The holiday

The Holiday2006

Director: Nancy Meyers

Genre: Comedy/ Romance

• In the opening 5 minutes of the film we are introduced to all of the main characters, and we learn a little about each of them through both what is said, and the background music.

• The genre characteristics we see, for example the man (Jack Black) looking at his girlfriend, and also what is said, give us an indication that it is going to be a romantic film. However when we hear the woman (Kate Winslet) speaking we know that it is not going to be 100% serious, and there will be some aspects of comedy.

Summary and Genre Characteristics

• We see many different locations throughout the opening, a music studio, a car, a bedroom and an office party. All give things away about the characters.

• The characters we are introduced to include, Kate Winset, (Iris) Cameron Diaz (Amanda), Jude Law (Graham), Jack Black (Miles) and also Eli Wallach (Arthur). We don’t see or hear much from each, except Iris, but we get an idea about their characters by the way they are portrayed through music and camera work, and what is said in the narration.

Locations and characters

• The first shot we see is of two people kissing in a field, and we initially think these are the characters we will be following throughout the film.

• However, after the camera zooms out, we see that it is actually on a computerscreen in a studio.• The editing used is mostly invisible, howeverin the transiton betweenJack Black and CameronDiaz, it sweeps to a blackscreen, when the title comeson, then it goes onto the next character.

Camera Work and Editing

• Near the end of the sequence the camera follows Iris, which suggests that she is an important character and we will be following her throughout the film.

• Also, when she is talking about the man that she loves, but who doesn’t love her back we see him though her eyes, and its as if we are watching from a distance, which tells us about their relationship.

Sound• The sound that we hear in the beginning is diegetic, as it

is coming from the man playing the piano, however when the narration by Iris starts it is non diegetic, as she is not in the scene.

• The sound in the opening also helps us to learn about each character, the narration relates to each character individually, and the music changes depending on who is being introduced, for example when the old man comes on and we see a picture of what we presume is his dead wife, the music is slow and softer than when we are introduced to another character, for example Cameron Diaz.

Enigma Codes

• As we only see a little of each character initially, we automatically want to know more about them.

• We also want to know who is narrating, and if we will be introduced to her at some point. The things that she says gives clues about each characters relationship state, and it makes us want to know more.

Title Fonts• The font used is a white “Times New Roman” style font, and is the

same throughout, all of the names are written in capitals, but words like “and” are not. The are all presented in either the left or right hand corner, and they fade in and out. They only appear when nothing significant is happening.

• The main title of “The Holiday” is written in a bigger font and is displayed in the middle of the screen, which tells us that it is more significant.