Task 2.1: Analysing Opening Sequences - PS I Love You (Rom-com)

Textual Analysis: PS I love You.

SMEC

Folk music opens the scene. This folk music comes from Ireland which is a big part of the movie on a whole as some of the movie is set in Ireland and a protagonist is Irish. This is the opening soundtrack and the characters cannot hear the music so it is non-diegetic sound. This music is cheery and a love song, which most romantic comedies use. The scene opens in a city centre with a dark sky signifying night time. The camera pans down the sky onto the city, where a street light glows above a section of the city. The setting appears to be set in a cliché New York with huge city signs, yellow taxi cabs and tall buildings. The camera carries on panning downwards till it is eyelevel with human height.

We see people dressed in formal suits and casual wear just like a normal night in the city. Graffiti is on the walls captivating the culture of NYC.

 The camera focuses on a couple, a female dressed smartly and a male dressed in a suit. The female leads in front showing dominance walking with a wide strut. The male tails behind her, running after her. A long shot is used here, showing the relationship as it stands and the audience get an idea the female is upset with the male, and the male is trying to say sorry. The characters go off frame and opens with another scene with an establishing shot with their apartment in the background.

An extreme long shot is used when they enter the apartment with murky colours and this long shot down the hall shows the narrowness of the hall. This could be to do with the wealth of the characters. The ‘shabby’ apartment shows they are hard of money and struggling. The characters stalk up the hall towards the camera. The Female walks off set and up the stairs, the male comes to a stop at a mid-long shot so the audience focus on what he is saying, his arm gestures and his expressions. We see he has charm, as he smirks while trying to talk to his offset ‘girlfriend’. 

In the next few seconds we see different camera angles. The camera uses a high angle on the male, showing how he feels inferior to the female and he is in an awkward situation. We feel pity on him as an audience. The camera follows the actor up the stairs while he speaks in a diegetic form, talking to the other character. A medium shot is used, focusing on his speech and facial expressions. 

The camera switches to a point of view shot as the male character chasing the female. We see an over the shoulder shot as she turns her back to the camera showing her ignorance to the male character and giving him the cold shoulder. A low angle is used, showing her supremacy over the male. Almost as if she rules over him in this point, taking over the conversation. As she stops still to look down on the male, the camera uses a mid-long shot to capture her sturdy expression.

For the last part of the opening sequence, a birds-eye-view is used, showing the stair case and the walking up the stairs. This puts the audience in a powerful position and show the audience the height or surroundings of the apartment. We see high apartments as cheap places to live and adds to the effect of the characters being working class. This shot makes the characters look small and powerless in the environment that surrounds them. 

The editing used here are highlighters to each shot so the characters can be seen better against the dark. This is so we can tell they are the main focus in the story. The editing from shot to shot is continuous showing a flowing story with smooth transitions suggesting a typical rom-com movie.