Task 2.1 Romantic Comedy Opening Analysis

This Means War

The film starts with an opening establishing shot of a city skyline. The camera shot is taken from up high within the skyscrapers. A helicopter comes into shot and goes past the screen while you are looking at the establishing shot. This draws your attention as the audience will look at the helicopter and then look around at the scenery. This lets the audience get a good look and feel of where the film might be set. The setting is dark and mysterious. The dark back drop and bright lights coming from the buildings really help to set the scene and show that it is a big city in the middle of the night. It also shows that nightlife where the film is set is very big. The dark backdrop also cannote's that there is a mystery behind the plot and the audience will be guessing which way the film will go.

Romantic comedies are often classified or associated as being Chick Flicks. This in some cases is true but this film is not. It is not aimed at a female audience. Instead i believe this film reaches out to the teenage audience more.It does this by using more younger actors and a more familiar setting to what a teenager might see in their daily lives. The convention for a Romantic Comedy is that there are two people, one male and one female. However in This Means War there are two males characters. In the opening scene we find out that they are spy's. This is already not a convention of the normal romantic comedy film.

In the next scene it is dark and mysterious. Non-diegetic sound is played in the background to connote that there is some sort of detective work being carried out. Despite this there is also up beat music that fades into the background which tells the audience that there will be 2 sides to the narrative. There could be a mysterious and dark side and also a light and fun side. This attracts a audience more because it makes the film more interesting to watch.

The next shot is a camera pan. It pans up onto the two main characters. The shot is taken from a low angle. They are also dressed very smartly in what look like expensive suits. These things put together connote power and wealth between the two characters. It also tells us that they hold power that not many other people hold.



The non-diegetic music in the background is used to connote that the 2 characters are important spies. This could attract more audience to watch the movie. This is because a teenage female audience might find the male characters an object of desire. This film is very clever. By having 2 male main characters and one female character then can reach out to a wider target audience. This audience can then have escapism from their everyday lives.

The video above shows the title sequence before the film actually starts. This is where all the important names behind the the making of the film are recognised. This film is a romantic-comedy genre movie and has titles that match that. However because the film does not follow the normal conventions of a rom-com the titles have a little twist to them.

They use the sex appeal to draw the audience in from the start. The holograms you see on the naked bodies are images of the world at night and different countrys that might have some importance in the film. There is also a hologram of a timer on the back of one of the bodies shoulder. This could connote that time will run out for one of the main characters or there might be a bomb plot that the 2 spies have to disarm.