Media Prep 4 – Textual Analysis Assignment
by Stephanie Kufferath
I analyzed the first 10 minutes of my favorite movie “The Holiday” which is a love-comedy and was published in 2006 and directed by Nancy Meyers. The movie is about two women who are desperately in love and change houses and lives for two weeks to try to find themselves. In these two weeks they meet new partners and finally begin to live a better life full of love. The Sequence I am going to analyze is made up out of 5 little and 1 big sequence. The main sequence takes part in an office around Christmas time in the year 2006.
In the beginning the camera fades in to a mid shot and shows a pair kissing each other while the names of directors and actors are screened in at the bottom. The Soundtrack is played non-diagetical and is a slow piece of music. Then the camera zooms out to an establishing shot which shows that the male character Miles is playing the soundtrack for the movie scene that we have just seen. The shot is used to show that Miles is a film music producer and to him the music is diagetic. After this the camera zooms to show his facial expression while he is looking at his girlfriend Maggie. This is represented by the point-of-view shots between Miles and Maggie. His point of view is a low-angle and hers is a high-angle because she is standing and he sits on his chair. This should also represent that he is the one chasing after her and she “wears the trousers”. At this point the commentary and the talk to the audience by one of the main Protagonists called “iris” starts and she describes the different relationships and love situations that refer to the characters which are presented. The camera crabs right to another scene where you can see two people in a car looking at each other but they do not have anything left to say. The camera zooms up to a close up and there is a two-shot to show their facial expressions while the music is going on playing non-diagetical. While Iris continues to talk about relationships the camera tilts up to a mise-en-scene which shows that they were sitting in a car and are stuck in a traffic jam around Christmas time. After this the camera cross cuts to the bedroom of an old man with this picture of his wife in the left hot spot while Iris says that “for others, love is simply lost”. Another cross cut into a bar where the camera is tracking a young boy who is flirting with a girl and finally walks over after some point of view shots which express that they are looking at each other. All these cross cuts introduce us to the main characters in the whole movie and show us, with what kind of love they are dealing, so the audience directly knows who is who. After this the camera finally cuts to Iris with a full shot which shows that she is working in her Biro on a present. The camera zooms in and crabs to Iris with a mid shot showing how she is packing the present and then an insert shot to show how she puts the present into her cupboard. Then she gets up while her voice continues and the camera tracks behind her and finally focuses her when her voice says “yes you are looking at such an individual”. Then she starts describing her experience with love and we see a point of view shot to the man she loves. While she walks over to talk to her friend the camera tracks behind her and ends up in a two shot. When they start their dialogue the soundtrack stops and we can hear a diagetic melody which are Christmas songs that are played in the office. While they talk about Iris’s relationship to Jasper the camera uses an over the shoulder shot to focus on the person who is talking, until a third person is entering and the camera jump cuts to Iris sitting back in her office working on her computer. While she is typing you can see her back until Jasper starts to talk and she turns around. Then the camera switches into a point of view shot to show Jasper in a low-angle shot leaning on her door. During their conversation the camera cuts between point-of-view shots either high or low angle. His point of view is a low angle because he is standing which represents that she doesn’t mean very much to him and he just pretends as if. When Iris gives her present to Jasper the camera zooms into her face up to a close up to show how nervous she is giving him her present. In the middle of their conversation they are interrupted by their chief who wants to do a speech for their company and they have to get out. However there is a jump cut to Iris and Jasper walking through the people but the camera follows Iris because Jasper decides to leave to talk to other people. While she is standing in the crowd the chief is shown in a low-angle shot because she looks up to him. When he finally addresses her she is shown in a mid shot between the other people in a high-angle. When the chief announces that Jasper is getting married the camera zooms into Iris’s face to show how hurt she feels and the Soundtrack of the piano starts to play again to underline her emotions because the man she loved for so long did not even tell her that he’s is getting married and told her 2 minutes before that he loves her. After Iris and Jasper exchange views Iris leaves and the camera cuts to a Montage sequence which shows Iris home way. She needs to go through London, go by train, through her little village and finally to her little cottage where there is another insert shot to piece of wood which says “Rosehill Cottage”. When Iris enters her house the camera zooms out and shows her house with the lights switching on to show that he had entered. When Iris starts crying the Soundtrack stops and the camera fades out into dark.
All in all this scene shows very clearly what kind of person Iris is like because the camera shots and movements represent her character to an extent that you can identify with her. She is very breakable and doesn’t have any luck with love and this is a feeling that many people know, so when she is talking to the audience in the beginning everybody can identify with her and sympathy is created. Another motion that is created by the camera is that the viewer directly dislikes Jasper because the Close-ups show very well that she is hurt by him and he doesn’t care at all. I really like how the first ten minutes of the movie are built up according to cuts, because all important characters and stories are introduced shortly with the help of Irises speech. This is one of my favorite movies because I think a lot about love and can totally understand the feelings of the Protagonists.
by Stephanie Kufferath
I analyzed the first 10 minutes of my favorite movie “The Holiday” which is a love-comedy and was published in 2006 and directed by Nancy Meyers. The movie is about two women who are desperately in love and change houses and lives for two weeks to try to find themselves. In these two weeks they meet new partners and finally begin to live a better life full of love. The Sequence I am going to analyze is made up out of 5 little and 1 big sequence. The main sequence takes part in an office around Christmas time in the year 2006.
