In this opening scene, we are introduced to the female protagonist of the film. It starts when she is laying down on the floor and with a close up shot of her face. This suggests that she is the protagonist in the film because the audience is getting to know the character. It then goes into scenes from her childhood so that the audience becomes more connected to her as the character. The scenes are mainly at a hospital suggesting that she is ill. This could also connect the audience as they will start to feel heart-rending towards her as the character is a young child. Also, the hospital setting may engage the audience because everyone has been to hospital and so will feel some sort of connection towards her. With using a child, the audience will see her as vulnerable because she is powerless as she cant do anything to stop her cancer spreading.
The only sound in this opening is the voice over of the female protagonist. She is telling the audience about her condition and how it started. She also involves the audience by using terms such as 'you' suggesting that she is personally directing the audience making them feel more engaged to the film. This is a good way of involving the audience because they will feel like she is talking to them and not to anyone else. There is no other sound in the opening two minutes suggesting that she wants people to listen to her story and not get distracted. I think a voice over is a good way to start because the audience is immediately introduced to the character and gains a sense of what they are like. They will also become more engaged as they will want to listen to what the character is like.
There is not many conventions which tells the audience the genre of the film at the beginning of the film because you would not expect a terminally ill teenager as the female protagonist in a romance film. However, as she is telling the audience her childhood story it suggests that it is a romance film because the audience is getting to know her. Also, most romance films start off with a voice over and so The Fault In Our Stars follows this clique. There are slight things which tell us that this is a romance film. Some being the lighting and costumes. The lighting in this opening is quite light suggesting a happy environment but as she has a terminal illness, there is some dark lighting. The costumes also suggest that this a romance film because she is always dressed casually but also feminine. This fits in with the stereotypical teenager by saying that they are dressed casually so that they are laid back. There is no other character in the opening so she could be quite lonely as she has nobody but her parents around her.
This particular film is something which attracts me because I like how you have to wait to find out what the genre of the film is. I feel like I am more engaged into the film if I do not know the genre because I will want to find out, This is something that I will look at when it comes to filming our opening two minutes because the audience will become immediately engaged into the film. By using a voice over, the character is introduced and will usually carry some story of their life to tell. They will also include pronouns such as 'you' so that the audience will feel involved in the film as they will be addressed personally. The Fault In Our Stars is only an example of a film which starts off like this. Many romance films will usually start with a voice over because the character is immediately introduced into the film. Another convention of a romance film is that they will include a title which is usually red or pink to connote love or romance. They will also be bubbly to show that it is a happy film and possibly a romantic comedy.
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