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The two film sequences that I have chosen to analyse are Justin Chadwick’s 2008 film ‘The Other Boleyn Girl’ and Joe Wright’s 2007 film ‘Atonement’; they both follow the Drama genre, which is the reason why I chose to analyse them because they both follow the same purpose and audience but go about different means of achieving them. The Other Boleyn Girl and Atonement were both originally written as a novels in 2001 by Philippa Gregory and Ian McEwan.
<!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]-->The sequences that I have chosen to analyse are the openings because I find that they convey the most vital information to the audience and they are immediately able to understand the tone of the film and initial judgements are made.
The Other Boleyn Girl opens with a hazy yellow field of crop and the titling is in simple white block capitals which doesn’t follow the theme of 16th-century royalty and aristocrats, in accordance the music is also calming and playful. Almost a minute into the scene, three children, aged around 6 or 7, - 2 girls and a boy – are seen running and playing in the field, they are in the centre of the shot. They do not seem to ‘have a care in the world’ as they play and fall over recklessly whilst their father discusses their futures in terms of the girls being betrothed.
All in all the scene is very mellowing for the audience and they are yet to find out the importance of the Boleyn daughters.
Joe Wright goes along a very different route with the opening of Atonement for the titling begins on a black background and white typewriter lettering, a typewriter can also be heard in the background. The scene then opens on a child’s bedroom and Briony Tallis can be seen completing her play at a desk. The music begins very soft and as just a simple piano and the clicking of the typewriter then goes on to become a fast-paced tune, which follows her anxiety and excitement at completing her play as she walks around her large house in search of her mother.
In terms of mise-en-scene, the setting is a very dated grand house and the props follow the time-period, along with the clothing.
Both films are similar in the way that they are having to focus on a specific time period and the lighting of both films is in broad daylight which makes the audience feel secure and they are able to see everything within the frames. However, the positioning of characters and objects within the frames are very different; for example, the opening sequences are not remotely similar because The Other Boleyn Girl is calm and serene whereas the typewriter noise in the background in Atonement heightens the tension and pace.
The framing and composition of The Other Boleyn Girl is also quite picturesque in the way that the director chose to have several shots of the locations before the interior is displayed in able to let the audience establish the setting and mood. This happens in two main scenes of the opening at the church at which Mary Boleyn is to be married and at the home of Henry VIII where Catherine of Aragon has just given birth to a still born child.
Both of the openings open in a happy and content environment however within the course of only 5-6 minutes, the tone drops and a great deal of empathy is felt for the characters because in The Other Boleyn Girl, Catherine of Aragon is still unable to provide her husband, Henry VIII, with an heir to the throne which has caused them grief and despair. Likewise, in Atonement, Briony has proved unsuccessful in getting the twins to understand the importance of her play, the significance of it and the pride that she feels having completed it and wanting to perform it. There is also a great sense of naïvety on her part for she does not sense the sexual tension between her older sister, Cecilia and the servant’s son, Robbie Turner. Her play is of great importance to the wider film because in the Prologue of the play she speaks of ‘spontaneous Arabella who ran away with an extrinsic fellow’, this is dramatic hindsight for it symbolises what will happen later on in the film between Cecilia and Robbie.
The Other Boleyn Girl also includes the use of dramatic hindsight for the intimacy of the siblings plays a strong part because they all remain close and protective of each other and when Anne is unable to give Henry a son, she looks toward her brother to be able to help her and it is clear that only a strong character could ask that of their brother/sister.
The opening sequences also allow the audience to understand and interpret the relationships between siblings; The Other Boleyn Girl allows the audience to watch a close-knit relationship between the 3 siblings develop from their younger years up until Mary’s wedding day, all in the matter of a few minutes. It is also clear that Anne, Mary and their brother, George share such a close family unit that they have conversations based upon wit and banter and they do not worry about taking things too seriously at this present time for they are quite excitable.
Atonement allows the audience to see Briony’s relationships between her mother, sister and the other people that she shares her home with.
The genre of the two films is also very well established because within the opening sequences.
According to the website, http://www.filmsite.org/dramafilms.html, “drama films are serious presentations or stories with settings or life situations that portray realistic characters in conflict with either themselves, others, or forces of nature. A dramatic film shows us human beings at their best, their worst, and everything in-between.”
Overall, the two films are quite similar in the aspects that they focus on and the actors and actresses portray the characters very well in the opening sequence, so much so that the audience is drawn into each film and is able to empathise.
