Analysis : Love Actually

Follows the lives of eight very different couples in dealing with their love lives in various loosely and interrelated tales all set during a frantic month before Christmas in London, England.

The film starts with the 'Universal Pictures' visual and soundtrack which is one of the productions for 21 seconds then 'Studio Canal' follows this for another 17 seconds until  0:38. 'Studio Canal' has a shot of a cloud and then turn into a black screen with a particular type face that says 'Studio Canal'. 'Working Title' follows by a black screen with animated drawing of yellow circles and then the writing of 'Working Title' appears with a slight very dark blue background. This takes 11 seconds until 0:49 secs and there is no sound added to this.
We are presented with a women walking to her presumed partner and hugs him at an airport. Meanwhile, this is happening we see the writing (which is overlayering on the bottom left hand corner) 'Universal Pictures and Canal Studio Presents'. This takes 5 seconds until 0:54. At 0:49 we are presented with music that seems reflective which does not stop until 1:13.The women is still hugging her partner until 0:59, but while this is taking place between 0:54 and 0:59 (5 secs) we see the writing 'Working Title Productions' Between 0:59 and 1:50, the screen changes to different people greeting friends, family and loved ones in the airport. While this happens, 'In association with DNA films' comes on the screen. at 1:13 we hear a diolgue that starts (Hugh Grants monologue) and it stops at 1:50. Between 1:50 - 1:58 we see the same typeface (as the other productions are presented in) that fades in which states 'Love actually is all around us' and there is no sound from here on to the 2 minutes. Then at 1:58 until 2:00 the word Love Actually appears with a black background. Love is in a red colour and Actually is in a white colour.

The opening seems to capture the excitment of seeing that person for a very long time and shows how important love is. The way they present the different people greeting each other  they make it a simple but effective. Normally films make a big deal about the productions and directors and put them on a black screen and have their typeface very large a bold whereas is 'Love Actually' they seem to lack the boldness of the productions but simply put it on the side where they are noticeable and doesn't distract the audience. I prize the first 2 minutes of this film because it gets straight into it, Hugh Grant starts his diologue explaining the greatness of 'Love is all around us'. Especially at the end where they put the 'Love Actually' seperate but 'Love' was in red truely captured the essence of what the film was going to be about.
Although the opening sequence seems to lack a good music choice from the first 2 minutes, they use a presumed reflective music where there is nothing to reflect on apart from the people in the airport either kissing or hugging. It didn't have a great effect on me, it was only the visuals that made by heart warm up. If they had used something like a well-known love song such as 'Love, Love, Love' by The Beatles, I think it would of had a bigger effect on the audience to capture the essence of love!