The opening sequence of the film "LOL" establishes the genre as a coming-of-age comedy through a montage that shows the main character Miley Cyrus navigating high school romance and friendship. Through point-of-view shots and mid shots of Miley and her friends, the sequence introduces the protagonist and suggests she is popular. Miley provides voice over throughout to further establish her character. Elements like smartphone use, school materials, modern clothing, and a high school setting signal to the audience that the film will focus on the lives of American teenage students.

1. Opening
Sequence
analysis…
“In a world connected
by Facebook, twitter
and YouTube, Miley
Cyrus stars as a teen girl
navigating through the
peer pressures of high
school romance and
friendship while
dodging her protective
mother (Demi Moore),
in the fresh coming-of-
age comedy LOL”
“YOU CAN CHANGE
YOUR STATUS, BUT NOT
YOUR HEART”

2. A typical
convention at the
beginning of an
opening
sequence to any
film is to start it
by advertising

3. The opening sequence opens with an panoramic
establishing shot, which shows the audience where the film
is set.

4. Editing
In the opening sequence of ‘LOL’ a montage edit
is used, which clearly establishes the genre of the
film and because they used a voice over
throughout the opening sequence it instantly tells
the audience who the main protagonist is (Miley
Cyrus), she has a noticeable voice and will easily
be recognised especially by the target audience.
The montage edit shows a typical busy scene
which you would expect to see at a high school, it
shows the main protagonist with her friends and
boyfriend, so straight away it is giving the
audience an idea of what the story line is. This is
a really good sequence because it tells the
audience a lot about the characters and their
personalities. From this montage opening
sequence the viewer will learn that the main
protagonist is a middle class American teenager

5. Camerawork
The opening sequence is really good at establishing the genre of the film
and who the main character is, which is one of the main generic
conventions of opening sequences. In the opening sequence there is a lot
of point of view shots (POV) which allows the audience to see what exactly
is going on as if they was there themselves. It also allows them to see the
location and characters so they will easily know what genre the film is.
There was also quite a lot of mid shots of the main character and her
friends, which suggests she is a popular character. There are 2 shots of
her and her boyfriend which suggests the relationship is serious because
there is only them two in the shot also it suggests that her boyfriend may
be a main character.

6. Mise en scene
The Mise en scene in the opening sequence is to tell the audience what theme/genre the film is.
Lighting
In the opening sequence of LOL the lighting is bright and natural, which connotes that the film will be light hearted
and fun to watch.
Iconography
There are many different types of iconography in the opening sequence of LOL which tells the audience what
genre/theme the film is.
For example
Most of the characters are seen to be using smart phones which suggest the film is based around social media
lovers who are usually teenagers.
The characters all seem to be holding school books and journals, which connotes the film is based around a school
and teenagers.
Clothing
The characters are all dressed in modern, chilled out clothes, the clothes they are wearing look like typical
American student clothes, which connotes that the film is new and based around the lives of teenage students. It
shows the audience straight away that the genre of this film is ‘coming of age’.
Location
The opening sequence opens with an panoramic establishing shot of a well known city in America, which shows
the audience where the film is set. It then goes straight to the second location which is the high school, this
connotes the film is aimed at teenagers and that it is a ‘coming of age’ film.
Acting codes
It is supper easy to tell the genre/theme of this movie by the characters acting codes. They are acting young, fun,

7. Sound
There is a sound track used during the opening sequence which is
totally suitable because it is “Everybody” by Ingrid Michaelson. This is
played when you can see all the different characters have an insight
on their friendships and their relationships. When the lyrics finish the
backing track keeps playing in the background a few seconds after
you can hear a non- digetic voice over of the main character who
introducers her friends and boyfriend to the audience, the voice over
finishes when she introduces herself to the audience. During the
opening sequence even though there is a non- diegetic track been
played and a voice over you can always here the ambient sound in
the background of general chatter, gossip and laughter which is
typical for in a high school. It is appropriate and links well with the

8. Backstory
Many opening sequences include a backstory
which gives the audience some information as to
what has happened in the past, which helps them
understand the rest of the film. However this
convention is not used in LOL’s opening
sequence and the main story just begins from
beginning and normally. On the other hand
moments are showed which seem like important