'Definitely, Maybe' Analysis

Film evaluation: Definitely, maybe (2 minute opening of the film)

Titles: From 0-22 seconds, the opening was taken up by an animated production; Universal. From 24-33 seconds, there’s another animated production company; Working Title. There was 2-3 seconds of dark screen, then coming up we have ‘universal pictures presents’ shown on the screen. We get another few seconds of dark screen and then at 39 seconds, images appear on the screen. At 46 seconds, ‘in association with studio canal’ appears on the screen, but with different size lettering for ‘studio canal’.  At 59 seconds, what is shown in the screen is ‘a working title production’ again with black and white and in different size lettering. Going from an image to a dark screen with titles is very common in film titles. The film is directed by Adam Brooks. At 1 minute 49 seconds, the title of the film appears on the screen. And then 1 minute 51 seconds, a comma slides into the title, pushing ‘maybe’ back a bit. The name of the star actor appears first at 1:54. At 1 minute 58 seconds, the name of actor 2 appears. At 2 minutes 3 seconds, actor 3 appears on the screen.  At 2:07, the name of actor 4 appears on the screen. At 2:12, the name of actor 5 appears on the screen. At 2:16, the name of actor 6 appears on the screen. At 2:32, the names of other actors appear on the screen. 2:37, the names of two more actors appear on the screen. 7 seconds later, the name of two more actors appear on the screen. At 2:54, ‘casting by’ is shown on the screen. At 3:03, the person who did the music appears. At 3:07, the name of the costume designer appears. AT 3:12, the name of the person who edited the film appears. At 3:18, the name of the production designer appears. At 3:23, the name of the director of photography appears on the screen. At 3:30, the name of the co-executive producer appears on the screen. At 3:34, the names of the executive producers appear on the screen. At 3:39, the name of which the film was produced by appears on the screen. At 3:43, the name of the writer and director appears on the screen. And then at 3:48, we go straight into the film. 

Sound: As the ‘Universal’ logo appears on the screen, we here their music at the start. A synchronous image is presented where we can hear sound in the background of the film, when the screen is still dark. We have the ambient sound of an office, and get foley sound of who’s going to speak first, in this case, a woman speaks because we can hear her high heals while walking in the office. For 2 seconds, we heard a secretary’s voice then immediately she says the name of the main character that we see first on the screen. The sound of the package hitting the desk was exaggerated meaning that it hit desk louder than it should’ve been suggesting that the package is important, it’s a big deal. Will clicking the pen continuously is another example of a foley sound. The sound of him throwing the pen onto the desk is an example of a foley recording. The rustling of him taking the papers out of the package is a diegetic sound meaning there’s no background sound. At 55 seconds, the main actor gives a narration (voice over) describing that he’s getting a divorce because that’s what the papers are about. The sound in the office (ambient sound) is presented by Will’s secretary speaking to him. Reffering to the main opening, we know quite a bit about the main character. Because of what his secretary has said to him, we hear that he’s got an advertising account, suggesting that he’s an advertising executive. From the next bit of his voice over, we can tell that he doesn’t like his job. He has a daughter, but he doesn’t get custody of her because as he’s not together with his wife, he gets to see his daughter a few times a week. He’s a nice person, a loving father because he loves Tuesdays and Fridays, because he gets to pick up his daughter and gets to see her. He being a nice guy makes him attractive to the audience. When he puts in his earphones, the sound in the background decreases. We go from an ambient sound in the office to the ambient sound of a busy street. He introduces the music he’s going to listen to as voice over, he hears diegetic music which weird because mostly in films, women usually hear it in their heads. He plays the wrong song, it stops then the ambient street sound returns. He then returns to voice over and plays the other song, the song that suits his mood. The choice of song for the opening credits creates a happy mood for himself, despite the fact he’s getting divorced. He’s presented a likeable person, someone who sees a peaceful and happy side of life.

