Film Opening Research #1 - A Cinderella Story

1. How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film?
     There are five opening sequences to the film during the opening scene: A TimeWarner Company, Warner Bros. Pictures Presents, A Clifford Werber Production, In Association with Dylan Sellers Productions, and A Cinderella Story.

2. What images are prioritized in the opening sequence?
     The main image prioritized is the establishing shot of a princess castle which when zoomed out we realize is actually a snow globe which also holds significant value. We see the same snow globe shatter during the earthquake later during the opening which signified that her fairy tale was about to end.

3. What connotations do the images carry?
     The connotation behind it is pretty important because it alludes to the whole 'fairy tale' theme the movie is built around. The castle signifies home and her relationship with her father as well as her dreams and aspirations. Their relationship is pretty good which is why the snow globe is so important to her, it is a gift from him and it supports the strong bond they have with each other which is why she sees her father as the King and as herself as the princess.

4. How is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset?
     The genre (which is teen romance) is reinforced through the music playing in the background when the main character goes to pick up her friend before school. The song that's playing is about love which highlights one of the main themes throughout the movie. The romantic genre is also reinforced by introducing Sam's (the main character) love interest, the film makers make this very obvious by doing a slow mo close up shot of him when Sam first looks at him.

5. How does the film establish an enigma from the outset?
     The film establishes an enigma by introducing the three main antagonists of the story which would be the main character's new stepmom and her stepsisters. The film makers make sure to portray them in a negative light by showing them doing rude things such as tricking her out of the wedding picture on purpose. This makes the audience wonder what sort of issues they will cause further in the movie and how the main character will escape them.

6. What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience?
     Some strategies used are the setting and characters. The film makers make sure to portray the main character as likable and relatable so that the targeted audience (teenagers and young adults) feel like there is a familiarity and comfort within someone else on the film going through realistic problems and situations they might also be exposed to.

7. How has technology been used effectively?
     Technology has been used effectively especially in the establishing shot of the castle in which they use animation to allude to the fairy tale aspect of the story, this as well as different camera angles in order to convey different feelings. They did a high view camera angle in the beginning with both Sam and her father in the foreground to truly make feel like Los Angeles was their Kingdom and they were looking over it. The close up shot of Sam's father letting go of her hand to go help her stepmother also conveyed a negative and helpless emotion because moments after her snow globe shatters which further foreshadows that something horrible will occur. This is supported when they transition to her being alone because her father died.