The Last Song- Opening Sequence

 

Summary:  
  Ronnie's (Miley Cyrus) and her younger brother, Jonah's, parents are divorced. They live with their mother until this summer they are sent to live with their father (Greg Kinnear) in a small town on the beach. Ronnie resents her father and has no intention of being friendly or even talking to him for the summer. But after meeting a handsome guy and beginning to fall in love, Ronnie starts rediscovering her love for music, something she shares with her father. Reconnecting with music revives a kinship with her father which proves to be the most important relationship she may ever experience.
Set in the beach town of Tybee Island, Georgia, where Steve (Greg Kinnear), a divorced father, gets a chance to spend the summer with his teenage daughter Ronnie (Miley Cyrus) and his young son Jonah (Bobby Coleman). Ronnie would rather be in New York City than be with her father, who she believes abandoned her three years earlier. Steve, a concert pianist, tries to reconnect with Ronnie through their love of music.

Sound:

At the beginning of the opening sequence we are being shown the music of 'Tyrant'- One Republic which I think is effective because it is high-spiritual so immediately captures the audience's attention. I also think that at times the music has different tempos; for example at times it can be really loud and high tempo, whereas other times it's quite low and relaxed. This can be good for this movie because as it is a romantic genre it would suit the genre of setting an intimacy between the two main characters of the boy and girl. However, it could also be representing the character Ronnie's personality because it could be that she is aggressive, especially as we see this in the movie the way she acts towards her father, but then at other times we see her being really loving and caring- just like any other typical teenager does so this type of music really shows this.
I also really liked the way the music was playing outside in a non-dietetic way and then when we see the character open the window, the music becomes muffled and it's like the music is coming out of her own ear in a diegetic way, making us feel connected to this character.

Credits

The credits in the opening of this movie are shown when we see the main character traveling in a car. The scenary and landscape is beautiful and this is captured nicely through the aerial and extreme long-shots. The song also goes to a higher tempo which is parallel to what we see because it places us in a position were we are excited to see where these people are going, and alongside the pretty landscape + sunny weather we are further made to feel in this ecstatic way.
I also thought that the credits were effective because they were presented while we were seeing action in the background which didn't bore us, something we would like to do in our opening sequence. It also helps the audience because if they didn't know who a celebrity was, they can show the credit next to their character.

Costume

As this is a romantic genre movie, Miley Cyrus playing the girl Ronnie is normally shown to wear really modern, cute clothes which is an important aspect in this type of genre. The guys in this film also have to be attractive looking i.e. slim characteristics because this type of genre would capture younger audiences who are predominantly girls. The girls in romantic movies normally appear 'attractive' in order for the boy to fall in love with her and stereotypically appear really feminine and girly. For example, here is an outfit which the main character had worn which show this:

Location

Normally in romantic genre films the location has to appear 'romantic', such as a place which has beautiful scenary and nice landscapes. In the movie 'The Last Song' this aspect is fulfilled because most of the locations are shown on the beach which is beautiful and can really show the intimate relationship between the two main characters.