Safe Haven!!

Safe Haven

Key Cast: Julianne Hough, Josh Duhamel and Colbie Smulders.

Director: Lasse Hallstrom

Writer: Nicholas Sparks (Novel)

Genre: Romance Thriller

Themes: Love, Abuse, friendship, Family and Secrecy.

Release: February 2013

Budget: $28,000,000

Key Scene:

A key scene in the film is the opening scene. The film opens with a girl running out of a house covered in blood. This straight away shows the audience that the genre of the film is thriller. The audience are left in the dark and they are not quite sure as to what is going on. The audience start to make ideas based on what could be happening or what happened to her. The following scene then shows the girl to be running away from the police. This backs up the idea that something is wrong. The opening scene is used to show the audience that even though the film is predominantly a romance film, it still has thriller elements to it. Because the audience doesn't find out till later what the opening scene has to do with the mani protagonist, they are left trying to connect the dots and figure out why the main character is relevant.
Another key scene is when Katie has to face her past in order to save the family she loves. In this scene, she shows to the audience that she is willing to sacrifice herself if it means that she can protect Alex, Lexi and Josh. This scene is significant because it reveals more of her personality. Even though the audience may not be able to relate to her story they can still relate to the fact that she has unconditional love for her new family. Another reason why this scene is important is because when the audience see why she left her home to move to Southport, she is shown to be weak and powerless. However, when she comes to face her past she makes sure she does something about it and she becomes more powerful and independent. The scene shows that she has evolved because of her new experiences.

Key Micro-Features:

A key micro-feature in the film Safe Haven is Editing. At points through out the film we see flashbacks of Katie's past life. They usually are shown when Katie reacts negatively to a certain present day action (e.g when she talks to a police officer). The editing is important because the quick flashbacks that the audiences does see adds to the thriller aspect of the film, because we are constantly reminded that there is an underlying story within the romance. The flashbacks also reveal more of the story each time until eventually all is revealed. This is significant because it makes the audience think more rather than give them all the answers which is why the editing is so important.
Another important micro-feature is performance. In the majority of the film, Katie is living a double life. Whilst having a new life and identity she cant escape her past as there are constant reminders and she still lives in fear. She is trying to move on but she is finding it difficult. The performance is important because she has new life in which she is happy but every so often her old life breaks through the cracks. The performance still has to be convincing in order for the relationship between Alex and Katie to be real but also show her old self in order to show the audience that there is still something wrong.