Semiotic Analysis of Riona & Adel's Final Cut

I performed a semiotic analysis of another student's rough cut of their film opening. This allowed me to practice semiotically analyzing film openings/clips. This is the comment that I left on the student's blog:

"In terms of mise-en-scene, there is a use of props, when creating the titles such as the pillow with the production company name on it, and the cereal layed out to present the actors name. In the bedroom scene, there is some artwork/art books on the floor, which gives an indication about her character.

The diegetic-sound of the alarm on the phone ringing is very effective in signifying that she is a teenage girl (white iPhone) and that she is waking up in order to go to school.

There are some interesting camera angles and quite a lot of variety. One very effective shot is a high-angle shot of the male character getting out of bed and pulling the covers off. The low-angle shot of the same character brushing his teeth is also very interesting and effective. The low angle shots of both character's feet on screen together is also excellent in portraying the fact that the two characters are linked or will be linked later on in the film.

The representation of the characters is presented mainly through their costume and props, but also through their way of speaking/acting.

The blond character that we have been following is represented as studious and creative, due to the art books on the floor in her bedroom, she is also portrayed as intelligent as she answers a question in class. The binary opposition of this character are the three girls, their clothes and bags are girly (pink, stylish) and they are shown as popular as they are sitting with other people in the classroom, unlike the blond character, who is sitting alone.

These three girls are also an intertextual reference to the rom-com Mean Girls, which is clearly established in the scene where they first appear and slow-motion is used.

This film opening uses a lot of very effective editing techniques, that feature very frequently in this particular genre. These editing techniques are things such as layering between scenes/characters, which is very effective at the beginning to suggest a link or connection between the two characters. The pink cloud used when the three girls appear is very effective in showing their girly characters but also their significance in the film. Slow motion (again, when the three girls appear) but also fast-forward, when the blond character is going down the spiral staircase are very characteristic of the rom-com genre, and help establish it."