ANALYSIS OF BAD LUCK BOBBYBy Turiga Kanapathippillai

BAD LUCK BOBBY

Bad luck Bobby was a engaging and entertaining film to watch. They had my attention from the start to the very end. The audience can clearly see that the film was influenced by Todorov narrative theory. Todorov theory allows us to understand the storyline much more clearer.

NARRATIVE THEORY

The main theory that Bad Luck Bobby follows is Todorov theory. The character goes through the five stages, the disruption being Bobby burning the food and eating all the pizza before his date arrives. Recognition being he recognised the food being burned as the alarm goes off so he solves the problem by ordering pizza. The film however does not follow Claude levi strauss theory of binary opposites. There is one main protagonist and his date however both the characters come across as similar characters.

One of the main frames is the text message that Bobby receives. The close up shot of the text message is the first indication that Bobby likes the girl. It is where the main plot starts to form.

The second frame of the film is a close up of Bobby smiling at the text. The close up shots mainly focuses on the protagonist which highlights his importance. The close up shots allows the audience to see the characters cheerful and thrilled emotion.

Later on, it is made clear that the protagonist is in love with a girl. The wide shot and the transition of fade out highlights the fact that he is dreaming about her. The score music is clear. It portrays the emotion of love and romance. The audience are now able to identify the genre as being a romance genre.

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From frames 1-9 the story develops further . The film heavily relies on non-diegetic sound, mise-en scene and cinematography. The protagonist is clear in this film as all of the nine frames are centered around him. It focuses on his actions and facial expressions. These are important elements within the film as the film does not consist of dialogue.

The score music of ‘Survivor- Eye of the Tiger’ adds an comedic effect to the film which meets the convention of the romantic comedy genre. The nine frames clearly highlights the mission of preparing a date, this includes cooking and cleaning.

The lighting used is also neutral which backs up his emotions as Bobby is feeling neither too happy or sad. It doesn’t state any portray any specific emotions.

Later on towards the film, Bobby recognises the disruption so therefore attempts to solve the problem by ordering pizza.

The frustration on his face is what denotes this and also the use of zoom emphasises on the seriousness of the problem.

The combination of close up, mid shot and score music adds a desperate yet sombre tone to the film. It gives the audience an indication on the emotions that the character is going through.

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The next 12 frames represents the next set sequences. The score music continues to give a comedic effect to the film. It is an upbeat song which keeps the audience attention and it highlights that getting ready for a date is a mission for the character. It is what carries the film along. The frames mainly focuses on Bobby getting ready for his date.

Midshots and close up are mainly used to emphasise on Bobby actions.

From frame 4 the score music changes to ‘LMFAO- Sexy and I know it’. This further touches upon the genre of romantic comedy. It makes the audience laugh as Bobby dances to the song whilst getting ready.

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of a problem occurring. The score music changes towards frame 4 to a sweet and sad instrumental. This is to support his sad emotion as his date hasn’t arrived. The abrupt sound that the editor uses on frame 5 signifies the shock. The audience are now aware that the date is coming after all however Bobby has eaten all the food. Bad luck has been with the character hence the title ‘Bad luck Bobby’.

The lighting in the living room changes from the beginning to the end. It gets more darker towards the end. I believe this was a way of the editor conveying the emotion the character is going through. The beginning of the film, Bobby being excited as he gets ready for his date and at the end Bobby being sad as his date hasn’t arrived.

CONCLUSION

Overall, Bad Luck Bobby meets its conventions as its a love story with comedy added. Bobby represents a character that most people can relate to. Being one of the audiences, I can tell that the director, editor and the cinematographer has put in a lot of thought into this film. The film flows smoothly and the audience are able to figure out what is happening within this film even without dialogue.

The film has many elements that make it stand out. I would take some of the ideas into consideration when creating my own film.