How does the director use media techniques to make the “Its a boy girl thing” opening sequence effective?
The mise-en-scene of the opening sequence to this film plays a huge role, as it gives us an insight of the target audience that it is aimed at. At first were presented with a blank background, followed by several sparks of lightning, which undoubtably is used to captivate the viewers by creating a mysterious atmosphere with the existence of low key lighting. The image of an eye and the first production company are also presented. Shortly after this, the second of three production companies appears on screen (Rocket Pictures), whereby a rocket travels around space in and out of planets and swerving stars. Already this creates a friendly feel to the teen film, possibly connoting that it is aimed more in the direction of boys as opposed to girls, due to the typical ‘boys are interested in rockets and cars’ stereotype.
Depicted after this are two characters who seem to be playing nicely, until one throws a rounded object at the head of the other, until they both disappear into a gush of smoke. As the object is thrown the characters falls over, portraying the humorous side of the sequence. After the disappearance of the two characters, they reappear and continue to be a nuisance - just as teenagers are towards one another. The director was very clever with this part of the sequence, making it relatable to capture the viewers attention that much more.
The opening scene to the narrative begins with an establishing shot of a house surrounded by trees. This gives the impression that whoever lives here has a huge back garden and a lot of space to play, again relating to the desires of a young person. However this is no normal establishing shot, as a visible part of the drawing from the previous action still remains on screen. Although this may seem like a continuity error to some, I presume that it was a deliberate attempt to reassure the audience that the fun was not due to stop after the characters had left. In fact the the humour had only just begun.
The establishing shot is edited to show for approximately five seconds, allowing for closer observation. It is night time and we hear the sound of a females voice reciting a part of Shakespeare's famous play - Romeo and Juliet. This play was also cleverly chosen, as Shakespeare is commonly studied in Britain in secondary school, which is around the age of the target audience. With this being said, most teenagers would be currently studying him and his work, or already have -consequently drawing them further into the narrative, as they have something in common with the character already.
An additional shot takes us into the females room, where we see her attempting to read whilst loud diegetic music is playing in the background. The colours of the room are very feminine, consisting mostly of different shades of pink and the odd hint of blue, colours that females are likely to enjoy. The director plays with real life situations and ‘struggles’ as some may call them, as the female is forced to attempt to ignore the racket in pursuit of her studies. He uses the stereotype that females are more hard-working than males in order to create effect.
Again this relates back to the previous action where the two cartoon characters were irritating each other. Could the director possibly have been insinuating that it is a male playing the loud music, as they do?
Throughout the opening sequence the text included was very bold and clear, allowing it to be easily read and interpreted by its anticipated young viewers. The title “Its a Boy Girl thing” was presented in light blue and light pink, very subtle colours, which are attractive to both genders. In regards to the editing, the female is framed in an acute high angle, showing her inferiority to the male who constantly annoys her throughout the narrative. Despite this, it seems as though she appears a lot more on screen than her rival, allowing the director to demonstrate the continuous embarrassment and suffering she is put through through different camera shots - more often than not, close-up shots of her face.
Overall, all of the factors mentioned above contribute to the effectiveness of the opening sequence of the film, by allowing the director to portray the life of two fairly normal teenagers. I believe the diegetic synchronous sound effects played one of the most significant roles in production of the film, as young people like to hear as well as see the action in a film in order to stay engaged for the duration.
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