Over Her Dead Body Opening Sequence Analysis

                         

Over Her Dead Body- 3:10

In the opening sequence of Over Her Dead Body typical codes and conventions of romcom films have been used. The opening begins with a montage of images of the male and female protagonists. The montage shows images of the couple who are very close together and are in love. A montage of images in the first minute of the film is not expected from romcom films. However we are later shown a wedding invitation of the couple who are getting married.  As the opening continues lavish dining ware is placed on a table which is also no expected from a romcom film. We are later introduced to characters that are assembling the wedding.  A mid shot is shown of a woman placing candles in a basket. This is typical of a romcom films because we see the process of the wedding and also the couple normally get married and live a happy life. But this is usually shown towards the end of the film. Non-diagetic sounds are being played over the process of the wedding coming together. An upbeat exotic song is being played which shows the excitement leading up to the wedding. We are then introduced to the couple getting married via a wide shot. The female appears to be in control of the wedding as she is holding a clip board which shows how organised she is and might be making all the decisions. This is typical of romcom films because the female character always wants the wedding to be perfect and takes control over decisions to be made in a wedding. The female’s dominance continues throughout the opening sequence which can be seen through the use of the dialogue and body language. The female character is seen dragging one of the waitresses around to ensure her wedding runs smoothly. Also she comes across quite intense as she is instructing the waitress the quite harshly. ‘And if you run out of an item go pack and refill don’t just circulate’. She comes across as quite bossy which is typical of romcom films when the female becomes very particular about her wedding.

The opening sequence showing the female character stressing out over the wedding could be used to show how females have the most control when it comes to wedding planning. Also she appears to be caught up with her wedding that she doesn’t have much time to spend with her husband to be. In the two shot of them they appear to be very close and affectionate with each other which shows how much they love each other. However, when the female character notices a mistake she leaves her husband immediately.  This shows she doesn’t have enough time to spend with her husband because she keeps worrying about every detail.

The idea of the female character being caught up with her wedding could show a problem that could develop later on in the film. The husband doesn’t enjoy having his fiancé worrying about everything which could suggest this could lead to a problem in their marriage. The wedding also appears to be quite fancy and extravagant which suggests the couple must have a good job in order to pay for this lavish wedding. This suggests the couple work hard in order to pay for their wedding.

On the wedding invitation credits fade in saying ‘New Line Cinema and Gold Circle Films present’. This technique is a clever way to present the production company behind this film because the font style and colour and both very similar which almost camouflages the credits. After this a table begins being laid with fancy dining ware that is typical of a lavish wedding. As each item gets placed the credit appears in the top right and bottom left corners. The black coloured font with swirls is a cute font which is feminine in terms of the font style. The technique of the black font over the white tableware brightens up the background and also makes the credits very noticeable. As the sequence continues the font changes colour to white. The white font symbolises innocence and purity that this couple have. They are a loved up couple who are very close to each other. The change from a black coloured font to white could mean their relationship has become stronger and they are in love more then ever before.

The opening sequence portraying the female character as a control freak and likes to make decisions shows she could have the upper hand in the relationship. The male character is more relaxed and wants his fiancé to calm down and allow everything to fall in place however she wants to take control of things that are going on. The male character is seen as a very caring and affectionate man as she cares very much about his fiancé and wants her to enjoy herself and not worry about anything. His relaxed nature could change later on in the film as he might be fed up with his wife being very controlling that she doesn’t make enough time for her partner. 

New Line Cinema are the production company behind this film. They have released other films such as The Notebook, The Lord of the Rings, Wedding Crashers, and Just Friends.  A huge production company produced this film which means a lot of money has gone into this film to make it a huge blockbuster. Companies like these produce films on a huge budget.

Females around the age group of 16-38 would be most interested in this film. Females around this age group enjoy watching romcom’s because they are interested in the different relationships characters are in. Also these films have a happy ending which they enjoy seeing in films. The comedy element to these films make these films more enjoyable to watch and create a sense of enjoyment when watching romcom films.

The opening sequence showing the preparations of the wedding keep the audience interested because they want to see the beautiful wedding that is going to take place. They also want to know if the wedding is going to go to plan because this film contains an element of comedy the wedding could go horribly wrong. Also the audience want to see the characters relationship after the wedding. The relationship might be strong and they might the perfect couple and could be planning on having kids, or things could go downhill and they could have arguments.

An editing technique that has been used in opening sequence is a long take. A long take has been used to show the setting of the wedding. The wedding is taking place at a beautiful location full of sun, trees, water and sand. The long take showing this displays the extravagance of the wedding and the wedding is taking place at a very beautiful location. Also this long take allows us to admire the beautiful location that is perfect for this couple.