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Case Study: 2 minute opening of Gilmore Girls

 

  Gilmore Girls

  Establishing shot with tilt of the town of Stars Hollow. (Camera is placed at a high angle) Pan to the Stars Hollow welcome sign. (low angle) Then pans to a trucking screen following Lorelai into Luke’s Coffee Shop (Wide shot). (mid-angle) Close up of her face and cuts to wide shot of Luke pouring coffee for a customer back to a close-up of Lorelai.  Then it cuts back to the wide shot then zooms into Luke (Steadicam) when it cuts back to a close-up of Lorelai. Then Steadicam of Lorelai talks to Luke then cuts to an over the shoulder shot of Luke responding. Then it cuts back to a close-up of Lorelai responding. It cuts back to an over the shoulder shot going over Lorelai and the focus being mainly on Luke. (mid-angle) Cuts back to close-up of Lorelai and then pans to her walking away. It cuts back to a close-up of Luke with a smug look and pans to look going to answer the ringing phone. (mid-angle) Next there is a close-up of Lorelai’s side profile and then a focus pull on the guy behind her. (mid-angle) Then the camera is tilted up to the man talking. (low-angle) Pans to a Mid-shot of Lorelai sitting and responding to the man. (mid-angle) Cuts back to the man from a low angle then back to Lorelai with the mid-shot and then back to the man. (low angle) It continues doing this at the low angle for the next 2 cuts when finally, the camera tilts down with the man as he sits down next to Lorelai. It cuts to a mid-shot of Lorelai and then to over the shoulder shot making the man the focus. It then cuts back to an over the shoulder shot of the man, so Lorelai is the main focus of the scene. Then another over the shoulder shot of the man being the main focus and then back to Lorelai being the main focus. (mid-angle) Camera tilts back up following the man as he stands back up. (lower angle) Then it cuts to a close-up of Lorelai. Then it pans as another man leaves the coffee shop and Rory, Lorelai’s daughter, enters. (mid-angle) Then it pans to an over the shoulder shot from Lorelai’s shoulder making Rory the main focus.




    The beginning pan to the trucking shot of Lorelai walking to the Coffee shop is how the audience meets Lorelai for the first time. It also helps audiences to figure out she will be a main character throughout the show. Once she is in the coffee shop the close-ups of Lorelai talking to Luke asking to fill up her mug with coffee shows viewers that she is a fun, sarcastic character. Cutting the scene back and forth between Luke and Lorelai shows their two contrasting personalities. Luke is very smug and laid back while Lorelai is bubbly and sarcastic. Showing the conversation between them helps viewers decide that Lorelai is an enjoyable character and foreshadows the chemistry that will occur later in the show.

 


       The shots before Lorelai walks into the coffee shop are open shots because you cannot see the end to the background since she is walking outdoors. Once she walks into the coffee shop, every shot in that whole scene is closed. It only captures the inside of the coffee shop, and you can see the end of the background. This aids to the construction of the meaning because it gives the viewers a feeling of entrapment of the characters in the coffee shop, while the open shots give them a sense of freedom.

 


    As the camera tilts to the sign of Stars Hollow it introduces the viewers to the setting where they will be witnessing for the rest of the show. The closeup of Lorelai talking to Luke asking for coffee introduces her sarcasm to the audience making her a loveable protagonist. The back and forth of the close-up Steadicam shot shows each character’s personality while holding a conversation.



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