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The Wedding Singer

Micro/macro

Within the first couple of minutes of ‘The Wedding Singer’, there are many elements that give clues to the audience what the film is about. For starters, the first backing track that you hear, is of the main character is singing a well known 80’s song, ‘you spin my head right round’, and this is played before any images are shown, therefore focusing the attention on the singer. As this is a well known song, and is an up-beat and happy song, the audience know that they will feel this emotion through the film. Also, the audience gets a small clue that the film will be in this time period. This is also shown by the clothes that they wear, and the way they dance, as these fashions and trends were popular in the 80’s and these factors are clear to the viewer.

There are some micro subversive elements, such as the main character, Adam Sandler, is a wedding singer, and you don’t usually link the two together. This however is shown positively, therefore reinforcing it. Another Micro element is shown through the editing of the camera work. As there are many hard cuts, this shows that the film will be fast paced, and action packed. Along with editing, there are other factors such as, when the names of the actors, directors, editors etc came up, they would whoosh across the screen, and have a black background, showing the importance of that person. Within the lettering, they would have glitter on the letters, adding a bit of glamour to it, reflecting that of the film.

One major macro element of the film is that as the opening sequence is during a wedding, so the audience can assume that this is what the film will be about. Another macro factors can be seen by what the main character says during the song he’s singing. Such as “can someone get some pants on that kid” and “I’m talking to you grandma molly”. These phrases get laughs from the people in the film, as well as the audience. This then shows the audience that he is the protagonist, as he is popular and funny. Unlike the normal conventions of an opening sequence however, there is no indication of an antagonist, as this character comes in later.

There was a wide range of camera movements used in the opening sequence. For example, there was tracking and tilting, and some was taken with a hand held camera, to create a more realistic environment for the audience and so they can feel like they are there in the room. There were many different shot sizes that ranged from close up to high angle shots. These can symbolise many things. For example, the close up shots show the importance of that character, as this was for the most part only used on the main character. The high angle shots were of the people on the dance floor, so the audience can see all the characters, and be able to explore the environment more efficiently. There was also a low angle shot, and this was aimed at a few people dancing, and this could have been used to create a sense of realism for the audience, or a change in pace.

Timeline
0.00.10 – New line Cinema
0.00.18 – New line cinema again, but with music starting (*)
0.00.24 – Director’s names*
0.00.32 – Actor’s name – Adam Sandler *
0.00.39 – Actor’s name – Drew Barrymore *
0.00.48 – Title *
0.00.54 – Actor’s name – Christine Taylor *
0.01.04 – Actor’s name – Allen Covert *
0.01.17 – Actor’s name – Angela Featherstone *
0.01.22 – Actor’s name – Matthew Grave *
0.01.27 – Actor’s name – Alexis Arquette *
0.01.32 – Actor’s name – Frank Silverto *
0.01.35 – Actor’s name – Christina Pickles *
0.01.44 – Casting by__ *
0.01.51 – Music by__ *
0.01.59 – Music Supervisor by __ *
0.02.09 – Costume Design by __ *
0.02.16 – Edited by __ *
0.02.21 – Production Designer __ *
0.02.29 – Director of Photography __ *
0.02.39 – Co-Production by __ *
0.22.44 – Co-Executive Producers __ *
0.02.49 – Executive Producers *
0.02.55 – Producers *
0.03.02 – Written by __ *
0.03.16 – Director *
0.03.20 – on screen – “Ridgefield Banquet hall, 1985”

Conventions Of an Opening Sequence

During an opening sequence, the viewer is usually confronted with the an Establishing shot of the scene, and this shows the audience the setting, the time period and sometimes even the genre. The next conventional shots that the viewer sees is the protagonists (the main narrative the film is based around) and the antagonists (the character that gets in the way of the narrative progressing or the 'evil' character). These also can give away clues to the plot, the time period, the genre and the location. Another is a narrative enigma. This is where a situation comes along and builds up tention in the audience, and works towards the main plot of the story. These enigmas also keep the audience interested in the film.

History of Romantic Comedies

The western European medieval period created the romantic love situation, from the previous Ancient Greece had used sexual or social elements. However the 'romance' came to later be 'romantic love' situations rather than the heroic adventures from the medieval romance; these adventures revolved around the story line of a knight's deeds on behalf of a lady, which were later changed into the love of that woman, woven in with the idea of that deed.

Shakespearean comedy and Restoration comedy remained dominating with the start of financial level of the Gilded Age, during the post-civil war, combined with the heightened openness about sex in the Victiorian era. (1837) This was later evolved with Sigmund Freud's theories about the psychological needs for sexual desires. The beginning of the film industry in the early 20th century, involved most of these and romantic comedy was widely used. The styles of Rock Hudson-Doris Day comedies, gave way to more harmless comedy.

The French woman Virginia Woolf (1882) started creating stories that ended 'happily ever after' at the beggining of a serious relationships, and the picture of a difficult marriage.