While the footsteps are playing in the background to create a sound bridge, briefly a title appears on the plain black screen stating the distributor's name usually stating that they are presenting the film such as they are here. The title only lasts for two seconds and cuts in and out with no transition, it cuts out to black while a woman is talking to the main character telling him that there is a package for him and we learn his name is 'Will'. This is all before it cuts to the first shot.
The opening shot cuts in of a brown envelope falling, from this we get the idea that he is a business man of some kind and we learn his name (William Hayes) and the location for the film (New York). The purpose of this shot is to introduce us to the character and create drama which is helped by the sound effect used which is very over the top and loud which creates the importance of the letter, this is helped by the courier sticker showing that it was important if it had to be delivered by hand and the enigma of what it is which immediately grabs viewer interest. The shot only lasts for 3 seconds but is enough time for us to learn about the main character and have an enigma created for us as to what is in the envelope.
The editor then cuts to the next shot, which again its purpose is to give us an idea about who this character is, the shot is composed to allow us to see that he is clearly a business man with his suit and desk. However, we can see lots of advertisements up against the windows so we can see tat he is in advertising and he is in a lot of space so we can see he has his own office so he must be somebody of importance in the company. The performance of the actor in his reaction to the envelope adds to the drama and its enigma; the shot is only there for 5 seconds before cutting again. It is short to give us an idea of the character and setting of the film and set the tone for the scene and even the rest of the film.
From 00:46 - 00:48, we get a title of the secondary distributor; it follows the same style as the title before and again only lasts two seconds there is a sound bridge into this title as the main character was clicking his pen in the previous shot and when he throws it down the sound of it hitting the desk bridges us to the title. We can still hear this ambient chatter and background noise that you would expect in an office environment and it helps to allow the cutting between shots to flow better and not seem as choppy as all the audio tracks fit into one track bridging any cuts.
After the cut there are 11 seconds worth of shots from 00:48 - 00:59, this more than the last series of shots which only lasted 8 seconds. In the 3 different shots that are cut together after the previous title, it is revealed to us that the envelope contained divorce papers and this adds to the drama that is being created but removes the enigma as to what the envelope was. We also start to hear the narration by the main character explaining how no one expects to have a divorce when they are on their wedding day creating sympathy for Will within us, the viewer, and creates the interest that makes us want to watch on more in the film to see what happens with the situation. The use of the POV shot allows us to see for ourselves what has happened to Will and makes us focus in order to read for ourselves what is on the letter instead of having it read to us which means that the viewer has to keep their attention towards the film.
The editor yet again cuts to a title that lasts only 2 seconds (00:59 - 01:01). This time it contains the production company (Working Title), it follows all the patterns that the other titles have but the rhythm in which they appear changes each time as the gaps between them lengthen. The sound stays consistent as it is only the background noise of his office and the digetic sound that William Hayes can hear.
The editor cuts to a 2 second close up of Will to show his reaction to this news and the viewer can see that it is very sarcastic; we can hear his verbal reaction being just a slight 'hmm' showing his lack of interest towards the subject. The sense that this is the start of not a normal day is apparent by now in the film and this creates a starting point for any drama to unfold throughout the rest of the film as an opening should.
Cutting back to the master shot, combined with more narration from the main character we start to learn more about him and confirm anything we thought we knew about him before. Will tells us that he has to 'trying to figure out how to get kids to eat Cap'n Crunch instead of Froot Loops'. From this we confirm that he is in advertising and we learn that we works for the cereal company Cap'n Crunch; we also learn he as been working there for a while as he says that he has spent his 'weeks, months and years' trying get kids to eat his cereal. This shot is much longer (8 seconds) than any shot so far because it is allowing the narration to be completed before cutting to the next shot. The medium shot allows us to see his emotions about this and see his body movements as he puts the letter back into the envelope and this can represent him putting away the drama as the mood of the scene changes once the letter is back into the envelope.
The next shot is a wide shot of Will's office and this shows us that he has his own office and can show that he is perhaps someone of importance to have his own office rather than a cubicle; also, he has a chair either side of his desk so he could have to deal with clients face to face increasing the chance that he is someone high up in the business. Will's narration changes the mood to a more happy and positive approach to his situation, and allows the viewer to relax a little more as he begins to leave his office and move from an interior to an exterior shot.
After the mood has been changed the editor cuts the shot to an exterior shot that pans left until the main character is in frame and then begins to track backwards behind him; the use of narration is continuous throughout this opening sequence and this is the first cut where a sound bridge isn't used because the ambient sound is different from the noise that can be heard inside. From the narration we continue to learn about the character as we learn that he has a young daughter, Maya, as he says that he picks her up from school on Tuesdays and Fridays and this leads us to presume that that is what he is going to do right now.
The background noise is muffled out in this next shot, this is because in this shot the camera arcs round from behind Will's right ear to behind his left ear showing him putting his headphones in. As he does this the background noise becomes quieter and more muffled as each headphone goes into his ear. In the narration he talks about finding the perfect song for the day and this relaxes the audience a little more and starts to create something relate-able to keep the audience's attention, the narration is now the only audio that can be heard other than extremely feint ambient traffic sounds. The fact that he says he has found the perfect song and the happiness that can be seen on his face in the next shot contrast the sadness and drama that was unfolding in his office with the divorce papers and sets the tone for the opening credits.
