Silver Linings Playbook Opening Scene Analysis

Silver Linings Playbook Opening Scene Analysis (Romance)

From the beginning of the opening scene non-diegetic music is present in terms of a slow but sharp humming noise which suggests to the audience of a somewhat calm atmosphere during the current narrative. This later changes during the scene as non-diegetic music is used to reflect the content of his character and this slowly fades when we are introduced to a new character which we assume is the mum. This suggests to the audience that the male character may prefer to be alone and doesn't like others meddling with his life. Diegetic sound is presented to the audience through the dialogue between what we assume is the main character and some sort of doctor which may suggest to the audience that the character has some sort of psychological trouble. As the scene progresses a slightly quicker melody is played as the camera reveals a close-up of the character which suggests that the story-line is building up to something which may disturb the calm atmosphere based around the character.

The shot we are introduced to first is of the supposed main character, we assume it is the main character as the shot is centered around him and the slow dialogue suggests to us that he has some sort of relationship trouble and this helps personalize the character to the audience adding emphasis on the message he is saying. . Further into the scene there is a fast paced panning shot around the protagonist's face and followed by the camera tracking away from him which can infer that the character is often judged and or treated differently. This may be due to the psychological trouble he is going through as suggested by the mid-shot of him taking some sort of medication or the shot of the release papers shown towards the end of the opening scene. This shot is followed by a flurry of different camera shots which portray to the audience more about the characters personality as they may see him as an athletic but untrustworthy character. Afterwards a low-angle shot is used to capitalize on how this new character which is introduced is more dominant over him and as shown by the expression on his face when the camera zooms in, she is typically bad news for the character. The character is further demoted in terms of importance as suggested by the next camera shot which portrays the main character at the back which infers to the audience that the other two in front of him see themselves as more important helping further show to the audience the supposed dominance of the mothers character.

The audience is introduced immediately to the main character as told by the constant centering of the cameras on him and the short but effective narration and dialogue portrayed in his introduction. The character is shown to be quite head strong and leader like as he is shown to be quite individual and shown to stick to what he wants to do and in some ways cannot be trusted as he disobeys people. The character is shown to be optimistic as when there is a tracking shot of the word excelsior, it indirectly suggests to the audience that the character is trying to set things right as the word refers to being "ever upward". The character is portrayed into having some sort of psychological illness as suggested by the medication and hospital discharge papers. The character is also shown to be unsocial and slightly unhappy when around family e.g. his mother but becomes much more relaxed and contemporary when he has a friend present.

The audience can see that the character is wearing casual clothing, which suggests that although he is shown to have some sort of psychological problem he is also very individual and is allowed to express himself which can infer to the audience that he is quite a relaxed person due to his calm and careless appearance. The mother is introduced differently however as she is portrayed to wear an expensive looking and formal clothing which helps emphasize to the audience her distinctive snobby attitude and allows them to sympathize with the protagonist and enables them to relate these characters to others from another film.

The opening scene features a slight narration towards the beginning which helps contradict and contrast the music or dialogue shown. The main character is introduced and explains to the audience the problems in which he is facing and this helps the audience personalize the protagonist and allows them to become easily immersed into the film. The audience may then relate this film to others of the romance genre which also feature a narrative opening and enables them to compare the two.

The character is shown to be having some sort of relationship issue as suggested by the dialogue between himself and this is typical of a romance film as it is often shown that the main characters have to get through these troubles to achieve their happy ever after. The opening scene also features an over protective and snobby parent figure which we assume as the audience will act as an obstacle between the main characters as shown by similar films of the genre.