The
Inbetweeners, Ben Palmer (2011)
In the opening
scene of The Inbetweeners, the viewers get a chance to meet the four characters
(Will, Jay, Simon and Neil). These four main characters each represent a
different representation of a teenage boy stereotype. Will represents the
socially awkward and geeky stereotype, Jay represents the hormone crazed one,
Simon represents the obsession with girls and Neil represents the brainless and
simple minded/ carefree. Each of these stereotypes is backed up with the use of
different film techniques. This could persuade the target audience of teenagers
to watch the film as they will most likely have someone to relate to.
For Simon, the
sound of tears is heard and we see him crying on his bed after he gets dumped
by his girlfriend, also he doesn’t cry until he is alone – this could represent
the stereotype of men not wanting to show their emotions. Jay’s scene consists
of many sexual noises and one final shot of him without any clothes on. These
sounds are very comedic (especially towards the target audience) and will
therefore attract them. There is only a bit of music in the opening scene and
it is quite similar to the music which teenage boys are shown to listen to in
other films/forms of media. Will and Neil don’t have much to back up their
representation through sound, they do however in the way of camera shots.
Another example of this is within the Mean Girls trailer where the main
character’s mum is crying onto the main character’s shoulder. This could be
relatable to teenagers who have overprotective parents and works well together
with the use of the voice-over.
Once all of the
characters have been met, the title of the film is shown. This is quite simple
and could represent the simple-mindedness of Neil. It also has a cloudy
backdrop which could suggest that teenage boys have their heads in the clouds and
are unaware of the real world. This could attract an audience because of its
simplicity and sparking the viewer’s curiosity, however I believe that this
would be quite unlikely. The Mean Girls’ title is also very simple but is a
purple colour with a small amount of pink. Pink and purple are commonly
associated with girls and as such would be effective at attracting the film’s
main audience.
The camerawork is
a very important aspect for attracting the audience and creating the
characters. The best example of the camerawork defining a character is with
Will where one of the first scenes is a close-up of his face which reveals a
character who looks incredibly nerdy and follows the stereotypes of what a
geeky character should look like (Spotty, glasses and not very attractive).
This also works for Neil as a close-up of his face shows that he isn’t the
smartest person which is backed up by the shot of him dropping his cup as soon
as the clock changes - to signal that his work shift is over - and the mid shot
of him kissing his girlfriend. However, it is because of this that the audience
becomes so enticed to watch the remainder of the film – they instantly feel
connected to the characters. The very first scene is a high angle/panoramic
shot showing the area where the boys live. This may also attract the audience
because it shows that they are not too different from the target audience. The
camerawork in the opening scene of Mean Girls is not very exciting as 90% of
the camera-shots are close-ups and mid-shots to show the emotion on the
character’s faces which range from confusion with the main character to
excitement with the geeky girl and stupidity with the poor family.
The quick editing
between shots of characters makes it a lot easier to meet and connect with the
characters as we are able to skip between them quickly and get a deeper
understanding of what their life is like. To contrast the quick cuts between
shots, the scenes with will contain quite a few long takes which show the
different emotions which come over on Will’s face. This is especially relevant
when his dad begins kissing Wills, step-mum (who he did not know was his
step-mum until a few seconds prior). Altogether this adds a slightly more
comedic element to scenes which should be quite boring or disturbing in theory.
This is also shown in the opening scene of Mean Girls where the main character
is part of a voice over explaining to the audience how difficult it is to start
something new when people instantly relate you to a certain stereotype
associated with the situation (in this case, moving to a public school after
being home-schooled). The comedy comes in to play when scenes of
over-exaggerated home-school stereotypes appear on screen.
In conclusion,
the main way that The Inbetweeners tries to attract an audience is by relating
to its target audience through many different ways, but mainly using
representation to make its characters appealing to almost everyone it is aimed
at and to show that they are not too different.
