I had analyzed the opening of this movie even though it wasn't an assignment, just so I could have a better understanding of how the film opening grasp audiences attention. However, we did later on get the assignment.
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The opening scene introduces us to a family in a regular household. A wide angle is used to show us a cluttered cabinet depicting chaos but the point of view through the centered mirror shows us that despite such circumstances the characters are happy and tv screen light is reflected of from their faces full of joy singing together. The subjects are placed directly in the center and a sweet nostalgic melody place in the background. The speaker shows that they are probably singing karaoke. The rest of clutter is essentially to bring in realistic look of an Asian household that has been lived in.
As Evelyn puts her hand on her daughters mouth to stop her from singing the music switches to suspense music and it is a foreshadowing of their relationship. How the mother has tried to silence her daughter and is unable to accept her as she is.
The door smack gives an effect that the audience has entered a new scene now and things have changed a bit as the angle changes. The clip transitions into a dolly in to a mid-shot smoothly.
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Slowly the tension builds up with the slow zoom and build up of music till we are taking to a cut to another day apparently. Everything aligns perfectly.
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![Picture](/uploads/1/4/2/9/142955884/published/untitled-4_1.png?1688818991)
Instead of being surrounded by her family the main lead is surrounded by a clutter of papers which depicts her mental state as her thoughts being cluttered and feeling stressed out which is evident by the expression as well. The background noise of the creaking of fan and the tv channel meddling with her thoughts.
![Picture](/uploads/1/4/2/9/142955884/published/untitled-5_1.png?1688819027)
This is a dirty one shot in which the second character is so well placed that we can see him easily and sense the tension between them. The main lead ‘Evelyn’ keeps ignoring him under all the constant to do lists in her mind and we get to know she is burdened with finances.
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A match on action is used to transition to second camera which pans to the left showing as Evelyn gets up and is mixing the noodles, while she's occupied with work and talking to her husband. It then pans to left as we hear "ding ding" sounds from the computer as we can see the screen reflecting in her glasses as she responds and smiles. It shows how clearly she's not enjoying this conversation with her husband in contrast. He askes if they can talk in the afternoon but she continues to ask him to cook noodles
![Picture](/uploads/1/4/2/9/142955884/published/untitled-7_1.png?1688819157)
From this scene it is evident that Evelyn’s relation with her father has strained over the years and she is doubtful that he will ever be proud of her.
![Picture](/uploads/1/4/2/9/142955884/published/untitled-6_1.png?1688819161)
This introduces us to a twist in the story and intrigues the audience on what has led to such a messy life for this women.
Within two minutes of this opening sequence, it introduces us to our main characters and a little background about them that makes us want to watch the rest of the movie since it builds curiosity in the audience and empathy for the characters who are going through a tough time in life. It depicts the struggle of family that some can relate to as well which creates a personal connection for the audience to the characters.