Wednesday, 8 December 2010

Contemporary openings vs. older openings



For the analysis of contemporary titles/openings vs older, I have chosen two romantic comedy films which relate to our chosen genre. I have chosen 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' produced in 1961 starring Audrey Hepburn, and 'The Proposal' produced in 2009 starring Sandra Bullock.

Breakfast at Tiffany's starts out with soft music Non-diegetic, which relates to the quietness of New York in the early hours of the morning while portraying a sense of sophistication towards the main character , then a shot of a street in new York, with a taxi pulling up which gives a sense of location to the audience. Then a young well dressed woman getting out at Tiffany & co, walking up to the window and then begins to eat a pastry and drink coffee. Then shows her walking away.

Even though the shots and mise-en-scene are quite simplistic, thyere is a lot of detail about the character, especially on her behaviour, she ap[pears to be wealthy and possesses a high social status through her nclothing.

In contrast to to Breakfast at Tiffany's the Proposal uses a lot of different shots to show the comparisons of the two protagonists lives. How they are different, behaviour, life style and personality wise, which brings to mind the quote 'opposites attract'. The contrast in the way both characters get ready for their morning routine shows the stereotypical roles of men and women where women are organised and men are lazy and slow. This is also a code&conventions of a rom-com.

The Male protagonists is shown in this opening title sequence in comparison to Breakfast at Tiffany's, where Audrey Hepburn is the only character shown, however he is portrayed differently to the female protagonist who is organised and collected, where as the male protagonist is waking up late and running around in time for work. Also the non-diegetic sound of the music is different to that used in Breakfast at Tiffany's, which is more upbeat and relates to the hustle and bustle of New York City.

The typography used in Breakfast at Tiffany's is large and sophisticated in a gold colour again could represent the fact she is well off and is in high society. In comparison small bold text is used which is in white, could again relate to the busyness of New York and the fact that it is a large city.

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