Wednesday, 21 September 2016

LOVE ACTUALLY and DIRTY PRETTY THINGS

Watch the opening sequences of Love Actually and Dirty Pretty Things to analyse contrasting genre codes and conventions. 

Write a series of paragraphs based on contrasting points drawing attention to how genre is signaled through such issues as:
  • mise-en-scene (setting)
  • lighting
  • editing
  • representation of the airport in each film opening
  • representation of the protagonist in each film opening (Okwe the taxi driver and doctor; Hugh Grant as the narrator / Prime Minister and Bill Nighy as Billy Mack the singer)
  • contrasting representations of London in Dirty Pretty Things (drive into London and the hotel guest-side and below stairs)
  • soundtrack: music, voiceover and dialogue
Source material:
Prime Minister: Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often, it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know, none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling you'll find that love actually is all around.