BLK2- Film Clip Analysis

MEAN GIRLS

This is a well known American comedy film starring Lindsay Lohan and Rachel McAdams, the clip I've chosen is one of the most memorable and famous scenes from the film.

FILM-MAKING CONVENTIONS

-Set in an American high school cafeteria- typical setting, white, clean, set with tables and chairs.
-Students look typical of an American high school- clip features a voice over narrative explaining the types of social clique, these cliques are typical of the comedy, rom com genre, and will be familiar to teenagers across the world.
-Upbeat musical track
-Voiced over by character: Janis Ian
-Begins with a hand drawn map, fades into actual film of the students
-High school slang clique names
-Centres around stereotypes of highschool cliques
-Ends with the most important and influential group, leading into the next scene and dialogue exchange
-Quick blurred sweeping camera motion between groups of people

CULTURAL CODES

-High school, fitting in
-Sterotypical 'Queen Bee'
-Stereyipcal behaviour from each table eg. Girls eating, couples kissing- entire clip is based on recognisable stereotypes, these are recognisable to audiences from all over the world, not just those already exposed to the American high school environment
-Heroines attire: shirt and jeans, tomboy, dressed down, shy, doesn't want to draw attention to herself
-Plastics attire: fashionable, tight clothing, perfectly styled hair and make up- effort taken in their appearance, clearly are the girls who everyone aspires to be like (esp, the 'wannabees')
-Cafeteria, an everyday regular setting

DYM1- Analysis of Film Still

My film still is from the film 'The Truman Show' made in 1998. This film is about a man who discovers his entire life has been the subject of the most popular and famous TV show, and is watched everyday by millions. In this shot, he is messing around looking in his bathroom mirror, which happens to be one of the cameras set up to record his every move, and the production team are watching him from the TV monitor.


-The main focus of the shot is Jim Carrey- Truman Burbank, it shows him in his normal home environment- his bathroon, but shown on a tv monitor. He looks normal, as is wearing pajamas and has messy hair, and from this still seems just a regular American man in his 30s, which is how the film wishes to present him, and this is the main appeal of the 'Truman Show' everyone tunes in to watch. Having this image shown on a TV monitor highlights the main story of the film, and ultimately sums up the film within one still. It shows how he is constantly being watched, and from a such high-tech, scrutenised way, which can slightly startle or freak-out the audience.

-The lighting of the central part of the shot is very bright, connoting the happiness of Truman's safe carefree life. However, the darkness of the monitor suggests he is surrounded by something a lot less positive and bright, something he is blissfully unaware of.

-Finally, the framing of this shot causes the audience to feel outside and unattached with the character of Truman, and makes us feel part of the production team, who he is fighting against. This causes the audience to feel sympathetic towards Truman's plight, and can ultimately cause the audience to question reality, and what we see around us.

BLK1- Film Stills &Evaluation

THRILLER-
My shot depicts a teenage boy roughly being pushed against a brick wall by a pair of hands. It is a close-up shot, focusing in on his facial expression and the action taking place. I think this represents my chosen genre of 'Thriller' as it has very dark colours, with dim lighting, and half of his face shadowed.

To achieve this effect I asked my actor to look scared, whilst another actor held him roughly against the wall, I then framed this to only show the face and the hands, so a lot is unclear. The shot is low angled, so he seems more powerful, despite him being threatened. I made the shot dark, to create a feeling of mystery and danger, and the boys face is half shadowed, which suggests he may have something to hide. The actor looks slightly scared, but also seems quite strong and in control, without breaking his gaze, which gives him a persona of strength, presenting him as the hero (or anti-hero) of the film. Wearing the colours black and red communicate darkness, mystery, intensity and danger to the audience. The setting, with the brick wall in the background shows this incident takes place on the street, which is an appropriate and common setting for the Thriller genre.

I think the most successful thing in this shot is the framing, as this really draws the whole image together, and also the lighting. However in hindsight, I might change the position of the actors to create more tension, such as a tighter hold on the collar and a more emotional facial expression.