Today we looked at the film opening of Ferris Bueller's day off to try and
see what made the film a comedy from the opening. We used the four technical
elements; Mise-en-scene, Cinematography, sound and editing.
Starting with the mise-en-scene. all the colours used were bright, which
showed us that it was a happy film. The lighting was high key throughout which
also suggested a happy mood whereas if it had been a horror the lighting would
have been low key. The actor’s performances were very over the top, exaggerated
and unreal which suggested a comical element to the film. Also after Ferris's
parents left he broke the fourth wall by talking to directly to the camera.
This isn't something you usually see out of the genre of a comedy film.
Secondly cinematography. There were a lot of close up shots of Bueller's
face showing us his complete overreaction of his illness, this showed us from
the word go that he was faking it. There was a an establishing shot of the family’s
fancy house, a house you wouldn't necessarily see in a western or sci-fi film,
it was the perfect location for a comedy.
Thirdly sound. The diegetic sound of the radio was very chirpy and happy.
Also the man used a funny voice to present the radio giving the sound a comical
effect. There was an extreme contrast between the background music whilst the
parents were in the room and the music when the parents left suggesting a
non-serious, atmospheric film.
Finally editing. The text on the screen that came up whilst he was listing
his 'illness' was random and projecting his words to make them more clear to
the audience, yet again the highlighted him breaking the fourth wall. The
montage used was happy and chirpy and full of the most random of things. This
erratic editing suggests yet again a non-serious film, a comedy film.
