Analysis of an opening to a teen angst film.

Analysis of the opening sequence of Easy A

Camera work-

At the start of the extract there is multiple establishing shots of a town that is called Ojai which is in California with a mid shot of a sign saying ‘Ojai’ as well as it saying the population being just 8202, this shows that it is set in a very small town. After this shot there is also another mid shot of an american flag and the California flag which further shows the setting for the film. A few shots after it shows another mid shot of a sign saying ‘Ojai North High School’. This shows that the film will be set mostly in a high school and will be based on school life. There is a close up of a pair of shoes that have been stuck up a tree, this connotes that bullying may have occurred to get them up there and the school may have bully’s in it. After this is pans down and shows many high school student who all seem to be pretty happy which contradicts the idea of bullies in the previous shot. There is then a low angle shot of a group of girls this shows that they are probably going to be the antagonists of the film and the one in the middle goes on to knock the papers out of the protagonists hand which further shows who the antagonist is. After she does get knocked over it shows a high angle shot of her to make her seem weaker than the other group, also making her the underdog. These will attract the audience because it may relate to a lot of the targeted audience with them mostly being teens in high school or slightly older that may have the same problems as the protagonist is having. Or, they could simply relate to the fact that it is set in high school.

Sound-

Throughout all of this title sequence non diegetic music is used to set the tone for the scene. It is fairly joyful but slightly upbeat too which makes the audience believe that the film is going to be very upbeat. On Top of this music the protagonist is narrating what the entire film is going to be about. She is also talking directly to the audience, this will make the audience feel more involved in the film as they are being addressed and told what is going on by her. She is narrating in a slightly informal way and this will attract the target audience as they will also talk like this so they can relate to the protagonist.

Mise-en-Scene-

High key lighting is used all the way throughout the opening sequence of Easy A to make it have a very positive and upbeat atmosphere with the use of the sound and camera work this is very effective. Everyone in the high school at the start are wearing very  stereotypical clothes for the location and age of all the people there. This will attract the target audience as they can relate to the people shown in the extract. The props used include other stereotypical things for the school environment like books and bags which will further help the target audience relate to the film. The setting is in a high school which is what most of target audience will be doing at the time and will grab their attention as they can relate to what is happening.

Editing-

When the protagonist is knocked over by the antagonist there is cross cutting between the teacher and her. This is to show  that they have a pretty close relationship for a teacher and a student and helps show what each character is like. This again attracts the audience as they might have a good relationship with a teacher like that and can put themselves in her place.

Representation-

Everything in the extract is stereotypical from the protagonists clothing and the antagonists clothing to the props and setting used. This will instantly attract the audience as they can directly relate to something in the scene. There is almost counter types in the scene apart from the subject of the film being about the protagonist losing her virginity which is not what is usually associated with teenage girls.