Analysis of Scott Pilgrim VS the World

        There is a beginning scene which sets the atmosphere and immediately tries to appeal to it's target audience of around older teenagers 15-24 (the most popular audience) before any titles appear. The genre is established as an indie rom-com because it does not show the conventions of typical rom-coms such as a film like The Princesses Diaries. The main character, Scott, is comical and also well known which encourages a larger audience and his humorous action such as offering to take his girlfriend's coat and then dropping it onto the floor, creates an appeal to a comic audience. Many of the shots are mid angle, only showing the upper body of character's suggesting a more rom-com style. However the camera appears to never stay stationary for very long as it pans to different character's remarks. The mise-en-scene of the room deviates from conventional rom-coms and so is another indication towards a more indie film as the room is quite 'grubby' such as the light bulb hanging in the centre of the room, the lack of furniture and the brown colour scheme. As the band begin to play there are many cut ins to the character's playing their instruments and the opening also appears to act almost like a music video with such aspects as editing on the beat. The camera cuts to reaction shots of the two character's watching and then back to extreme close-ups of the playing. The opening particularly has many post-modern aspects as it has been edited to show lightening bolts appearing to connote the volume of sound and to emphasise the instruments. This post-modernism is also shown when a type of profile appears as a new character is introduced which informs the audience but also gives an indication of the disruption of realism in the apparent hyper-reality that has been created; also shown when the door bell rings and the words 'ding dong' appear next to the main character involved. 

       There are many dramatic camera shots which makes the pace of the sequences actually appear faster, representing the film's naïvety of characters and how it is aimed to be unconventional in a typical Hollywood feature. The band play their 'indie' music which appeals to an older teenage demographic and deviates from the usual pop music in rom-coms. The post modern aspect also continues as the camera dramatically zooms out and the establishing size of the room is changed, as it appears much longer and we see some titles appear as it zooms out. The camera then finally goes behind the sofa and the rule of thirds is applied as the figure of the girl is in the first third, then the band is shown in the centre and the other character is shown in the final third. This is still argued to be post-modern as the first appearance of the size of the room is shown to be incorrect and then the title is shown and the audience are aware of the hyper-reality as the two characters observing act as if they are with the audience.  

          The camera then pans down and whilst the band music is still playing the remaining titles appear with very vibrant images which cut very quickly creating a fast pace to maintain the teenage audience's attention. The shots mainly connote the indie genre with the music with more random images and patterns. The opening then ends with the character's finishing their song and the camera is placed behind the band, looking towards the two watching on the sofa as if waiting for approval. Throughout the scene the girlfriend has a blank but also shocked expression, leaving the audience unknown to the fact if she likes the band or not. As the girl finally speaks at the end after the fast paced shots there is a jump shot as she gives her final verdict that they are 'amazing' with a zoom to a close up of her face.

      This opening is very effective, unique and certainly appeals to a specific/more niche audience. The genre is established through the dramatic camera shots, the post-modern editing and the 'grubby' mise-en-scene. However I think that the music was one of the most effective factors of the opening which would have the biggest effect on the audience's wanting to view the remainder of the film. Therefore this is able to help us when creating our own ideas of to consider the vital impact which the music has on the overall representation of the opening to the film.