The Notebook - First 2 minutes analysis

• At 0:16 seconds, the film companies logo - New Line Cinema - stop and then a black screen is shown with more titles. The black screen but not the titles, finish at 0:29 and changes to a person rowing on a river at dusk.
• The first shot is a long shot of a dusk river scene with the sun setting. It lasts for 15 seconds which is a considerable amount of time, therefor it connotes that this river is important to the story. This river scene creates a huge enigma to the genre and the plot because it is not clear at all.
• The audience is able to recognise that the person in the boat is a male, however there is nothing that lets the audience identify the actual individual because the lighting is too dark to reveal facial features and also the shots are mainly long shots or very long shots, leaving way for the audience to get a real view of the male's face. This creates an enigma about who the male is because he is featured in the majority of the opening connoting he is one of the main characters and plays an important role in the film.
• The music that is used is slow and gentle, like the motion of the paddles used in the scene. The music gives away that it is an innocent genre, meaning it is clearly not a horror film but does not explain the actual genre. This shows that the genre is shown through the main plot with little evidence at the beginning so the audience want to watch more to find out what relevance the boat has, or the male.
• The title of the film is mixed in between actors and it does not stand out either. The shot it is placed on however, is a romantic scene of the boat under the sunset, this does not give the genre away but gives a hint to the viewer.
• Towards the end of the opening scene, a long shot of white birds are used. The use of the white contrasts with the dark colours making them stand out and make the audience identify them to be important or a symbol. Maybe the birds represent one of the characters wanting freedom from something?
• The titles continue after 2 minutes.