Film Opening Analysis (DYM)

• The film I chose is Confessions of a Shopaholic and the genre of the film is romantic comedy.
• The story takes place in New York City which can be identified when in the trailer the voiceover says "Moving to New York...". The time scale of the actual film is over around a couple of months, although the trailer contains a flashback to the main character, Rebecca's childhood.
• The opening sequence initially shows Rebecca as a child with other girls her age at a clothes shop trying on clothes and lusting over adults buying clothes.Then it cuts to present day Rebecca walking down the street introducing her name, job and what bank cards she bought her designer clothes with. She then goes on to describe her love for shopping. The story telling is significant to the order of events because it gives quite an in depth background on the main character so the audience get to know her before the film has properly started. This makes the first scene of the film (her reading a bank statement) easy to understand to the audience as we already know the main character and her spending habits.
• The events do link together. The first half of the trailer shows Rebecca as a child in a clothing store, and then the second half also shows Rebecca but at her current age looking around a clothing store.
• The only character that is properly introduced is the main character, Rebecca Bloomwood. She is introduced as a journalist who is also a shopaholic, and we find out this information in the voiceover by Rebecca.
• Hardly any of the story information is revealed in the film opening. Although we get introduced to the character's personality and the setting, the audience isn't given any clues as to what happens later on in the film or the other characters that will be introduced.
• I think at the start of the film the audience needs to know the main character because it makes it easier for the audience to get into the film and understand it, rather than being introduced to all the characters at once later and being confused.