Dear John starts off how most
would presume an action film would as we as the viewers are thrown right into
the depths of it all, with action and gunshots all around us. The main
character lies on the ground after being shot and we are instantly draw in and
worried about the welfare of this character. There is a stereotypical flashback
to his childhood and the happier memories he had, before we are thrown back
into the midst of it with a dramatic shot from the wounded soldiers view point.
Fast paced action scenes and a dramatic monologue all incorporated in the
opening few minutes would lead the viewers to naively believe they have come to
see an action movie, 95 odd seconds of pure action are contradicted by the
idyllic beach scenes as the viewer’s become more aware this is more than a
gritty action film and actually has a dominant romance side to it. This makes
the film unique and more interesting as the action would appeal to the male
side of the audience whereas the romance side would appeal to the female side
of the audience (conventionally). It then cuts to this beautiful beach on a
gloriously sunny day and leaves the viewer curious as to whether this is before
or after him being shot, is it a flash-forward or a flashback? Is the male lead
dead or alive? It creates a sense of suspension and draws the viewer in as
they’re curious as to how he got to where he is now or how he ends up being
shot. A muscular man – the main character – emerges from the water, arguably a
convention of action not romance but things are soon back on track as he stands
looking helpless and catches sight of his future romantic partner. Another
clear convention is that she’s with Mr. wrong, a bit of an idiot and she
clearly belongs with this new guy, he ends up a bit flustered when he meets
her, subverting from the usual stereotype that the love interests have to find
each other irritable and instead refers to the convention of a traditional love
story where the guy meets the girl ad is in complete and utter awe of her and
struggles to speak to her without looking a fool. Also within the opening few
minutes she loses her bag and he conforms to the stereotype by being a strong
and dominant male by returning it for her, shaming the other less impressive
guy who isn’t nearly as good as him whilst she waits on the side – men have to
do things for her. It conforms to the common stereotype that women are weak and
need men to do things for them.
During the opening credits there
is silence to begin with that creates tension and a sense of eeriness that
could usually be associated with the chilling silence before a shooting occurs,
this fades into the non-diegetic sound of subtle, soft flowing music that
brings with it a sense of warmth and calmness – this is largely contradicted by
the images that appear on screen of a dirty battle field full of panic and
disorder. There is also the effective monologue that we as the viewers hear
that draws us in to the film and poses more questions then it answers. We are
naively lured into thinking this will be a romantic speech full of love and
hurt but instead it’s about his childhood and shows that another type of love
will be dominant in this film – paternal love. The fact that we can hear all
the coins being made (diegetic sound) whilst it appears on screen instead of
just his monologue shows that the film wants us to imagine what he was thinking
and hearing and helps us imagine being the character as we know little about
him at this point. This links to the fact seconds later when we have a point of
view shot we also hear gun shots and an echo of shouting, supporting my point
that the film wants to put you in their shoes to be able to empathise more with
this character and be drawn further into this film. There is never silence when
he is delivering his monologue, there is an ongoing sound of shots being fired
and general chaos hanging in the background (diegetic sound) but this is
contrasted by the smooth, soft music (non-diegetic) that is also playing in the
background.The music (non diegetic)
brings a sense of calmness and slows down the action packed scene so the
viewers don’t become overwhelmed and switch off, although the scene is action
packed and the viewer is being bombarded with a lot of information the music in
the background is enough to bring a warm sense to the film and push it more
towards a romance with only a side part of action. The background music could
also remind the viewers of warm, calm evenings at home and make them empathise
with this character living such a hectic life, the music may feel quite
domestic and calming, like home would be for this character and get them
thinking about what the character has left behind at home and what he has left
to lose. The more upbeat, happy music kicks in as the romance side of the film
does onscreen simultaneously, the calming sounds of the waves crashing on the
beach contrasts with the dramatic gunshot sounds moments before and with no
dialogue for the viewer to deal with they have time to process what they just
viewed in the opening minute and a half before the romance side of the film
begins. An array of voices reiterates the fact that the main character is now
back in civilised life rather than away fighting. The music picks up in tempo
slightly as some action appears on screen and the main character acts as a hero
rescuing her bag, the other guys’ dialogue (diegetic) of referring to him as
‘dude’ backs up the theory that he is Mr. Wrong and just not right for this
girl as he seems a bit of a fool.
