Genre Research: To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You

 

To All the Boys is one of my all time favorite movie series, so I wanted to study these movies the most to see if there was something about the cinematography that I like about these movies. Michael Fimognari was the cinematographer for all three movies and directed all three movies too.

Mid shot, close up, mid shot, close up, long shot, over the shoulder (of LJ in the mirror which is a visual shot I like), mid shot, long shot, long shot, mid shot, close up, mid shot, mid shot (from different angle), mid shot, long shot, mid shot, mid shot (different angle), mid shot (different angle), close up, close up, close up, mid shot, mid shot, mid shot, master shot, tracking mid shot, mid shot, mid shot, close up, mid shot, master shot, mid shot, mid shot tracking, axial cut mid shot, close up tracking, over the shoulder, two shot, over the shoulder, mid shot track in. 

To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You Opening Sequence

The beginning of this movie isn't actually one of my favorites. It started with Lara Jean lip syncing to Then He Kissed Me, which was honestly a bit cringy to watch, but I think the whole beginning of this movie was a bit awkward feeling. 

The date LJ and Peter go on is also written a bit awkward, which in my opinion sets the mood for the entire movie where their relationship has issues, giving opening for John Ambrose to be a potential love interest. 

The opening shot sequence is similar to the last movie, where it starts with LJ in her imagination until Kitty breaks her out of it, using the same shot selection where LJ has a close up while she's upside down. This consistency of shots adds to her character as we see her get stuck in her own imagination a lot and romanticize her life. 

While I despise the opening scene as I feel it goes on for too long (even if it's showing how happy LJ is in her relationship), it has a cool over the shoulder shot of LJ where we can see her face in the two mirrors in front of her. There's no meaning behind the shot, it's just aesthetically pleasing and it's an element I'd like to put in my own film.

The last thing I like about all of these movies is there's a certain tint all three of them have and a color scheme that's teal and yellow and shades around these colors that appear throughout the movie, which I feel makes it uniquely "To All the Boys" esque.