Miss Congeniality

The very first shots we see in the opening of this film is the logos of ‘Warner Bros.’ ‘Castle Rock Entertainment’ and ‘Village Roadshow Pictures’. These three companies produce high production value films and so this also creates an expectation for the audience that they are going to enjoy the film. These have purposely been used as the first shots as the audience will relate the logos to other films that they have seen, and as Warner Bros. Castle Rock Entertainment and Village Roadshow pictures have produced some very successful films, it creates an expectation for this film. Castle Rock Entertainment is a subsidiary of Warner Bros and Village Roadshow Pictures often produce films with other companies. The same sound is used for both logos that is always used when they are shown in films. Another reason these logos are shown is to create a name for the production companies, almost advertising them.

Medium paced, fairly upbeat, non-diegetic music starts to play as the production logos are shown. There is then a fade into the establishing shot where we discover that the location is a busy children’s playground. “New Jersey, 1982” is shown at the bottom of the shot, informing the audience where the film is set and the date that this part of the film is set in. The lighting is high key, showing that it is day time and also that it is summer as the sun is shining and the child in shot are in t-shirts. The camera pans to the left to show a young girl reading a book. The camera stopping on a close up of her shows her importance. The character’s pigtails and glasses suggest that she is young and these along with the book she is reading while all the other children are playing suggests that she does not have many friends and is the stereotypical ‘geek’. She peers over the top of the book as a credit appears on screen. The writing is colour co ordinated with her outfit, again showing her importance. The camera follows her gaze by cutting to show what she is looking at. We see a scene where a young boy is being bullied by another boy and another title is shown in the same font and colour scheme as before. A shot reaction shot is used here as it then cuts back to show the young girls reaction to the scene. She closes her book and says “oh boy” which is not something we as an audience would expect a girl of her age to say.

It then cuts back to the bullying scene again, showing another title. A wide shot is used here as it shows the location of the fight, the 2 main boys involved in the bulling and the spectators watching it happen. We then see the main character we saw in the previous shot walk over to the boys and lean over the climbing frame. She confronts the bully, again using language we would not expect her to use. Also, she contradicts her stereotypical ‘geek’ title by proceeding to stand up to the bully. Her body language shows her confidence and the audience becomes impressed by her courage and also warm to her character as she is helping someone by stopping the bully. The diegetic sound of the dialogue between the girl and the bully can be heard throughout all these shots as well as the non diegetic music continuing and the diegetic sound of dialogue from the other children in the playground. Two more titles appear as she confronts the bully. The production company credits are shown first and then the actor/actresses names are shown after. Their names are shown as it entices the audience as they may know the actor/actress from other films they are in, making them possible want to watch the film purely because they are in it.

A series of shot reaction shots is then used throughout their argument. These are used as it shows the audience who is talking and their facial expressions which show their anger and reactions to what each other is saying. As the boy goes to punch the female character the editing pace gets faster to keep up with the action. This makes it more exciting for the audience and also shows how fast the girl is reacting, for example when she dodges his punch, making him hit the wooden pillar instead. A sound effect is used here to enhance the sound of his fist hitting the wood, making it more dramatic. A close up is used to show the female character stamping on the boys foot. The reason they have used a close up is to show the power behind her foot and the significant of her move to her winning the fight. The non diegetic music is still playing but very quietly.

After the girl has punched the bully, he falls to the floor and she stands above him. There is then a POV shot from the boy’s perspective, looking up at the girl. A low angled shot is used here as it makes the girl look more powerful. She is towering over him as she says “now get out of here”. A POV shot is used here as it involves the audience as we are put into the bully’s shoes, seeing what he is seeing. There is then a cut to a shot showing the boy lying on the ground and clutching his nose as he runs away. Another credit comes up showing the name of a second actor. There is then a close up showing the girl picking up the paper that the bully screwed up and threw on the ground. A close up is used here to show that she is picking up the paper, showing it’s importance. She then stands up and faces the young boy who was being bullied and comforts him. Her dialogue here again makes her a likable character to the audience. The non-diegetic music, diegetic sound of the other child and the diegetic sound of dialogue continues throughout these shots.

Another shot reaction shot sequence is then used as the young girl is talking to the boy. Her sweetness and kind words make her even more likable to the audience we almost forget that she’s just been in a fight, something a stereotypical, sweet young girl would not do. She carries on talking to the boy and the audience expect him to be thankful for her help, however the shot reaction shots reveal that his facial expressions tell a different story. He looks angry at what she is saying and shouts at her for helping him. A close up of her face shows her reaction as her face slowly turns from caring to anger.

There is a quick cut to a two shot-mid shot as she swings her arm back and punches him in the nose. In this shot she is stood up tall whereas he is bent over, again showing her power and showing she is superior to the other characters. The camera cuts further away, showing the boy run away from the girl as the title of the film appears on screen in the same font and colour scheme as the other titles. There is the diegetic sound of the boys footsteps as he runs away as well as the noise from the surrounding play area. There is also the diegetic sound of dialogue as she shouts “Wimp” at the boy as he runs away. She moves forward to lean on the metal bar and the camera cuts to a close up of her face. This shows her facial expression, revealing her feelings to the audience. The screen then fades into the next shot of an older woman wearing the same glasses as the young girl. Both the over lapping fade and the glasses create a link between the two characters for the audience. The audience realises that the woman is in fact the young girl grown up. As this realization occurs, the non diegetic music gets louder but fades into a more sophisticated tune that fits the theme of the next shot and the older character.