After the medium close up of Will's face showing his happiness about finding the perfect song he presses play on his MP3 Player shown in a close up of it, only to find a hip hop song playing in his ears. The song doesn't stay on long (4/5 seconds) and there is a lot of quick cutting as the editor reverses between the shot of the music player and the medium close up of Will to show his reaction to the song, which is surprised, and him turning the song off. This adds humour to the film and sets the genre adding comedy to the genre, the genre of the film is in fact a romantic comedy.
Humour is continued using the narration when Will says "The other perfect song", the use of humour changes the mood entirely from the opening shots and keeps the viewer interested as they are looking for the next laugh. The performance from the actor as well with his look or surprise and confusion when the song plays adds to the element that it was unintended and adds to the humour of the gag. The shot is only there for a second before it cuts again to the next shot of the music player as he plays the actual 'perfect song'.
When he presses play, 'Everyday People' by Sly & The Family Stone begins to play. This is a song about being normal and fitting in no matter who you are, everyone fits into society; there may be different groups within the society but everyone fits in together. This concept is shown in the opening credits, which this song is the background music to, as Will walks around New York to go get his daughter and he fits in with society and looks like an everyday guy. All other audio is cut out as the song starts leaving only the song to play in the background. The shot is in slow motion and every shot in the opening title sequence is in slow motion.
The editor cuts to a new shot which is an OTS shot of Will as he is walking down the street, the shot's scale decreases as it moves into the top left of the screen. This allows another shot of Will walking but closer to him and more from the side to push into the frame; it also allows text that states the director's name to appear from behind the clip and lasts for 4 seconds from 01:41 - 01:45. This split screen style is used through out the opening credits.
Next, a tracking shot of William walking across the road appears between both of the previous shots and it expands laterally in order to push the previous clips out and it wipes out the text. In case the viewer couldn't read the address on the letter in the office, the yellow cabs are another indicator that this film takes place in New York.
Just like before, a shot appears from between two shots and pushes its way to take up the majority of the screen. This time it is a low angle close up of Will that is panning to follow his head as he walks; as this is happening the title of the film is beginning to show on screen. The word 'definitely' fades in and 'maybe' moves in slowly from right to left while fading in until the meet next to each other dead centre of the frame but below the shot of Will. The title starts to appear at 01:47 and lasts 6 seconds until 01:53. All shots and text in these titles never touch, they always have a centimetre border around their edges to keep everything neat and seperated so nothing overlaps or looks untidy.
Once this shot has reached near the edges of the screen, Will walks out of frame and the cinematographer stops panning the camera to leave the Chrysler Building framed slightly off centre, this is again another hint as to the location of the film. The comma in the film's title fades in and moves upwards from the bottom of the screen into the word pushing 'maybe' over to the right in order to fit into the title.
The titles move very quickly in this opening title sequence as the song is quick so the titles mirror that, however the shots themselves are in slow motion as it is a very happy song so it gives you time to see the surroundings of each shot in detail without a lot of movement in the shot but it will change shots very quickly. After the titles have been shown, two different shots wipe in from the left and the right; one shows a crowd of people walking and the other is a medium close up of Will walking towards the camera through a crowd of people. This wipe only take half a second to completely cover the previous shot and title.
Once the wipe covers the entire previous shot, the editor then uses another wipe to get rid of the shots that had just entered to reveal a close up of Will's face as he is walking. The transition from the shot with the films title to this shot takes only a second to complete. Once both clips are gone it reveals the close up of Will walking towards the camera again with the main actor's name below the shot but off to the right this time as it is not as important so it is not in the centre. An actor is not as important as a director or the title of the film so this title is only on screen for 3 seconds from 01:54 - 01:57, this is shorter than the other two titles so far. The first actor's name to appear is the name of the actor who plays the main character, in this case Ryan Reynolds is the main actor because he plays the character or William Hayes.
The title with the main actor's name on it is transitioned out by a medium shot of him crossing the road again wipes across the screen and continues off the right side of the screen. In the shot we can see more yellow cabs to again show where the film is shot and we can also see Grand Central Station in the background which is another indicator of location by including iconic landmarks.
As the previous tracking shot moves off screen it reveals behind it the name of an actress who is the secondary actor in the film, this title comes in at 01:58, we also are revealed a close up tracking shot of Will's feet as he is walking along the street. From this we can see more of his costume that shows how smartly he has to dress for work.
At the 2 minute mark the secondary actor's name is wiped out again as two shots of an 'East 51st Street' sign and of Will's bag move in from the right and another OTS shot of Will walking moves in from the left behind the two shots from the right. The title sequence is consistent is how it is animated in that wiping transitions are used a lot to change the clips on the screen, and they are used in order to reveal or hide text from the screen other than the main title which had a different entrance animation to show its importance as it was on the screen for a much longer period of time that any of the names. Also, the shots are consistent in the subject of their shot, their are lots of shots of Will walking from different angles and their are an even amount of landscape shots that do not contain the actor showing his POV as he is walking.
In the first two minutes of the film, the film establishes who the main character is and details about him so the viewer can begin to get to know the character. It also involves some kind of drama in order to get the viewer interested straight away into the plot of the film; as well as establishing the genre of the film straight away by showing humour and signs of love interests with the divorce papers to show it is a romantic comedy.
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