Analyzing drama film openings

I decided to do the Cambridge Final Project as a group and collectively we decided to keep the genre as drama but change the plot just a little bit. It will start at the beginning of summer, and the main character(s), we aren't sure yet, are enjoying life until something happens. We are aren't sure what happens yet, but we want it to be dramatic and unexpected.  

I was assigned by my teacher to analyze three film openings with our genre, drama. I chose Little Women, The Age of Adeline, and Whiplash. What I found really interesting about these three films is how each one uses its opening to set up something different. Whiplash focuses on tension, The Age of Adaline builds mystery, and Little Women introduces character and theme.  

 

First up is: Little Women  

 

A little context: Little Women is a film based on the 1868 Louisa May Alcott’s novel, "Little Women." The book is about the lives of the March sisters and how they grow up to be strong women in their own ways. The film represents how society treated women during and after the Civil War. The movie starts with Jo March bringing her writing to a publisher. This illustrates her character as ambitious. When the publisher rejects her work, the viewer empathizes with the struggles women had to endure during that era of history. The publisher tells her that women’s stories must end in marriage or death, which perfectly sets up the film’s theme of independence and society’s expectations. Little Women focuses more on the characters' struggle and how difficult it was being a woman during the Civil War.  

 

Next up is: Whiplash 

Whiplash starts in a dark, quiet practice room with Andrew playing the drums. The camera slowly zooms in, making him seem small and nervous, especially when Fletcher enters. Fletcher barely says anything at first, then suddenly tests Andrew and walks out, only to come back just as quickly. This makes the scene feel intense, setting up the pressure that Andrew will face throughout the movie.  

 

And finally:  The Age of Adaline

The Age of Adaline starts with a narrator explaining how Adaline stopped aging. The warm, dreamy lighting makes it feel magical, because in a sense it is, but seeing Adaline alone in different time periods makes the viewers feel sorrow for her. The opening uses a lot of mise-en-scène to create the feeling of the different eras that Adaline goes through. This film slowly builds its story, making the audience curious about her life.  

Out of the three, Little Women is the kind of opening I like most because it balances character and theme. But I also find Whiplash interesting in how it creates tension with so little dialogue and how The Age of Adaline has a beautiful way of telling its story by using mise-en-scène.