the corner with a checked blanket and a lamp next to it, which suggests this is where he sits of an evening, again stereotypical for an old man. Then, just before leaving the room, he picks up a book off the dressing table which the viewer perhaps associates with the title of the film, leading them to believe this is ‘the notebook’ the title refers to. This room and the furniture in it is mainly light blue, which is linked to hospitals therefore hinting at the fact he may be in some sort of care place.

In the next scene the audience is presented with a panning shot which shows that he is infact in a care home. This is shown by the walls being the same light blue as in his bedroom, the clean white floors and the people clearly dressed as staff/carers in all white clothes.
Then, a long shot is presented showing another room in this care home with other patients in it. We see Duke interact with a patient, he says “How you hanging Harry?” which the patient replies with “Well I keep trying to die, but they won’t let me” to which Duke responds “Well, you can’t have everything.” This light humour suggests that they aren’t taking their lives too seriously anymore. Also it shows that they are being looked after, again confirming they are in a care home which now appears to be for the elderly. After this dialogue, we see Duke in a queue in which he waits to receive his pills, saying excitedly to the nurse “Big day today!” which emphasises he is going to do something big, that could perhaps make a big change. The nurse then replies with “You say that everyday, you old devil.” which again presents humour. Also, it shows he has this ‘big day’ everyday, meaning he repeats his day over and over again. This could perhaps slightly confuse the audience, which engages them into the film.

The next thing the viewer sees is a close up of an elderly woman, who is dressed very elegantly and classy. The close up shot allows the audience to see she is wearing jewellery, matching earrings and necklace, which shows she is very cautious of how she looks, and likes to make herself look nice. Also, she is wearing very subtle makeup which shows femininity. The outfits everyone are wearing are fairly modern things, and what’s perhaps expected of old people to wear in modern day, which tells the audience this part of the film is set in modern times.
What appears to be this lady’s nurse comes into the background, trying to convince her to go and take a walk outside. She tenses when she hears this, which suggests nervousness, and also presents the idea of her having some sort of condition, which is why she is also in this home.

Duke then walks into this room, and seems very friendly towards this lady and her nurse by saying “hello” optimistically. The nurse replies to him with “I’m sorry, its not a good day. I don’t think she’s up for anything.” which shows she is very familiar with him, and also suggests that this other woman has ‘good’ and ‘bad’ days, which emphasises the fact she has some kind of illness. The lady says the Duke “Hello?” which shows she isn’t familiar with him, even though he is with her, leading to the belief she perhaps can’t remember him. The nurse then explains that Duke has come to read to her, which then sets up the narrative for the film. It shows that he cares about this woman, and perhaps spends the rest of the film trying to make her like him back, which confirms the genre aswell.

These factors all contribute to creating a very effective opening sequence, that leaves the viewers guessing, but also hands out enough information for them to establish all of the main features of the film.

Catch Me If You Can – Title sequence analysis

Catch Me If You Can portrays a mysterious style title sequence, which both gives the viewer a small insight to the basic plot of the film, but also keeps them in suspense and maybe keeps them guessing before it has even started. Directed by Steven Spielberg, this animated title sequence establishes the main character, narrative and a brief understanding of the setting. 

As soon as the title sequence starts, the viewer hears the music (diegetic sound) which sounds mysterious, which reflects the genre of the film. This mystery is kept up throughout the sequence as the animated man, who appears to be representing the main character, spends the whole duration of the title sequence trying to hide or disguise himself, and looks as if he is trying to stay away from another character. 

The ‘main character’ moves very smoothly throughout the whole thing, which makes him look slightly ‘shifty’ in the sense he seems to keep calm, even when it seems like he is in danger. When he is put into a new situation, he seems to stand around for a short amount of time and looks like he is watching the people around him, and then changes his outfit and therefore blends in with the surroundings. This puts across the idea of disguises, which could then lead to the idea of him trying to fool people, which could suggest the film is based around a con artist of some sort.

