Dear John - Opening scene (analysis)

Dear John is a romance film along with other parts of war and action. The opening begins showing Channing Tatum, who plays John, in war after he had been shot. We are able to partially here the diegetic sound of gun shots and non long after the non-diegetic voice of John himself which then allows us to understand that he must be having a flashback of when this event happened. The diegetic sound of guns shots are significant as they make it seem more realistic and make the audience get a real feel of what it would be like to be there. The clothing of them shows there status and how they are fighting in there uniform, which is covered in dirt and camouflaged. The dull colours and lighting show how there is no happiness in the war and there is no light or brightness throughout. The dark lighting connotes pain and despair which is symbolic as we are able to see the pain on Johns face through the over the shoulder shot of the man helping him. The setting is also important as it follows the story of him in the war, showing muddy ground, no shelters and no help.

The non-diegetic voice of John continues as he carries on talking about his experience, soon after with reference to him as a young boy. He was stating how he remembered a trip that he went on to find out about coins. A close up is used showing the coins drop along with the diegetic sound of the tingling noise as they fell. He continued describing how coins were made and what happens to them. He soon after said 'I am a coin in the United-States army', which makes us feel sympathetic as he feels as if he is worth nothing and was made and broken. We are then shown back to the war scene and a close up of the man helping John was used showing his fear and panic as he was speaking to keep him awake. They then used a close up of John showing the struggle of staying up. Soon after they pan inwards first using a medium shot showing his body language and position then following was a close up showing the emotion and also how he was physically unable to move or do anything to help himself.

The reason behind all of this is unknown and as the audience we are unsure of who he is talking to because at the end he says that the last thing that came into his mind was 'you'. This clearly means that he is talking to someone and from not knowing, it makes the audience want to watch on and find out who the person is. The age rating for this is 12A and would mainly appeal to the female audience as it is a romance and is focusing on some kind of love story.