Analyzing the Frilm Ten Things I Hate About You

Analyzing the Frilm Ten Things I Hate About You

Analyse the first ten minutes of the film. How do the first ten

minutes give us information about the setting, characters and genre of

the film? How is it designed to appeal to the target audience?

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The first ten minutes introduce us to all the main characters, and

give us an idea of their personality and role in the plot. It suggests

the plot to us, and gives a basic outline, without giving too much

away. It clearly demonstrates who its target audience is, and aims its

setting, language, humour and format accordingly.

The opening credits immediately let the viewer know the film is

light-hearted, and not intellectual, by using brightly coloured

writing. It almost looks like graffiti, a mainly teenage interest,

which suggests it is aimed at teenagers. This idea is backed up by the

music playing (Barenaked Ladies - One Week) which is chart music, also

mainly aimed at teenagers. So, by using text and music, the director

has already established his target audience, and the basic genre of

the film. Behind the credits, the establishing shot is of a scribbled

sketch of a cityscape, in a style similar to that of a picture in the

back of a school exercise book. This is a pastime, like graffiti,

which the target audience, can strongly identify with. The sketch then

becomes a filmed cityscape, and it uses this to let us know the basic

setting. We can see it is Seattle because of the Space Needle, an

internationally recognized landmark. The camera sweeps across to a

panning shot of the neighbourhood. It shows a pleasant, sub...

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...e viewer

know he's a rebel, and doesn't care about the consequences.

Kat's interview with Ms. Perky reinforces what we discovered in the

previous scene - that she is cleverer than the teachers, as she gives

Ms. Perky inspiration for her novel. Ms. Perkys' first words are

'Terrorising Mr. Morgan's class again?' showing that they meet

regularly for this reason.

The first ten minutes really establish Kat's character, and introduce

us to the other main characters - Patrick, Bianca, Joey, Cameron and

Michael. We know it's set in high school, and aimed at people roughly

the same age as the characters in the film, and slightly younger, so

they can aspire to become them. The film uses jokes on authority

figures, a setting they'll empathize with, and characters they'll

aspire to become, to appeal to the target audience.