Film Openings- Romantic Comedy- The Notebook (2004)

The Notebook is a film based on the best selling novel by Nicholas Sparks. The film was released in 2004 starring Ryan Gosling and Rachael Mcadams. The opening scene is very detailed and adapted greatly in the first 2 minutes drawing the audience in to watch the whole film. However not much is revealed keeping things under-wraps as to what was to come next. The films shows wide shots of the sun setting with the river used as a reflection. This soothes the audience and the calming shots relax the audience greatly. They even reinforce the romantic drama genre of the film. The long establishing shots and wide shots. The bright and red orange colour's calm the audience as they are a part of a natural hue.  Both colour's represent desire love and passion which the film has a fair share of but the audience know this just by watching the first two minutes. We see two white birds flying across the wide shot they could symbolises dreams and hope flying away this follows a tracking motion than closely linked to a over the shoulder shot used of a women looking out they could represent her memories flying away from her. The scene gives a tranquil feeling to the audience. The soothing music is a beautiful touch to have as it goes well with the calming and soothing scenes used in the first 2 minutes of the opening.  The soft piano tune portrays the love and beautiful things surrounding it. Overall the first 2 minutes of The Notebook are effective in keeping the audience not only interested but present the romance drama genre beautifully.