Romance genre: Dear John

We begin the opening by the titles which support the film and we are shown the institution or the production of the film. Sound is very important within a romance film to help set the tone mood and atmosphere. Non-diegetic sound is been used to reflect the narrative events, such as at the beginning we a hear a mellow, low droned sound introducing the titles. After the titles, we start to hear a voice over, which introduced the film, it also suggest that it could also be the protagonist talking, however we are not shown a direct image of what the protagonist looks like, which leaves an enigma for the audience wondering what this protagonist looks like, so this would make them more intrigued to find out so at this point they would have to continue to find out. Also we hear quiet shooting sound indicting that theirs is some sort of war, or the protagonist is showing some sort of flashback to the past, connoting that the protagonist may have had a bad experience, during his last carer. The voice over explains the scene where it looks like he was fighting like may be he was part of the army. The voice over is useful for the audience, as it allow them to find out more about the protagonist life story and his personality. We then hear a lot of coin droppings, and changing the shot and continuing with the voice over showing another scene, where we see another past event which may connote another important time in the protagonists life. We see something that interested the protagonist from a childhood which brought him up to where he is. The audience get to find out that the protagonist is talking about his past, and how he ended up in the American coin army. We hear a high pitch violin and guitar playing  to introduce the story that the protagonist is telling, this connotes that it may show a happy times in his life and showing more freedom, and choice, as the music is very light and refreshing which fits the mise-en-scene. The voice over seems as if he's talking to the audience directly, referring to them as 'you'. This would make the audience feel more involve and be apart of the story that he is about to tell, it also makes the audience seem important as he talks to them directly. However it could be that he's may be referring to a female or  a love interest that stopped his mind, may connote that he may be heart broken, by leaves a an enigma for the audience to find out. Diegetic sound is used in the dialogue between the characters and it reveals the female protagonist, with her family as they look like they are have a good time together on the beach, as we hear talking and laughing connoting joy and excitement. This shows that the genre is romance as we see both protagonist meeting or seeing a sight of each other, which links to a typical convention that a girl and boy will meet. 

High angles have been used at the beginning of this opening showing us what could be the protagonist getting shot, this shows the audience a higher view of him showing that this may have been is last time being alive, and we are shown this shot so that the audience can immediately feel sympathy for him, as the mise en scene shows that he has been in war, or what looks like a trench, also looks like he has been fight in war, so relates to fighting for his country. The camera slowly zooms in on the protagonist, and the camera creates a quick close up and the camera fades out into another scene showing the audience a childhood event of the protagonist. This is effective because the audience are shown a past event, which connotes that he has began telling his story, which started in when he was a child. close ups have been used to show the characters expressions, and an example of this is when the flashback happened back to his past as the coins were falling in front of his face. His expressions shows interest, and joy, suggesting that he may have been influence to find out about the production of money, which may have lead to his carer path or his hopes for something similar for his carer. A close up has been used on one of the coins which is being examined, which then from the voice over tells the audience more information about the protagonist's carer. The camera cuts a lot from scene to scene showing close-ups of the coins being processed and made, then cuts back to show the protagonist lying on the ground, thinking that its his last time, that he us about to die. his expressions show no emotions or pain, as he has straight face as the camera zooms in. This makes the audience feel sympathetic about him as he looking directly at the audience, seeking comfort.  The camera comes to an extreme close up of the protagonist and then blacks out, to another scene showing us that it could be the protagonist on the beach surfing, which could be another important scene that may have effected the protagonist. A lot of close up shots have been shown of the protagonist i.e. prevalence shots of the protagonist, connotes that he is the main protagonist who the audience will be following, Also the close ups show the protagonist expression, as he comes across as a relaxed, and looks like he has no stress on his mind. Establishing shot has been used of the setting showing us that there is a beach, and we are introduced to more characters such as a group of friends and the possibly the protagonist's love interest. This establishes where the narrative is going to take place. Two shots have been used to show two characters together or them having a conversation. we see when the protagonist jumps into the sea and saves the girls bag, and the girl praises him for getting it for her. Long shots have been used at the end of the opening as we are shown that protagonist walks with the girl and her friend.

The opening scene features certain narrative events such as the boy meet girl, so the protagonist meets the girl, and the protagonist and the girl look attractive, which will appeal to audience, we also hear the soft non diegetic sound which introduces the protagonist, and also reflects his personality. As the audience being aimed at females typically, the two main protagonists tend to be attractive looking, which would make them more intrigued to watch the film. Also the location should be very familiar to the audience, as they can relate as they may have experienced these types of events before, for example going to the beach with some friend is very typical in society. These conform to the genre as other openings as these are what is expected from a typical romance film.