It's Not over - the Notebook
It’s Not Over – The Notebook
ENG 225
Sarah Carson
April 16, 2012
It’s Not Over – The Notebook
The Notebook is a love story set in the pre and post-World War II era. It was directed by Nick Cassavetes and the main characters are Noah and Allie. They fall madly in love during one summer but Allie was from a wealthy family and her parents would not allow it. They separated from each other for fourteen years and after Noah returned home from a stint in the Army he began restoring an old farmhouse. Allie finds a newspaper article about Noah and his accomplishments and she returns to him however the problem is that she is engaged to another man. This story is told by an old man who is reading to a woman who suffers from Alzheimer's. The woman is understood to be Allie and the old man is Noah. Nick Cassavetes takes the feelings of Noah and Allie through the years and shows that love never dies no matter what happened in the past or what is going on the present.
The film takes place in the 1940’s and when the story opens in the present year, they are in a nursing home. The opening scene is an elderly man reading to Allie in a nursing home. The man is Noah reading Allie their life story so she can remember parts of her life. The editor transitions the story back into the 1940’s and the journey starts. Flashbacks are used in this film in order to effectively communicate the storyline.
Production designer, Sarah Knowles, set the majority of film in South Carolina where the homes were 1940 plantation styles. Cypress Gardens was chosen as the setting for Noah and Allie’s lake scene. The props used for this particular scene were white swans which were imported and trained so they would learn to follow boats and appear on the screen (SCIWAY). The swans used in the boat scene were a symbolism of nature and love and that showed young love and Noah’s longing of his heart for Allie. There was a lot of high-key lighting in this scene as the sun shone through the
ENG 225
Sarah Carson
April 16, 2012
It’s Not Over – The Notebook
The Notebook is a love story set in the pre and post-World War II era. It was directed by Nick Cassavetes and the main characters are Noah and Allie. They fall madly in love during one summer but Allie was from a wealthy family and her parents would not allow it. They separated from each other for fourteen years and after Noah returned home from a stint in the Army he began restoring an old farmhouse. Allie finds a newspaper article about Noah and his accomplishments and she returns to him however the problem is that she is engaged to another man. This story is told by an old man who is reading to a woman who suffers from Alzheimer's. The woman is understood to be Allie and the old man is Noah. Nick Cassavetes takes the feelings of Noah and Allie through the years and shows that love never dies no matter what happened in the past or what is going on the present.
The film takes place in the 1940’s and when the story opens in the present year, they are in a nursing home. The opening scene is an elderly man reading to Allie in a nursing home. The man is Noah reading Allie their life story so she can remember parts of her life. The editor transitions the story back into the 1940’s and the journey starts. Flashbacks are used in this film in order to effectively communicate the storyline.
Production designer, Sarah Knowles, set the majority of film in South Carolina where the homes were 1940 plantation styles. Cypress Gardens was chosen as the setting for Noah and Allie’s lake scene. The props used for this particular scene were white swans which were imported and trained so they would learn to follow boats and appear on the screen (SCIWAY). The swans used in the boat scene were a symbolism of nature and love and that showed young love and Noah’s longing of his heart for Allie. There was a lot of high-key lighting in this scene as the sun shone through the
References: Goodykoontz, B. (2011). Film: From Watching to Seeing. Chapter3. https://content.ashford.edu/books/AUENG225.11.2 (SCIWAY) South Carolina’s Information Highway http://www.sciway.net/movies/sc-movie-notebook.html