In the opening of 'Love Actually' we see a montage of footage of people at an arrivals gate at an airport. The shots are either two shot, or wide shots to be able to see the group of people and all their expressions when they met the person who is arriving back. Using two shots captures the intimacy of the scene, and shows the love between the characters. This also suggests the genre of the piece being a romantic film.
In the recording studio the use of shot/reverse shot, shows the humor of the scene, us being able to see the reactions of the producers, which shows their attitude towards the song. The type of MTV edit, with the use of a crane shot as well as a side on close up of the mans face, which to me resembles a music video, in the opening as well again adds to the humor, with a MTV edit normally having connotations of a young fresh band, however when we see the artist being the age he is, it does again add to the humor of the scene. This then suggests the genre of comedy.
When the audience put both of these together, they would be able to establish the genre as a romantic comedy. Also, we noticed how they use opposites, when the film cuts from a very idealic attitude of love, which conquers all to a man using derogatory language to describe the love song he is singing.
Camera Composition:
In the montage we found that they most of the people who enter are women, and they are normally entering on screen from the left, which is the strongest part of the screen. This shows who the piece is aimed at as the women is shown to be the stronger character as they are in a stronger part of the screen. This also suggests how the man is seen as the more sensitive person in the relationship as they are waiting for the woman to arrive back. Which again shows an idyllic situation for women, as it seems they have a better life then the men as they are arriving back, this could be from business or holiday, but either way they are doing more then the men are doing.
Editing:
Cross dissolves are used with in the montage this creates a more blissful scene as it is calm and also juxtaposes the action on screen which seems quite emotional. The shots are also quick, this builds the emotion with in the scene. This could suggest how the target audience is women who enjoy the trill of feeling another person's emotions. Which is not normally shown by men, as men are not normally taken in by the emotion of a film, they are normally there to see action, the complexity of the emotions in the scene show how the film is aimed at women.
Sound:
Music underscores montage is calming with slow pace, which again juxtaposes the scene, for reasons which I mentioned before. The voice over of man, explaining how the feeling of love conquers all. This is a very idyllic view of love, as show the ideology of the piece, as that love, no matter what, will always win. This would again be related to women, and because the man's voice is older, more mature women. I think this is because women would be more likely to enjoy hearing a man's view about love, then another man would.
The music in the recording studio again juxtaposes with the action in that scene, as the song is about love, however the men in the scene seem to not take it seriously and call it by a profanity, and saying 'solid gold' meaning that they are more concerned about the money. This represented men negatively as they are being show to be people who concern more about money then love, which would alienate men, and therefore they are not very likely to be the target audience.
Genre:
The genre of the piece is established in two parts the first is Hugh Grant's character's view about love and how it conquers all, which is juxtaposed with the comedy of the man singing 'Love Is All Around Me'. This juxtaposition suggests the genre of a Romantic Comedy, as from looking at our mood board we see a lot of opposites, and this sudden change from romance to comedy, again is humorous. This however shows that the target audience is older, as children and even teenagers may be unable to understand the feeling of a person coming back on a plane and meeting the person they love, and as well they may not have experienced true love, which is what Hugh Grant is describing.
Representation:
Men are represented both negatively and positively in this opening, with at first showing a man's idyllic view of love and then seeing a man calling a love song a derogatory word. This however does really suggest that the target audience is women, as it is going against a normal man's view on love, at the beginning and almost sounding like what a woman would want to hear.
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