In the beginning the camera fades in to a mid shot and shows a pair kissing each other while the names of directors and actors are screened in at the bottom. The Soundtrack is played non-diagetical and is a slow piece of music. Then the camera zooms out to an establishing shot which shows that the male character Miles is playing the soundtrack for the movie scene that we have just seen. The shot is used to show that Miles is a film music producer and to him the music is diagetic. After this the camera zooms to show his facial expression while he is looking at his girlfriend Maggie. This is represented by the point-of-view shots between Miles and Maggie. His point of view is a low-angle and hers is a high-angle because she is standing and he sits on his chair. This should also represent that he is the one chasing after her and she “wears the trousers”. At this point the commentary and the talk to the audience by one of the main Protagonists called “iris” starts and she describes the different relationships and love situations that refer to the characters which are presented. The camera crabs right to another scene where you can see two people in a car looking at each other but they do not have anything left to say. The camera zooms up to a close up and there is a two-shot to show their facial expressions while the music is going on playing non-diagetical. While Iris continues to talk about relationships the camera tilts up to a mise-en-scene which shows that they were sitting in a car and are stuck in a traffic jam around Christmas time. After this the camera cross cuts to the bedroom of an old man with this picture of his wife in the left hot spot while Iris says that “for others, love is simply lost”. Another cross cut into a bar where the camera is tracking a young boy who is flirting with a girl and finally walks over after some point of view shots which express that they are looking at each other. All these cross cuts introduce us to the main characters in the whole movie and show us, with what kind of love they are dealing, so the audience directly knows who is who. After this the camera finally cuts to Iris with a full shot which shows that she is working in her Biro on a present. The camera zooms in and crabs to Iris with a mid shot showing how she is packing the present and then an insert shot to show how she puts the present into her cupboard. Then she gets up while her voice continues and the camera tracks behind her and finally focuses her when her voice says “yes you are looking at such an individual”. Then she starts describing her experience with love and we see a point of view shot to the man she loves. While she walks over to talk to her friend the camera tracks behind her and ends up in a two shot. When they start their dialogue the soundtrack stops and we can hear a diagetic melody which are Christmas songs that are played in the office. While they talk about Iris’s relationship to Jasper the camera uses an over the shoulder shot to focus on the person who is talking, until a third person is entering and the camera jump cuts to Iris sitting back in her office working on her computer. While she is typing you can see her back until Jasper starts to talk and she turns around. Then the camera switches into a point of view shot to show Jasper in a low-angle shot leaning on her door. During their conversation the camera cuts between point-of-view shots either high or low angle. His point of view is a low angle because he is standing which represents that she doesn’t mean very much to him and he just pretends as if. When Iris gives her present to Jasper the camera zooms into her face up to a close up to show how nervous she is giving him her present. In the middle of their conversation they are interrupted by their chief who wants to do a speech for their company and they have to get out. However there is a jump cut to Iris and Jasper walking through the people but the camera follows Iris because Jasper decides to leave to talk to other people. While she is standing in the crowd the chief is shown in a low-angle shot because she looks up to him. When he finally addresses her she is shown in a mid shot between the other people in a high-angle. When the chief announces that Jasper is getting married the camera zooms into Iris’s face to show how hurt she feels and the Soundtrack of the piano starts to play again to underline her emotions because the man she loved for so long did not even tell her that he’s is getting married and told her 2 minutes before that he loves her. After Iris and Jasper exchange views Iris leaves and the camera cuts to a Montage sequence which shows Iris home way. She needs to go through London, go by train, through her little village and finally to her little cottage where there is another insert shot to piece of wood which says “Rosehill Cottage”. When Iris enters her house the camera zooms out and shows her house with the lights switching on to show that he had entered. When Iris starts crying the Soundtrack stops and the camera fades out into dark.
All in all this scene shows very clearly what kind of person Iris is like because the camera shots and movements represent her character to an extent that you can identify with her. She is very breakable and doesn’t have any luck with love and this is a feeling that many people know, so when she is talking to the audience in the beginning everybody can identify with her and sympathy is created. Another motion that is created by the camera is that the viewer directly dislikes Jasper because the Close-ups show very well that she is hurt by him and he doesn’t care at all. I really like how the first ten minutes of the movie are built up according to cuts, because all important characters and stories are introduced shortly with the help of Irises speech. This is one of my favorite movies because I think a lot about love and can totally understand the feelings of the Protagonists.
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