Film opening research: When Harry met Sally.

The opening credits of the film when Harry met Sally are in my opinion both effective and ineffective. They are effective in the sense that they are bold and clear- with the white writing on the black background. This black and white contrast could possibly represent the two binary opposite characters: the white representing innocence and the black represents and blunt bond character.
However the opening credits run for about 2 minutes with white writing on a black background, which the audience could possibly find tedious. Furthermore the continuous upbeat music seems to become fairly repetitive, which can also become and irritant for the audience.
Therefore Olivia and I will not be using the white on black for our opening credits however the idea of contrasting colours could be used effectively.



It becomes apparent within 39 seconds of the first scene of the film ‘when harry met sally’ it is a romantic comedy. The element of romance is used from the backdrop of the first shot – serene settings with trees either side of the road and slow jazzy music. The next shot (rotating shot) is of a male and female in close proximately and gazing into one another’s eyes, it portrays they are a couple and in love; the couple then begin to passionately kiss. The element of comedy is introduced when a female character in an old, yellow car pulls up alongside them; looking uncomfortable clears her throat attempting to get noticed. The female in the car is clearly an impatient uptight character which therefore makes the scene amusing.
As the film continues (4.11 – 5.23) the characters are represented as binary opposites. Firstly the female driver (Sally) is impatient, sarcastic and takes herself very seriously. However the male character (Harry) patient (waits for the car to arrive), he is down to earth and he clearly doesn’t take himself to seriously – a joker.

I believe that the idea of binary opposite characters could be used effectively in our film opening. Many romantic comedies use the idea of binary opposite characters; it often gives films the element of comedy.