love actually

Love actually is a romantic comedy written and directed by Richard Curtis. The film is about different  people's view on love, we are shown this through the story of ten people. 

Mise en scene

One location is the airport, you see people greeting each other, they are all happy and you can see love is all around. Another location is at a church were two people are getting married, again everyone is happy. The lighting is very bright; there is a lot of high key lighting. This reflects the mood of happiness all around. The opening of this film is a montage, its all about British people. The colours mainly used are red and white showing the Christmas spirit but also shows reflects happiness. From the opening sequence we gather the film is all about love and Christmas.

Camera angles

The first camera angle is an establishing shot of Heathrow airport. It’s full of people greeting each other, probably there to spend Christmas together. There are many close ups of peoples faces so you can see their reactions when they see there loved ones. They are all happy to see each other and to spend Christmas together. At the beginning of the sequence they use a hand held camera, they do this to show its reality, there’s real emotions. It’s done in a documentary style. They have also used shot-reverse-shot of the prime minister and the lady that works for him. It shows who’s in power from they way that she keeps on babbling and the fact that she’s nervous.

Editing and sound

One part of the sequence they used slow motion, it emphasised embracing and the love that is clearly visible. They also fade out title and just leave love on the screen, this is done to emphasise the whole film is about LOVE. When the wedding is happening they blurred out the characters face probably so the viewers can guess who it is, it also makes it more dramatic. The music used is happy and upbeat, it makes you smile. They also use incidental music makes you think about love. Hugh grant also does a voice over; he is taking us through what’s happening on screen.