Storylines, Openings And Binary Oppostions

During this lessons we was taking in knowledge of what story lines openings and binary oppositions do in a film. We watched 4 different openings with different story lines these were;

• Ferris Buellers day off
• 10 things I hate about you
• Romeo and Juliet
• Princess diaries

What i have learnt from this lesson is that binary oppositions create the whole story line in a film and mostly takes place in the opening if the film.

FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF

In Ferris Buellers day off, the main storyline i gathered from just watching the 5minute opening was it is about a young boy who resents school as he doesn't like going so instead he pretends to be sick to his parents by which they believe so lets him stay home, but his sister knows he is lying and thinks that the parent favours Ferris more than her. I also gathered that he just mainly wants to have fun as he invites his friend over who is genuinely ill, but Ferris believes that he actually isn't and it is just all in the boys head.

In this opening there is a range of binary oppositions such as;

Pretend vs. reality

Home life vs. school  life

Excitement vs. boredom

Sister vs. brother

*In the opening there is also the use of a sound motif, this means when there is a sound track reflecting a characters         feelings. in this case there is an energetic soundtrack to represent Bueller which has life and energy in contrast to his friend who has more of an dull and low base soundtrack as he is sick which reflects his lifelessness.

10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU

In the opening of this film I suggest that the storyline is about a girl who is new in a local school which has segregated groups, and finds it hard to fit in. She is aquatinted by a young boy who is dressed professionally as if he was an older man. There is also a teacher who doesn't behave in a teacher like manner as she swears in front of student who is also new to the school and needs guidance. We also get a glance of who is most probably one of the cool kids in the school.

There is a vary of binary oppositions such as;

Cool vs. nerd

Old vs. young

Rich vs. poor

Beautiful vs. ugly

Pop music vs. rock

Happy vs. dull

Bright colours vs. black

ROMEO AND JUILET
 

Due to the opening I Romeo and Juliet I can tell that there are 2 opposing families that don't see eye to eye with one another and they are called the Capulet's and the Montague. The mise en scene also gives us an understanding of the background to the 2 different families especially from the way they dress. In the opening of this film it starts of at a petrol station by which the two families go into conflict with one another which turns into a shooting outbreak.

The range of binary oppositions are;

Latin American vs. white American
Capulet vs. Montague
Sharp suits vs. Hawaiian shirts
Sophisticated vs. casual
Religious vs. non religious
                                                                                         Serious vs. comedy

PRINCESS DIARIES
                                                                        

The princess diaries opening is different in contrast to the other films I analysed previously. This is because in the opening of princess diaries we start seeing the life of an individual teenage girl as she goes about her daily life at school and at home which also sets the storyline for this film. This is different from the other films because immediately you'll see conflict in opposing to groups. In the opening we see a young girl awakening from sleep and getting ready to go school, she then reaches school and we witness a young boy and another girl being intimate with one another but then us as an audience gets a glimpse of how the main girl reacts to this and I assume this is foreshadowing an event which is going to happen by the ending of this film.

The binary oppositions are;

Popular vs. unpopular
Cool vs. nerds
Royalty vs. non royalty
Rich vs. poor
Beautiful vs. ugly
                                                                          Confident vs. nervous