Pre Production Planning- Mamma Mia (timeline analysis)

Mamma Mia 

For my film I have decided to base it on the idea of; boy and girl have separate but similar lives, boy meets girl- then a plot twist. I wanted to base my film opening analysis' on films with a similar story plot, and Mamma Mia is a romance film with a twist.

04:19 The main girl (Sophie) and her two friends are going through her mums old journal which has her love life written down in it-from twenty years prior- and this begins to give Sophie the idea of which of her mothers old summer lovers might be her father. The camera position shows an over the shoulder of one of the girls, with Sophie in the middle, as the main character the audience is given full view of her reactions and expressions, while the third girl is just behind Sophie. The focus is on the girls with the background showing the area the whole film is based on.

04:56 The camera shows a close up of Sophie singing which helps convey her feelings and emotions easily towards the viewers. A close up of a character allows the audience to become familiar with the person and gives them the 'spot light' of the scene and can help signify her importance within the film.

09:57 Sky (Sophies' fiance) has arrived to see her and the two girls (bridesmaids) and starts to discuss with Sophie about what there wedding would be like if he was in charge. The camera position is showing an over the shoulder shot, which indicates -in the situation- that a conversation is taking place. The 180 rule is also being used here, showing the shot reverse shot between the couple.

11:21  Shot reverse shot, 180 rule and an establishing shot are being used to show the conversation between the two women who have arrived and their friend (Sophie's mother) who came to pick them up. By using these three rules it allows the audience to understand the situation (the people and the surroundings) more and the characters personalities, the 180 rule also helps stop the audience get confused between who is where, which helps keep the conversation flowing.

18:07 The mother began to sing with her two friends and within the whole shot a fantasy world that all three of them are beginning to imagine appear, it depicts an alternative life they would all want to have if they had more money and were in a better financial position. This scene shows connotations of a young and expensive life style that the women envy or wish they could have had, it may also for-tell what the mother would like her daughter to experience in the future.

I was influenced by this film because of the plot and narrative it has. Overall it is a romance/ musical that captivates its audience with the characters and the storyline.
This film is relevant to the one I am planning because it has the general structure I am also using for mine; it starts off innocent, bad things happen or there is a twist, it gets better, worse then better again and for my overall film that that narrative is what I plan on following (allowing to influence my work).