The first two shots are of the logo HBO, which generally tells us the producers of the programme.
Moving straight on to the next shot, which is a long shot view, it shows main character Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) at the bottom right hand corner of the frame with half of her face cut off. The effect of this is that it draws our eyes straight towards her and the idea was to get the audience to focus on her. Behind her is the hustle and bustle of the city, the huge crowd struggling desperately to get across the street. The hustle and bustle of the city suggests that the city never sleeps. This also draws our wandering eyes to them at the same time. There’s a cloud of smoke behind Carries head. This suggests that her head is stuck high up in the clouds. It also looks like a veil, as if she’s getting married or she’s in a fairy tale.
Light is everywhere the frame which, automatically, sets a bright, positive atmosphere. The light on her face suggests that she is an optimistic character. A bit of sky is shown between the buildings which show a sunny, cheerful view. So we’re expecting to see an upbeat programme.
The Chrysler building is shown in the next shot. It is a famous building in New York City. This suggests that New York is an attractive city and everything is new. You wouldn’t expect to see an attractive, well-groomed woman strutting in the gritty side of New York City, will you? With all its dump and ghetto-like alleyways, humph, not at all! The clouds in the sky are moving pretty fast behind the building as if a huge wind is blowing it across. This fast-forwarding suggests a new day, a new start, a new start, a whole new relationship.
SJP is an attractive woman and is seen smiling, baring her pearly whites (teeth). She turns to her left (which is our right) and looks casually at something.
Brooklyn Bridge connects Brooklyn and Manhattan and is shown in the next shot. The shot is taken from the bottom which is a low angle shot. This makes us feel inferior towards the landscape.
Three different shots of SJP show her giving three different facial expressions. The first shot shows her still looking at that “something”, the second one shows her looking right then left and the last shows her raising her left eyebrow. We as an audience wonder what made her raise her eyebrow. All these shots indicate that she is in another dimension, another world. She is at home but all the lights are off!
The opening moves on to show a low angle shot of the Twin Towers, another famous building before it was brought down by planes. It’s so high and lofty that we feel miniscule standing by its side. A shadow of the sun moves across the building. This also indicates a new day, a new start. We then see a point of view shot of the traffic. It’s busy and you see yellow everywhere. It takes us through the streets to Carrie looking lost and raising her eyebrow, to a tracking shot of the Brooklyn Bridge and to a point of view shot of the Statue of Liberty. New York is showing off its landmarks to the audience, telling us non-verbally that it is a wonderful place to be.
Carrie is so much into her own world that she gets splashed with water from the gutter by a cab/bus. This wakes her up and she is back in to reality. No more head in the clouds. You see this shows that New York City is not always that glamorous as we think it to be!
The bus that splashes her with the water advertises her show on the front of the bus- ‘Carrie Bradshaw knows good sex and isn’t afraid to ask’