We are only really introduced to
one character in the opening two minutes – John, he is the first character we
see, the one we hear the monologue from and the one who is the hero at the
beach. He fits all the conventions of a male lead in a romance film, he's
handsome, he's strong (dominant) but he has a deeper, more caring side to him
that he hides slightly. We see his more caring, loving side through the opening
monologue where he talks about his childhood and we get a glimpse of how he may
have this soft side to him and the viewers grow to love him. Savannah is briefly
introduced in the opening two minutes and we see how she conforms to the
stereotypes of a female in a romance film (weak, vulnerable, needs a man to
look after her). We want to know more about these characters and are intrigued
to see how their relationship starts and develops and what obstacles they have
to overcome.
The first shot is a high angle
close up and not much of the setting can be seen to create suspense as you
wonder where this character is and why they’re lying on the floor, the shot
zooms out to medium shot as the suspense is lifted as you can now see the
setting this character is in – a muddy, murky trench like surrounding which,
along with the uniform, suggest this scene is set at war, the camera is shaking
like John (the main character lying on the ground) who is being shook to try
and keep him awake as he seems to be passing out – this supports personal view
point theory as the viewer is being treated like John and getting an idea of
what this scene is like from his point of view, a hand held shot is used to
create this shot perfectly and realistically without looking fake. The shot
zooms out to medium shot to show the setting, this cuts to a close up of kid
(John as a child) and shows we’re getting up close to him and getting to know
him as the close up shot creates a sense of intimacy, close up shots of coins
show they’re something dear to him and important, they are a small thing that
makes up a large thing, he basis of who he is. An extreme close up of John shows
we, as the viewers, are up close to him, it shows we were inside his head and
saw things from his point of view, a low angle point of view shot shows him to
be vulnerable and supports the point of view theory. The shot zooms out from
extreme close up to close up to show he's coming back to normal life he's not
stuck in his head anymore, we’ve seen part of the surrounding he's in, we don’t
need to be in his head to imagine the scenario he's in, we can zoom out a bit.
Another point of view shot looking up into nothingness highlights how his mind
is going back as he is passing out, another high angle shot of him lying on the
ground, shows how vulnerable he is even though he's the main part of this
story, it zooms in as we know more about him, getting to know him better,
getting closer to him. This cuts to an establishing shot of the new settings
(change), there's a medium shot of him surfing, we know less about him now as
this is a different time (before/after) we don’t know him as well therefore
we’re not as close to him and so a medium shot is used instead of a close up. A
medium shot of him riding the wave could be showing he got over being shot and
is now better, this is followed by a long shot showing setting and the pier
that will become crucial in next scene, he is almost unnoticeable and this shot
presents him to be tiny and almost insignificant which is a large contrast to
the previous scene where he had a monologue and was the most important part. It
could also be because now he’s back home and doesn’t have a gun and an
important army uniform he is nothing more extraordinary than any of the other
people in that town, maybe less important because he may have killed people and
is therefore seen as insignificant. An over the shoulder shot shows his point of
view again, a close up shot of him on pier - faded out from everyday life until
he hears her voice, another close up shot of his facial expressions as he sees
the guy she’s with, not impressed, also to show we’re getting to know John
better again through the use of camera angles and therefore more close up shots
are used, a high angle shot of her bag falling in the sea could be her and the
guy’s (the guy she is with – Mr. Wrong) relationship metaphorically as because
of it she meets John and so nothing happens between her and the previous guy.
Another over the shoulder shot shows how calm he is amongst their panic, a long
shot of the guy running to grab it looking pathetic causes John to act and jump
in. A low angle shot of him jumping in to look strong and dominant is
contradicted by a high angle shot that shows how he cant get this girl unless
he gets her bag and is therefore almost insignificant to her until he gets this
bag, a low angle shot shows girl to be important as its her he's trying to
impress and her bag that’s the centre of this scene. A two shot of John and the
guy with John looking masculine and strong whilst the other guy is looking
pathetic and feeble highlights to the viewers that John is the right guy for
Savannah (the girl).
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