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.