Mise-en-Scene: The envelope we see on the desk at the start creates an enigma, suggesting what we think is going to be in the envelope. The envelope we see is one that is usually used by lawyers and businesses. It could be about business, because there’s a lawyer’s or business name on the top left corner of the envelope. In the background, the ‘quaker’ logo appears which suggests that it’s an item which he’s going to promote/advertise. The suit he’s wearing is smart clothing, suggesting that he works for a business. The laptop on his desk shows that his work is all done on a laptop. We see the divorce papers (a printed document) titled ‘Judgement of Divorce’ which includes the name of his wife; Sarah Hayes (the person who’s divorcing him). The fact of him having his own office, suggests that he’s an important person in the advertising agency he works for. There’s a formal relationship between Will and his secretary because she informs him of any important business work. He doesn’t seem to be that bothered about the advertising account because he’s just received his divorce papers. One part of the opening of the film shows a shot from a different angle of most of the office so you can see the environment outside the office. Sunlight is featured in this shot, lighting up the atmosphere which lights up Will’s moods and feelings. His office is near a busy road congested with traffic suggesting that New York which is where his office is, the roads in that city are always busy with traffic. The earphones he uses to listen to music are another prop which is shown in this scene. Having his tie loose, not tightened suggests that he’s just finished work. Another prop shown is his mobile phone which he is using to play music. The regular New York taxis which are yellow are featured in another scene when he’s crossing the road. Another iconic representation of New York that we get in the film is the ‘Chrysler Building’. Grand Central Subway Station is also shown in the opening credits. As soon as he walks from his business environment, we see more people smartly dressed and also students. Street sellers are also featured in the opening credits. Someone travelling on their scooter is featured which suggests that it’s something unusual in the streets of New York.

Editing: Earlier on in the film, we have some editing that’s been cut so there’s a short scene which cuts back to dark screen titles. Then we have some cutting between a prop and the reaction of the person that has or is using that prop. In terms of combination, within over a minute of the opening of the film, we get a shot reverse shot which shows one character then another character then the camera moves back to the first character shown. In terms of editing, this shot has gone from interior (inside) to exterior (outside) with a simple cut. It was a long shot (take) of Will walking out of the office and then walking towards the camera. Another shot reverse shot is shown when he’s holding his phone, the camera then shows his face; close up then again shows him holding his phone. At 1:40, the shot goes into split screen showing two different shots of Will from different angles and distances. The same shot also went into slow motion. At 1:47, the shot moves into different frames moving across the screen like a slide show. Then we have the same shot from different angles and distances. In the early part of the film, just after the beginning, in terms of editing there’s a sense of continuity which suggests his facial expression. The transitions between shots are simply straight cuts, one shot splitting into other different shots. At 2:00, the sliding frames on the split screen is another editing technique used in the opening credits, match on action is also featured earlier on in the film.

Camerawork: In this scene, the envelope is made the centre of attention, which suggests importance. It’s shown with a close up shot of it. A medium close up shot of Will is shown at a wide angle showing the surroundings in the background. A tilt up of the camera is shown as one shot showing the envelope then the camera tilts up towards Will’s face with more of a medium close up shot. A point of view shot is when the camera looks straight at the characters’ eyes to get a sense of what he’s looking at, then the camera pushes in to show what he’s actually looking at which is the paperwork which was in the envelope. A medium close up shot is shown of his secretary so we get a sense of her reaction but also an eye-line match so we know who she is looking straight towards to. A reaction shot is used showing what his reaction is and how he’s feeling after his secretary speaks to him. A master shot is used showing a medium close up shot of Will with the surroundings in the background. A wide shot is used again showing Will, but showing more of the background from a wider angle. The camera then does a pan shot showing him walking out of the doors of the building he works in. The arrangement of this frame allows us to see more of the building, the street and the other surroundings. As he walks closer towards the camera, the camera moves backwards away from him to show the surroundings in the background, but Will follows the camera quicker than the camera moves away from him to fill the frame in more. The camera shows his right hand side, then arks around him to show his left hand side. He’s then shot at a low angle. Then we got to an extreme close up of his hand holding his phone. Then we got to a low angle shot showing an extreme close up shot of him. Shot reverse shot is used which the camera goes back to an extreme close up shot of his phone. Then we go back to an over shoulder shot of him as the film goes straight into the opening credits. In the opening two minutes of the film, we saw quite a few different close up shots, some of them used more than once mostly showing the main character.