Textual analysis (chloe)

ive chosen to use the opening sequence of 'The holiday' starring cameron diaz and jude law, as my first textual analysis, the film is a romantic comedy and like most romantic comedys is aimed at the femal audiance.


the scene starts with an upward tilt, which shows the swimming pool and the aea surrounding it, the sun loungers are in clear focus, with the swimming pool in the background, its an establishing mid shot and shows the audiance the scene, there is also the noice of the machine, then the cleaning man comes into the shot, revealing the noise to the audiance.

next is a mid shot of the man in what seems like the bed, it shows him rolling over and putting his hands on his face, before switching to the wider shot of the living room showing the man on what is actually his sofa, the noice of the machine is also still present, giving the audiance something else to focus on rather than just the silence which could alternatavly be present. the shot remains in a wide shot before resuming to a mid close up when he takes the blanket off him and sits up.

after this, there is a birdseye view of the character, showing the audiance looking down on him, this suggests vulnerability for the character, the shot remains in a mid shot following him, (tracking) untill a close up when he is at the door, which shows his facial expressions clearly. once the door is open there is a long shot which shows the woman throwing an object towards him and the camera, before going into a midshot and switching between the couple whilst they are disagreeing, the camera tracks the femal as she paces the room, then tracks the male as he walks forward to the female.

the camera also shows a mid two shot and over the shoulder shot to show the point of view of a particular character, which automatically makes the audiance feel more involved in the situation and the disagreement that the couple are in, the camera then goes into a long shot showing down the stairs as the female is walking/runing down them with the male following.

the lighting throughout remains quite light ans airy, suggesting a tranquile or peacefull enviroment which contrasts with the irony of the situation in the scene.