The film The Notebook, directed by Nick Cassavetes is a romantic drama. The film takes place in a nursing home with an old gentleman reading a story to an old woman. The story is about a rich girl named Allie Hamilton and a mill worker named Noah Calhoun who meet at a carnival and fall in love. Allies parents disapprove of Noah’s poor family and moves Allie away. After Allie waits for Noah to write her letters for several years. Allie meets and gets engaged to a young soldier. One day Allie stops by Noah’s new home to see how he is doing. Both Allie and Noah realize that their love for each other has not faded and Allie has to face a big decision of choosing between her fiancé or her first love, Noah.
The Scene is set at Noah’s house, in the afternoon. Allie has come to see Noah for the second time after being told he has a surprise for Allie. High angle shots are taken to show the setting of the creek and the direction Allie and Noah are going to the canoe.
During this scene Allie and Noah are most important, as they appear to be the only characters in the scene. They show this through close ups of their faces and expressions. Throughout this scene Allie and Noah have a conversation about their past relationship and their past selves. While talking they are sitting in a canoe to go see swans which have migrated onto Noah’s property.
In this scene, the conversation between Allie and Noah at the lake amongst the swans is very important. Noah mentions to Allie that the swans are only visiting and will return to where they came from. After Noah tells Allie, Noah looks at Allie and the audience can infer that he is also referring to Allies visit. Although Noah doesn’t want to believe it, Allie as well is only visiting and will return to her fiancé Lon.
This scene is important because it reveals many significant traits about the characters. The first is that Allie is quick to forget. Allie is able to easily move on from being frustrated with Noah after thinking he hasn’t written to her, as to her forgetting the nights she’d spent with Noah despite her being engaged to Lon. Noah’s caring nature is shown when he mentions writing Allie a letter each day for a whole year. This shows his dedication for the love he had for her.
The film techniques in this scene show emotion to the audience. The events go in order from Noah being single, Allie being engaged to chaos. Disruption of the canoe ride by the rain to Noah and Allie falling in love again. The film techniques in this film are; tilt, high angle, point of view.
The majority of the sound is onscreen. This is seen in the present of the swans, the swishing water, and the dialogue between Allie and Noah. The music is off screen sound and is very mellow and calming to match the scenery. However, the music intensifies as the storm approaches and worsens.