Psychological Romance Film Openings

"Gone Girl" - (2014, Dir. by David Fincher)

This film opening's first impression is quite deceiving because of the fact it creates  a comfortable environment for the ones whose viewing the movie. We are in the first character's point of view as we see another character, a female laying on him that creates an intimate mood. At the first glance anyone would just think how comfortable and cute the movie would be but not too long after the male character begins a voiceover expressing how he thinks about his wife in very weird, unsettling ways. It's the type of dialogue that sets an uneasy and awkward emotion with only that small chunk of the beginning. 

This type of dialogue would automatically catch many viewers' attention because it's not something you hear on a daily basis. In these slow motion shots of the female character only looking up at the camera, one could assume she is clueless about the way her husband thinks about her because of the way she does not react to the voiceover. Her character doesn't seem uncomfortable in his presence at all which secures the connection or bond they have for at least the impression of the film. The film opening has dark blue hues as it settles a very simplistic, mediocre area once the shots pan to parts around the city. The type of tone, colors, and type of filming creates a straightforward, quiet, and cold sensation.  

"Blue Valentine" - (2010, Dir. by Derek Cianfrance)

In this film, the opening establishes a bright connection between this father and his daughter. The film opening shows spots of their house showing their daughters' toys and things she likes to play around with which show she's loved as well as the way her father plays around with her. In movies like these, showing the viewer a deep connection as they did in this film opening, adds so much depth and emotion considering the problems that are later to come as the movie progresses. The film opening utilizes a lot of close ups of things around their house or specific movements the characters do to show the comfort and the strong relationship they have. They create the character of the mother to seem serious and rushed about getting their daughter to school and getting to work. 

The mother acting serious about cleanliness, being punctual, and overall rushing the bonding in between the father and the daughter in that moment makes it seem as if she is intruding the loving bond they have. They use yellow and green colors throughout the film to show that they are at least, a somewhat happy family together. The daughter seems like a healthy, beautiful young girl so it's not like the picture they are creating around the mother is an abusive one, just a serious one. This is also supported by when the mother is helping her daughter get dressed while talking to her softly and showing a caring bond in between.

"Her" - (2013, Dir. Spike Jonze)

The film opening I will be talking about is quite different from the others in the sense that the entire plot of the movie is not something people see often at all. At the beginning of the film opening, after they present the film name, we have a close up of what one can assume is the main character of the film. Something I like about this film is that its strange but that's what makes it intriguing, the film opening is so far from what actually happens towards the end of the film. For example, during the close up of the character, he talks about how much love and desire he has for a woman named Loretta for a minute and 46 seconds. As the camera pans to a screen that's using a text-to-speech for what he is saying we realize that he wasn't "writing" this anniversary letter for his loved one, but for someone else's. 

The more the camera pans to different workers in the office that are doing the exact same thing as he is but doing it for different occasions such as a get well soon card or a congratulations card. This film is very colorful as it has very nice cinematography. This is shown after the main character reviews the printed version of the card he made. The windows in the back have different colors, as the other associates in the "Beautiful Handwrit Letters" company are also wearing different colors or have colorful pans surrounding their office workspace. This colorful atmosphere creates a very eye-attracting film for many viewers as they are seeing many different colors throughout the screen, as well as hearing different cards being produced at the same time.