Analysed the first 2 minutes.
Ps: I love you opens with a
female character storming angrily through a tight corridor followed by a male
character swiftly walking to try and catch up with her, they are both dressed
formally suggesting that they have just came from some sort of social event or
date together. There is non- diegetic upbeat background music playing, which is
predominantly string instruments that suggests some tension between the two
characters. There is low key lighting and quite soft colours which suggests the
mood is quite dramatic and sullen. As the female character leaves the shot to
walk up the stairs the camera focuses on the male character using a close up
shot, the male character then uses hand gestures and uses dialogue to ask the
female character “have I done something wrong”. This immediately entices the
audience and creates enigma codes as they want to know what’s happened and why
they are fighting. This is a typical convention for the romance genre.
The camera shifts to the
female character for a couple of seconds where it shows a close up of her face,
this shows her baffled emotions to the audience that she can’t believe he
doesn’t know what he’s done wrong. The camera then switches to a high angle
looking down on the male character to show to the audience that in this moment
in time the male character is weak and useless compared to the female character
who is powerful and in control. The camera then shifts 4 to 5 times back and
forth to the male and female character, the male character is still chasing the
female character up the stairs whilst continuing his dialogue questioning what
he’s done wrong. This is a stereotypical chase and break up scene which
reflects the genre of romance. The camera then switches to a birds eye view shot showing the continuous chase. Using a medium shot we see the male character catch up with the female character and grab her to get her attention and for her to stop running from him. They use a brief over the shoulder shot from the male’s perspective to show the female sigh and look in disgust as the male is persistent and is beginning to get under the female's skin. The audience then views 4 quick cuts showing the male talking to female and then back to the female’s expression, the female during this whole period of time still hasn’t said anything. This reflects to the audience that something seriously must be up. A medium shot shows the female pushing past the male and storming into the apartment, as this happens the non-diegetic music increases in volume to reflect the female’s mood.
The setting switches to an apartment, using a wide angled shot you see the female character walk through the door with the male following. This is the first time the audience hear the female character speak and begin to argue back. This is quite significant because it took her so long to say something back to him, this is a typical convention of a female because they often bottle all there feeling up and then explode and let it all of their chests. The is then 8 shortcuts of medium shots going back and forth from the male to female as they argue, whilst they are arguing they both begin to hang up their clothes in separate parts of the rooms. It then shifts to a high angle looking down on the female who’s sitting on the end of the bed as she takes of her shoes, this change in power switches back to the male as he states how he is the only man she has ever had. The camera then switches to a close up shot to show the female throwing her shoe at the male with aggression on her face, a quick cut to the male character shows him getting hit by the shoe. This excites the audience as they enjoy watching something they can relate to and everyday couple arguments are common. This further more creates tension between the two main characters.
As the argument continues it shows a number of medium shots with both characters using hand gestures to show there confusion. This makes the audience feel very uncomfortable as they are almost a part of the argument. The camera then shifts to show a wide angle shot of a divided wall with the female on one side with her dressing table and the male on the other side with his dressing table. This separation is interesting because it highlights the contrast in the rooms and the characters themselves. The female's side shows her dressing table painted white, her various products on it and is surrounded by light. Whereas the males side shows his dressing table painted brown, his various products on it and is surrounded by dark colours and low key lighting. It is very stereotypical for the male character to be putting his wallet and car keys in his top draw compared to the female who was removing her earrings and necklace.
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