Analysing Film Openings - Little Miss Sunshine

Little Miss Sunshine

All throughout the two minutes there’s non-diegetic music playing in the background. It first begins quite loud so that you can gather that it has quite a happy bouncy feel to it, but also it has a feeling of anticipation and eagerness. This is likely to be portraying the girl’s emotions as she is clearly the main character. The music is the first thing you take in as it starts with a black screen with only the music playing, so the viewers would take the music into account more. When the scene begins, the music quietens down more, this is so you can hear the other sounds happening at that time in the movie, like the television in the background for example.  The lighting gives some clues as to what atmosphere this film is going to have, because it is a bright and colourful lighting the mood would be upbeat.    

At the beginning of the movie there is an extreme close up of the girl’s face, specifically her eyes, so that the viewers are able to see the transfixed expression on her face, so that we also now know she is a significant character in the movie. In the shot the girl is wearing glasses and in the reflection you can see the television screen. This is effective as the audience can tell why she is so focused and it tells us that she is very interested in what is on the TV. Soon after this shot it changes into a POV shot of the TV screen to show more clearly what she is watching. It is clear to us that whatever is on the television screen is of importance as it has a close up of it and also because it keeps changing from the little girl’s face to the TV screen to show how focused she is and that she is watching the TV.

After that it goes into a mid shot of the girl. This is so we can get a good look at the girl herself and also have a view of her surroundings, it appears that she was in her house which seemed to be quite a plain and empty house, signalling that her family does not have so much money and so they can’t afford many luxuries. It then goes back to that lady and she had the same positioning as the girl in the previous shot, so this is a graphic match which makes the transition from one screen to another smoother.

The costume of the little girl suggest that she is not of a high class as wearing a top and sweatpants are stereotypically not normally worn by someone who has a lot of money to spend on nicer clothes. This is a big contrast as to what the lady on the television is wear as she has a fancy dress on and a tiara on, also her hair is styled to make her look presentable. Unlike the girl who only has it tied up in a ponytail. This is effective as it shows you how far-fetched the idea of that girl becoming like the woman is, even though she clearly admires her as she is mimicking her movements as if she was the woman herself. Also another way they have made it seem like the girl is not like that woman is that they have chosen an actor that is a little bit overweight for her age making it seem like she doesn’t take care of herself and is also lazy. A way they have made her look overweight is by using a low angle on her because then it look like she is bigger than she actually is. Also the glasses normally connote geek and so by giving her some glasses that automatically feel that she is a geeky girl.

Later on we hear the voiceover of a man speaking; the voiceover is non-diegetic as it is sound that the girl on screen is not able to hear it. However when we move onto the next shot it is of the man speaking and so it changes from a non-diegetic sound to a diegetic one. This is effective in making the transition from one shot to another a lot smoother.

The man is clearly a business man as he is in a meeting room delivering a presentation to an audience; we see it is a meeting room as the camera angle becomes a mid-shot and an establishing shot. The lights and colours in this part go duller and gray, this gives the feeling of a boring and serious atmosphere, which is a contrast to the last scene when it was bright and vibrant.

The lighting in this film is brightly coloured and warm, the light brown walls makes it feel homely and welcoming. Having the lighting so bright tells the viewers that this film is intending to be a light hearted on with no intention of a horror or a lot of violence. When the camera is turned on the television screen the colour go a bit duller and more blurred, this is so we know that it is no longer filming directly, but filming a screen. 

Like most films, this one starts off with title slides to show what companies have made this film. The music at this point is non-diegetic, there is a sound of a drum roll, this is a lead up to the actual film and it makes you feel anticipation and excitement about the film starting.

This shot is an extreme close up of the main character to show the emotion in her eyes and also to show the main features of the girl, for example the glasses seem to be significant in this shot. Another thing I find effective in this shot is the fact that you are able to see the reflection of the TV screen on her glasses. The lighting is so that half of her face is light up and half is hidden, this makes it seem there is a window in the room and this makes the shot more authentic and less like a set.

When she looks at the TV screen it turns into a POV shot of two women, therefore making it a two shot. This makes it seem that there is some kind of relationship between the women. However it seems like it is trying to favour the woman on the right as she is in a brighter light and higher than the other one. This shot is also a shallow focus, the women in the background are very blurred and less significant than the ones in the front, this is so that the attention is on those two ladies and the others are of less importance.

This is a close up to show the extreme emotions on the lady and how excited she is to have won the pageant, it is also a close up so that the viewer know to look at her as nothing else is of importance right at that moment in time.

We then cut back to the little girl, but now it is in a mid-shot, we then get an idea of what her house look like, it is uninteresting and plain, which could be because of a shortage of money. This also allows us to see more of the girl and we can now see what she is wearing so we get a better understanding of the girl.

This is a close up to show the extreme emotions on the lady and how excited she is to have won the pageant, it is also a close up so that the viewer know to look at her as nothing else is of importance right at that moment in time.

When she looks at the TV screen it turns into a POV shot of two women, therefore making it a two shot. This makes it seem that there is some kind of relationship between the women. However it seems like it is trying to favour the woman on the right as she is in a brighter light and higher than the other one. This shot is also a shallow focus, the women in the background are very blurred and less significant than the ones in the front, this is so that the attention is on those two ladies and the others are of less importance.

This too is a mid shot but at a different angle so you can see her face more and see what actions she is doing. This is important for the next shot as it has a graphic match.

This is a graphic match to the last shot and this helps make the changing of the shot smooth. Also it is a POV shot again and because it changes over so many times it makes us believe this character is the significant role in the film.

It then cuts to a different location with a new main character, we can tell he is a main character because the shot is a close up of him and that is all we can see. It is also a shallow focus as the background is not important.

My last screen shot is an establishing shot, we see it is a meeting room with a presentation taking place, we get to see the man in more detail and we can see he is in quite a formal outfit, telling us he is a man that is in business of some sort.

I thought watching this opening was really useful to learn how to make an opening that's light-hearted and unexpected but isn't full on slapstick comedy. I think the filmmakers did this by the way they showed us information. For example it works well to start with the girl's face and actions and then see what she is watching, as that comes as a bit of a surprise. We could maybe use this technique. There was also a good lesson about how to move from scene to scene - we have lots ofd scene changes in our opening and we need to make them smooth. Using a sound bridge is a good idea.