The document provides a detailed summary of the opening scenes of the film "Miss Congeniality". It analyzes various film techniques used such as shots, camera angles, editing, sound, and their purpose. In the opening, logos are shown to establish production companies and expectations. It then shows a young girl in 1982 reading in the park who witnesses and stops a bullying situation in a surprising way through fighting. This establishes her as unlike the stereotypical girl through her courage and skills. The end reveals she has grown into the main character, transitioning the film's time period and tone.

1. Miss Congeniality

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.