Analysis of Love Actually- Opening Scene

Love Actually- Opening Scene analysis.
The popular romantic comedy, 'Love Actually' has a very potent opening scene. It encaptures many of the conventions of a rom com, and is one of the more memorable starts to a rom com in recent times.

The film itself is Directed by Richard Curtis, a man who has been at the forefront of many successful films such as 'War Horse' and 'Bridget Jones' diary' also. The film stars 3 renowned actors, with Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson and Colin Firth all featuring. 

Cinematography
The use of cinematography is one of the key features in the opening sequence of 'Love Actually'. There are many different shots that are used to create different perspectives throughout the scene, which lasts just over a minute. It is as if all of the shots are like point of view shots, as if you were in an airport like heathrow, where the scene is set, and you saw all these amazing examples of love happening around you. Another interesting feature is that during the scene, although there are quite a few different shots, they all involve 2 or more people, creating the connection that the director would want the audience to feel. You also have the frequent use of close ups and extreme close ups of people's faces, that are used to show the emotions of love, and happiness that are clear all over their faces.

Mise en-scene
Mise en-scene is always a very important part of the opening to a film, as it is used to set the scene, and give the audience a sense of the type of film they are about to watch. Here, the main uses of mise en-scene are with the setting, which is the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport, and the different types of people that are featured. The setting is obviously the sort of place you would often see love first hand, as people arrive back from trips abroad and embrace their loved ones for maybe the first time in months. It is however, quite a neutral setting. The sort of place you might find yourself quite often, especially if you travel a lot, which creates the idea that love is everywhere, or as the narrator puts it 'all around'. The different types of people is also very important, as we see old people, kids, and all sort of different ethnicities during the sequence. This is done very deliberately, as it makes you feel as if there are no boundaries for love. Richard Curtis would want to show that love is evident at every age, and with every race. 

Sound
The way sound is used really adds to the opening sequence of love actually. There are two main uses of it, both involve non-digetic sound. The first is the ambient sound in the background. This mood music is parallel to the romantic comedy genre of film, and helps to create the atmosphere that the director would want. The second use of sound is with the similarly non-diegetic narration. This has maybe even more of an effect than the ambient sound, as the words used are very deep and powerful, and help once more to add to the mood. One very memorbale line is 'When the planes hit the twin towers, as far as i know none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge- they were all messages of love'. The use of an emotional, and also quite controversial event like this would have a strong effect on the audience. Both of these uses of sound are very important in the opening scene.

Editing
Despite being the least prevalent of all 4 features, editing is still used to create impact during the opening sequence. Its main use is with the slow motion editing that is used to extend the moment when people see each other for the first time in a long time. They want the shots to seem real, in the sense that when you see a loved on after a long time apart, time does almost seem to slow down, or even briefly stand still momentarily.