The Notebook Opening Sequence Analysis

The Notebook is a film made in 2004 which is based on two people who fall in love in the 1940's. This film is based on the novel 'The Notebook' which was by Nicholas Sparks, who also created the book 'Dear John' which got made into a film in 2010.





 At the very beginning of the opening we are introduced to the scene of a man rowing on the lake during the sunset.

The very first shot is a long shot of the man rowing and the sunset. The use of an extreme long shot helps the audience to establish the size of the lake compared to the rower who is much more insignificant compared to the lake. The use of the shot also shows the audience more of the location and showing them the isolation which the rower has out on the lake.
The shot also shows the rower at the centre of the image suggesting that he is a main character in the film.

The whole of the opening is filmed in the 'letterbox' style of format, this helps the audience to enable them to see it in a much grander scope on a large magnitude therefore almost engulfing the audience into the film. This can also connote to the audience that the film is based in the mid 1900's as this is what filmmakers at the time tended to do so they could present a larger image.

The lighting in the opening sequence is a dim red / orange colour connoting to the audience that it is sunset therefore based in the late afternoon. The use of the two colours helps to add to the beauty of the scene making it nice for the audience to see. The colour red also has the connotations of love which can help the audience to deconstruct what the genre of the film is going to be.  

All the way throughout the opening there is a subtle non-diegetic sound of a piano playing ('On the Lake' by Aaron Zigman) in the background which has a relaxing aroma to it, and connects with the man rowing in a slow and steady place suggesting that he isn't in any hurry and that this may be his way of finding peace. This can  also portray that everything is smooth sailing as the piano isn't neither ascending or descending in speed or volume again helping to support how he is in no rush as well as giving out a peaceful aroma.

The style of typography used within the opening sequence helps the audience to clearly see who is starring in the film or who plays a key part in making the film as the text is written in a white font which nicely contrasts with the darker background making it extremely clear for the audience to see, and also in a way show off the people who are in it. The serif font used can help to convey an old fashioned style to it which can signify that the story was based back in the mid 1900's.

While the man is rowing there is a lack of lighting and the audience is unable to see his face, this helps to not give too much away as this helps to make the audience have to watch the rest of the film to find out.

The use of a tracking shot following the mad rowing helps to make the audience feel as though they are with him making it more personal for the audience as they feel as though they are with him.

As the opening sequence goes on the audience is able to see a clear change in the amount of lighting used when the man is rowing this can show to the audience the length of time which has gone past.

In the shot where the rower is coming towards the camera the audience is able to establish how far the man has travelled and also shows a sense of time passing from the very first shot.

When the audience is first shown the massive white house the audience gets a sense of where the rowers destination may be to conveying that he may be meeting someone he knows.

In this shot the 'Rule of Thirds' is used as the centre object (the house) is not in the centre of the frame, this allows the shot to look more interesting and give the impression that the audience is in the rowers P.O.V looking towards the house.

In this shot there is also a clear number of white birds which can connote the freedom which the rower has as well as adding to the beauty of the shot. however they aren't very distracting for the audience as the text is going to be more in the audiences face.

The use of  the 'Over the Shoulder' shot for when the woman is looking out towards the rower, helps the audience to establish why they had been watching the rower, as this shows that she may be the reason for why we are watching him. It also helps to show what exactly she is looking out towards suggesting that she may know the man who is rowing.

The white birds are again used in this shot, however, they covey a sense of greed and the striving for freedom when this time they can be linked to the woman connoting how the woman may be feeling and / or what she is experiencing. 

The white house is again shown in the opening sequence connoting the importance which it has within the film, foreshadowing what may be to come in the film.

The use of a low angle, medium long shot, is used to help exaggerate the pure size of the house, also in this shot you can see the woman standing by the top right window. This shows her insignificance in size towards the grand house.

In the final shot of the opening we are again shown the woman in the window but from the other side of the glass. The use of a medium close up helps the audience to understand how the woman is feeling towards the rower by her facial expressions.

Throughout the whole opening the Fade out / Fade in transitions used within it helps to make the whole opening flow nicely together and also fits in with the slow pace of the music.