6. Nine frame analysis

Nine frame analysis of the film '16 wishes'

1. This is the first shot in the opening sequence. It is a long shot of the main characters room which establishes the setting and location. The typography is important in this shot as the title of the film is shown. The choice of font here hints at the narrative of the film. The '16' in the title is made to look like birthday candles, suggesting that it is, or soon will be, the main characters 16th birthday. The fact that the word 'wishes' is in quite a standard font and is a dark blue colour makes me think that wishes are perhaps not a good thing in the film. 

 2. This shot is a close up of the main character. You can see clearly see her appearance and that she is asleep. Having a young teenage girl as the main character is a convention of a teen comedy. In this particular frame (along with frame 6) the mise en scene is kept simple. There is just the main character in quite a standard single bed. This keeps your attention on her facial expression. 

3. The cameras then go around her room and zoom in on different features. For example, in this frame there is a close up of a scrapbook. This tells you a bit more about the main character such as her hobbies and the boy that you assume she likes.

4. Another thing in her room that has a close up on is this new driver handbook. This shows that the character is learning to drive. This links the 16th birthday idea to the main character as 16 is the age that you start learning to drive in the US. 

5. The cinematography in this shot is a close up of an alarm clock. This corresponds with the sound of the alarm going off. This shows that 7:00 was the time her alarm was set for which means she most likely has school to go to.

6. This is a similar camera shot as frame 2 except from a different angle. Again it focuses the audiences attention on her facial expression, which is now of her looking at her alarm clock. As well as the pore strip on her nose possibly being funny to some viewers, it also fits the main character to the conventions of the main character in teen comedies. They are usually always trying to improve themselves and clearly this character is trying to improve her appearance.

7. This shot is of the main character smiling. The performance of this actress shows us that the main character is excited about just having turned 16 years old. Having the film based on her 16th birthday is a convention of a teen comedy. They often start on an important event such as the first day of school or a birthday.

8. This frame introduces some of the other main characters. Along with the dialogue in the film, this shows that the girl lives with her mum, dad and brother. They are clearly wishing her a happy birthday. However, as this camera angle puts us in the position of the main character, these characters seem very close and 'in your face'. This explains the characters reaction to her family in the next frame... 

9. Here you can see that the main character feels a bit smothered by her family and doesn't like it. Her facial expression and body language shows she is not happy about them being in her room. This may have been done so some viewers of the film can relate to the main character.

Doing this Nine frame analysis has given me some inspiration for my own opening sequence. In mine I  plan to show the main character waking up on the first day of her new school. As a similar situation to this occurs in this film opening, I can use some of the same cinematography and mise en scene to achieve a similar atmosphere. Another thing I have learnt from this analysis that the audience is able to make links between different things that are shown. Such as linking the New driver handbook to the fact that the main character is turning 16. I could use this in my film opening if I want to discreetly give out any extra information about the main character.