Analysis of the Opening Sequence of Clueless
The film “Clueless”, written and directed by Amy Heckerling in 1995,
is an adaptation of Jane Austen’s early 19th century novel “Emma”. In
order to translate the insular world of the provincial English town
into a modern scenario, Heckerling hit upon the modern American high
school, with its cliques and rituals. Although it appeals to a larger
audience, the target audience is the teenage generation and with this
in mind, Heckerling entertains us whilst successfully communicating
her views.
The film set the trend for a number of “teen movies” with its witty
satire of the superficiality of the American “MTV” generation and its
genre has been adopted by more modern films like “American Pie 2” and
“Mean Girls”.
The opening sequence of Clueless sets the scene beautifully and
immediately takes the audience into the world of the film’s main
character Cher. The film has the briefest of introductions with the
“Paramount” logo appearing simultaneously with the soundtrack, “Kids
in America”, being played over it. This breaks with tradition as this
logo, which is normally presented with sedate music or is in total
silence, is here included in the main body of the film. It is followed
by the film’s title in daring and colourful letters, in a pop up style
font. The way the producers have set out everything, it suggests that
they want to grab your attention, with the title graphics, but only
for a split second. They do not want any interruptions!
The first scene is short montage of Cher and her way of life e.g.
shopping, partying etc. It is filmed in a “hand- held” style with lots
of jerky m...
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...impression that the people are
listening but when the camera turns there is huge lack of interest
from the other students but Cher is wrapped in her own ego and isn’t
aware. There is a cut away shot of the teacher whose puzzled
expression speaks for itself. When it is finally over the pupils cheer
at the Statue of Liberty remark- the director is satirising. Cher
places her chewing gum back into mouth and at that point you notice
even that is colour coordinated to match her outfit. The “C” in her
report card reflects her debating ability.
Although, I can’t say from the opening sequence how the plot will
develop, the character of Cher is spoilt, self- centred and shallow
and can only improve. Clueless is not my type of film and from what I
have seen at the beginning, I would not necessarily choose to view the
rest!
Braff himself has a warm, easy-to-watch screen presence. He can say nothing during the lull in a conversation, while the camera remains focused on his face, and it feels right. Portman and Sarsgaard are also genuine, each wonderfully relaxed in their roles. Production design is superb: details in every scene are arranged well, and the photography, by Lawrence Sher, is - like the story and the acting – unpretentious, never distracting, tricky or cute. This film never seems to manipulate us; instead it engages us, arouses our curiosity and amusement, bids us gently to care about Andrew and Sam and even Mark, leaving us entertained in the best sense. This movie is as confident, as secure in itself, as comforting, as a well worn pair of house slippers or your favorite reading chair. A splendid film. Grade: A- (09/04)
The word “bias” has always had a negative connotation. Although it is used synonymously with bigotry and prejudice, its meaning is actually more akin to “point of view,” “personal tendency,” or “preference.” Just as every individual has her own worldview, so she has a set of biases. These biases are often observable in a person’s habits, speech, and, perhaps most explicitly, writings. Daniel Boorstin, renowned University of Chicago professor, historian, author, and librarian of Congress, is undeniably biased towards certain cultures in The Discoverers. A book chronicling mankind’s scientific history, its first words are “My hero is Man the Discoverer.” In his telling of “man’s search to know his world and himself,” Boorstin declares that
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was a spectacular film there were some things that I did not enjoy like, the
For this assignment, I have chosen to review the paper called “Silence on the BART Train: The Urban Passenger as a Situational Identity”. This student was looking into why people tend not to talk to each other or doing any form of socializations when taking the BART. The study venue was the BART, and the identities that were studied were normal people taking the BART, who were called “urban passengers” who abstains from any social interaction.
The main purpose of In Cold Blood by Truman Capote is to offer insight into the minds of the murderers of the Clutter family, Dick and Perry. However, asking an audience to be open-minded about men who have committed such heinous crimes is no easy task. Capote instead methodically and rather artfully combines imagery, parallel structure, and perspective in two separate passages found between pages 107-113 to contribute to his characterization of Perry and Dick where the former is deserving of sympathy and the latter, disgust.
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Amy Heckerling’s movie Clueless focuses on an upper middle class 16-year-old girl, Cher, who lives in a nice neighborhood with her father and stepbrother, Josh. Cher and her friend, Dionne, take in a new girl, Tai, to help her fit into their high school. All of the major characters in the movie are in adolescence, which ranges from 10-19 years of age. In adolescence, teenagers undergo cognitive and emotional development. According to Piaget’s cognitive developmental theory, adolescents are in formal operational period from 11-20 years of age. During this period, adolescents develop abstract thinking and rational decision making. They experience two aspects of adolescent egocentrism, imaginary audience
After climbing the tree Scho found a place where several supple branches were knit to make a dangerous chair, and sat there with his head coming out of the leaves into the sunlight. He could see the other two boys down below, the ball going back and forth between them as if they were bowling on the grass, and Glennie’s crew-cut head looking like a sea urchin.
As Dill drank the Coca-Cola from my sack, the look on Scout’s face made me both amused, and a little offended. Everyone automatically just assumes I’m drunk all the time, and that's the way I want it. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I'm a fan of being drunk. But if everyone thought that, they wouldn't judge me for what I do. I hang out with negoes all the time. And the look I get from people when they see me with my family, is as if I have committed a sin. What if, I have a coloured wife and mixed children. They’re people too. Of course, the white folks treat the coloured folks as if they’re trash. If I seem drunk all the time, people would just blame my behaviour on my state of intoxication. I find myself beginning to explain myself to Scout
However, I feel that the producer and director of this movie did a good job
...r, this movie is lack of depth of storyline. The audiences can even predict what will happen in the next scenes. Moreover, the ending of this movie is too cheesy and irrational according to me. If only they change the ending to become more interesting and rational, I will give a four or five stars out of five. In spite of a lame twist ending, this movie is a perfect example to show that managers should be able to motivate and challenge their employee. It is important to remember that a happy employee means a productive employee.
An element provoking the deepest curiosity and suspense within the reader, foreshadowing, is used prominently throughout the course of the novel, The Giver. As the novel progresses, Jonas’s desires to meet the new, colorful world in his imagination intensifies, along with, in proportion, his curiosity to know more about the new world. Moreover, Jonas lives in a tightly guarded, strictly scheduled community where all is picture-perfect. With Jonas’s new desires accompanied by thought-provoking insights and unknown perils , the reader experiences a strong sense of suspense fashioned by the sole question of how Jonas will achieve to meet his increasingly intensifying desire. These and various other incorporations of foreshadowing are also demonstrated
In my own opinion I think this film is great. I think this because it
Being an immigrant with a cultural identity crisis is never an easy task. Adjusting to a new country or even a new continent can be rough for the even the toughest of people. Sarfraz Manzoor was only two years old when he immigrated to Britain in 1974. In the memoir Greetings from Bury Park by Sarfraz Manzoor, Manzoor, now inheriting the British nationality along with his Muslim ethnicity, struggles in his lifestyle with fitting in with his new country. The Pakistani hero is in a time of consistent trials as he discovers his true identity. When he faces these trials and tribulations, he explores new experiences that reflect on his character. When he was sixteen, he was introduced to Bruce Springsteen's music that changes his outlook on life. Throughout the memoir, the readers follow Manzoor's footsteps and sympathize with him as he journeys to find his place in the world. Manzoor is in constant struggle to find whether he should be considered Muslim or British. In the end of the memoir, we can see that Manzoor, with an obvious help from Bruce Springsteen's music and his constant trips to America, finds the identity that he wants to be considered.