1. Ferris Bueller’s Day off- Film Opening analysis-
For this task we started by watching the first 5 minutes of ‘Ferris Bueller’s day off’ this
was to pick out technical elements that have been put it to give us an idea of what
the film is about and what genre it is.
Firstly we see the name of the film ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’ this is shown in blue
writing on a black background, the writing font is also bubble writing. Along with this
style of writing and the sound of the radio in the background and the mother
speaking this suggest that the film is going to be a happy film (comedy). You are
then shown an establishing shot of a large classic American house with 3 cars on the
drive suggesting to the audience that the owners are hard working well off people.
You then see a shot of Ferris lying in bed, and you can almost tell instantly that he is
blagging to his parent that he is ill so that he doesn’t have to go to school. You then
see a shot of his parents for the first time. The costumes they are wearing also help
imply to the audience that they have money due to the formal clothing such as a suit
the parents are wearing. The diegetic sound of the household tells us that this going
to be a family based humorous film.
For the whole 2 minutes that witch you see Ferris in bed faking to be ill to his parent
he distinctively show the audience that he is lying suggesting the humorous factor of
the film. He is also being very sarcastic to everyone in the scene especially his sister
who comes in complaining shortly after the parents enter. The fact that he is doing
this to his sister shows the audience that she know that he is lying and that this may
not be the first time he has done this. One example is when he is winking at his sister
behind his parents trying to aggravate her. Whilst this is happening in the bottom
corner they have also introduced the cast names and director to suggest their
importance in the films production.
You then know through the cinematography used that the parents adore Ferris and
not so much his sister this is shown when the mother turns around and there is a
medium close up of the mother looking at the daughter with disapproval. You then
see a close up of the sister to emphasise her anger with Ferris. The fact that he then
brags it even further by sly comments help further to suggest the audience this film
is a comedy.
Then after the sister leave the scene non diegetic music gradually comes in when
there is a shot of Ferris looking at his mother sadly to make her believe him further.
This music is very calm and soothing whilst he tells his parent how good they are to
suggest his obvious acting of being ill. His parents then leave the room and Ferris
waits and then there is a medium close up of Ferris checking if his parent have gone
he then looks straight at the camera to suggest he is looking at the audience this is a
2. technique called breaking the fourth wall this is an effective tool to show the
audience it’s a comedy. This technique is used in many comedy films. He then looks
at the camera and says ‘They brought it’ this effective use of dialogue instantly
suggest he was lying about his illness witch suggest the humour even further. This
also suggest that Ferris is going to be a cheeky, confident character giving the
audience ideas of what could happen during this film. Most of the sounds in the
opening scene were diegetic showing the realistic family household.
There is then a sudden change of music to suggest the change from the innocent ill
child to the out-going cheeky teenager. This music change emphasises the character
change. This work well with the snappy shot used in the part of the scene as it
implies the excitement of Ferris. Also an effective use of light has been used from
dark to light to also suggest this character change.
This opening scene uses many techniques such as camera shots, lighting, dialogue
and editing to suggest to the audience what to expect from the film.
