The Holiday

The Holiday Opening Scene Analysis

(Till 4:05)

This film is instituted and distributed by two of the most well known production companies in Romantic Comedies “Columbia Pictures and “Universal”, straight away we are given the impression that this film is more than likely going to be very successful.

As soon as the opening starts we are straight away introduced to the main characters staring in the film, all the characters are shown in their form of relationships which differ in many ways. A voice over is used of Kate Winslet, where she tells the audience about different love and romance people share with one another, the voice over goes on to talk about the different types of love which are shown through the main characters. This can be seen as a short story, and also lets the audience get to know the characters first before it goes straight on to the film.

(0.00-3.38) While the opening of the film continues the opening credits of the actors, actresses and the producers are also on the screen. The timing of the fading in and out, of the text is in time with the music, which continues the slow, calm and gentle atmosphere in the scene, which can also link to the romantic feeling in the opening scene. The text is also written in white, which connotes the innocence that will be seen during the film.

(0.26) First shot in the film is a two shot, of a young couple kissing very passionately. The mise en scene is extremely romantic, a flowing river and dainty trees are in the background of the shot straight away showing the audience the romance side of the genre. The music used fits into the setting and surroundings, as it’s very quiet and peaceful. The lighting used is very light and soft, again bringing the romantic feel, and also shows the picturesque scenery.

(0.42) The camera zooms in dramatically from the last shot, and then the use of extreme close up’s on the characters faces show the passion and feelings each of the characters have towards each other, show casing the theme of love. When the shot moves on, the audience then see that the actually shot is in a film within a film suggesting that certain types of love may only exist in films, and are not the realistic types of love. Again bright lighting is used, but when we are introduced to the main characters an even brighter lighting is used, suggesting the innocence of the love throughout the film.

(2.05) From the zooming out of the car, we are shown the setting, where the audience can then see that the film is set around Christmas time due to the festive lights on the buildings and the surrounding trees. Christmas time is seen as being the typical time for romance and couples spending time with each other.

By the use of the voice over in the opening scene it immediately makes the audience feel involved, as it’s feels like the character is directly talking to them. This could then go on to make the audience realise how that character is feeling, and some may be able to relate back to the character.