There are lots of indications of transport, which suggests he moves around a lot, perhaps linking in with the title and trying to keep away from someone who is chasing him. When it seems like he is going to be caught, a new character comes on screen and the music becomes quite dramatic. This causes suspense and tension among the viewers, and makes them expect something. However, when he isn’t caught it calms down, again suggesting ideas to do with the title “Catch Me If You Can” suggesting he is going to make it difficult. This difficulty is definitely portrayed in the title sequence. It hold quite a lot of tension as well, which perhaps sets up the audience to expect a lot of tension and drama in the film.

The actual titles are in-cooperated in the animation, and are smooth transitions. They run nicely with the story and the events occurring in the sequence (as shown above)

Overall, this is an effective title sequence as it sets up the film for the viewer and gives them a small idea of what the film is about. It is a quirky and an interesting piece to watch, so the audience straight away can determine if this is a film genre they’d be interested in. Spielberg portrays a dramatic and tense title sequence, reflecting the story of the main character successfully.

In what ways is ‘Dirty Harry’ (1971) effective as an opening sequence?

Dirty Harry is a stereotypical American cop thriller set in the ‘70s, directed by Don Siegel with Clint Eastwood playing the main ‘hero’ of the film. The opening sequence is very effective in terms of informing the viewer on the genre, characterisation, the setting, the narrative, the 2 main characters and the time and place of the story.

Within the first few seconds of the sequence, the viewer is presented with a typical police badge, and an ongoing list of police officers from the San Francisco Police Department, who have died on the job. This straight away establishes where the film is set. The last name seen on the list of officers lost in line of duty, ends with the date of 1970, which then establishes the time period of when the film is set.
The non-diegetic sound of the church bells ringing could perhaps symbolise a mark of respect for those who have passed away. Also, church bells sound very serious, which sets the mood for what is about to happen in the next scene. It’s quite a creepy piece of music, which along with the obvious fact it’s a cop thriller, suggests to the audience that something mildly scary is about to come. This music then turns into an even creepier piece of music when we get a low shot of what is clearly the antagonist as the camera is in focus on the barrel of a gun. This confirms all of the audiences assumptions of something serious about to happen; a murder. This low shot helps the viewer establish very quickly who this mysterious character is, and straight away tells what’s going to happen in the rest of the film, helping establish the narrative aswell in the first minute or so. We then see the victim being aimed at with the antagonist’s gun, and as this happens, the music again changes and speeds up throughout the time the viewer can see the victim. This helps build suspense, and also helps make it clear what’s about to happen. Then we are presented with an over the shoulder shot, giving the audience a view from the killers perspective.

After the shooting, the music swiftly changes into smooth, but also quite tense music and the protagonist (Clint Eastwood) is shown looking very cool but professional in glasses and a smart blazer, jumper, tie and shirt. This shows the audience he knows what he is doing, and he is a very knowledgeable and authoritative character, which displays to the viewer he is the ‘hero’ of the film, and he is the one who will bring justice and bring down the killer. As soon as he arrives at the body of the victim, we get a mid shot with the building the antagonist shot from in the background. This is almost reversing the camera angles, as we had a shot looking down on the scene of the murder, and now there is one presented from the view of the protagonist. This helps the audience establish characterisation, it also shows the battle of who has the most power. Eastwood looks up at the building straight away, showing he is a man of great intelligence. Then Eastwood is shown re-tracing the steps of the killer, going to the top of the building in an unusual way, again showing that he is a man very good at his job.
On this journey of him, there is a mid shot of him walking across the roof, and in the background is the Golden Gate Bridge, which is the main icon on San Francisco, reinforcing the fact this is where it’s set. When he reaches the top of the building, the audience is presented with the same over-the-shoulder shot saw at the beginning, however this time the protagonist is there not the antagonist, again suggesting this police officer is a very clever man, who will be sure to bring down the killer.

There is no speech in the opening sequence, except for the line “Jesus” said by Eastwood. This shows he isn’t a very talkative man, and that he doesn’t need to make lots of comments to resolve the crimes.

Using all of the stereotypes of a crime-thriller, Dirty Harry creates an excellent opening sequence as it establishes all of the important factors the audience need to understand for the film.