10 Things I Hate About You (Opening)

0:00-1:50

Distributor: Touchstone Pictures

Sound:

Non-diegetic sound is heard from the very beginning of the film, when the Touchstone logo is seen. This immediately addresses that the target audience are teenagers, as the music heard is an upbeat song which the young girls in the blue car recognise and dance to, showing that it is popular amongst this age group. Another non-diegetic song is used when the camera pans to another car that is also waiting at the same crossing as the blue car. The song heard here is ‘Bad Reputation’, which implies that this girl is different to the other characters, which is emphasised by their judging faces.

Editing and Framing:

Straight cuts are used throughout the opening, creating a sense of verisimilitude. They have also been used to show the difference between the girls in the blue car and the girl in the red car. This helps emphasise how different the female character in the red car is and gives a sense of her being an outcast as she is on her own. The style of framing used in this scene also implies the girl in the red car is a loner, as nearly half of the frame is taken up by the empty seats of the car, compared to the framing of the blue car being full with characters.

Camera Shots and Movements:

Mid-shots are used to show the reactions of the group of girls in the blue car when the female character in the red car pulls up alongside them. This again reinforces the idea that she has a reputation for being different as they all seem appalled that she is so close to them. Another example of a mid-shot used is when the red car owner pulls down the prom poster at school. This is unusual to see a teenage girl do, as many young girls are stereotypically represented as dreaming about the prom since being a child. Tracking is used before she tears down the poster, which gives the impression that she is going to be an important part of the narrative. A long shot is used to show the city that the film is set in and gives the audience a location of the characters which allows them to relate easier. A pan is used to reveal a more suburban area in the city that the characters live in, allowing the audience to automatically have expectations of the types of characters they will see. Another setting is shown through the use of a tilt. This camera movement reveals a school, which is a stereotypical setting that is used frequently in teen romantic comedies.

Mise en scene:

A contrast of the characters is shown through costume in the opening of the film. The girls in the blue car are all wearing light colours, with the driver wearing a flowery top. This connotes them to be feminine and free, which is representative of their age and stereotypical of teenage female characters. However, the girl in the red car is wearing a black cardigan with a dark top. This has connotations of her being close-off and mysterious, which again shows her to be an outsider to the rest of the characters. High key lighting is used to give a natural and realistic feel to the film, which also helps the audience believe the characters are real people.

Titles:

The titles begin from the very beginning of the film, and are first seen against a black screen. This highlights the bright colours of green and blue used in the text seen, which immediately gives a less serious feel to the opening. The font is also very rough looking and could also be implied to be handwritten, which links to the teen genre and target audience. When the screen begins to show footage of the city and the school, the titles appear in the middle of the screen, in the same blue and green colours. This keeps a theme throughout the opening. When action is taking place, such as the car scene, the titles do not appear on screen. This allows the audience to not get distracted and instead focuses the attention on what is happening in the scene.