Case study
2: 10 things I hate about you
My second case study is 10
Things I Hate About You, directed by Gil Junger, a 1999 American teen
romantic comedy film. In this clip we see new student Cameron being shown
around the school by Michael who will soon become his best friend. During his
tour Cameron sees Bianca, a beautiful popular girl who isn’t allowed to date. She
is way out of his league but he embarks on a journey to get closer to her. The
target audience is teenagers as the film is shot in a high school which
consists of live action throughout. A Linear narrative structure is used and
each character has a different dialect which helps portray the type of person
they are. For example, Kat would talk a lot about women’s rights and frowns
upon many boys which suggest she is a feminist. In contrast, Joey would
constantly talk about how good looking he is and his modelling career which
implies he is self-centred and arrogant.
The main
theme explored in this film is love and the different types of love. For
example, Cameron and Bianca share that stereotypical puppy love where Cameron
is head over heels in love with Bianca. This is shown through the medium long
shot as Bianca walks past with her friend and Cameron is in the background
staring at her in amazement. Another type of love shown in this film is the
type that Kat and Patrick share, this love hate relationship. The use of shot
reverse shot shows them having a conversation but Kat’s facial expressions make
it clear that she is not interested.
Characters in the film are represented in a true light as
their image matches up to their personalities. Bianca is a popular girl who is
always on trend wearing bright clothing to show her bubbly persona. She is
different to most popular girls as she is friendly and not afraid to make
friends with ‘unpopular’ people. This is shown through a long shot when she is
walking through the corridor and smiles and Cameron, suggesting she is
friendly. Kat on the other hand often
dresses in dark full grunge like clothing; and is rebellious as she gets sent
out of class. Kat’s character challenges the stereotypes of girls in high
school and this is shown through a long shot of a car filled with girls
giggling listening to pop music, when Kat’s car pulls up, loud indie music
blasts as she stares with a moody face. Many girls in high school look forward
to social events such as prom whereas Kat is seen as anti social when she rips
down the poster for prom. When talking about romance in class, Kat interrupts
and gives her opinion on men and romance. It is made clear from the beginning
that she is a feminist and has very strong opinions. Cameron is a shy
new student who is well mannered and casually dressed like a stereotypical
teenager in jeans and a shirt. The eye match shot shows contrast between
Patrick and Cameron as it shows one character with confidence and one without. Michael
is Cameron’s nerdy friend who is wearing a buttoned up shirt and laughs at his
own jokes which suggest he is not funny at all and is actually quite lame.
The teachers in the school are represented in an unethical
way as they use lexis such as “shit”, “bitch” and “pissing me off”. The use of
informal language suggests teachers in this high school do not take their jobs
very seriously. The head teacher is smartly dressed in a suit and pearls,
however her unprofessional behaviour and informal language does not match her appearance
as she does not act like a stereotypical teacher. This connotes the school is
dysfunctional. As Michael is giving Cameron the tour he spots Bianca. The
background noise of students talking amongst themselves stops and non diegetic
sound which is relevant to the audience begins to play. Slow soothing music
starts as Cameron says “oh my god” and begins to follow Bianca. He stutters when he talks
about her beauty, almost like love at first sight. The use of the medium long
shot shows two cool boys (Joey and his friend) in contrast to two nerdy boys
(Michael and Cameron) and the popular girls are in the middle. This implies
they are in a love triangle. The idea I can take from this film and use
in my own is the ending where the quiet boy finally gets to be with the popular
girl. I could also use the camera angles where by the nerdy boy is gazing at
the popular girl from a distance.
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