Textual Analysis Of She's The Man
Media Language:
Scene starts with Viola the Protagnist walking to her house. She is listening to music on her headphones of which has been turned into an overall soundtrack in that scene, encourging us to identify with her. On the other hand, Monique is blocked out and we are encourged to alienate her as we are positioned in Viola's shoes. The lighting is natural light as at the start of the scene, it is shot outside. As we develop into the scene, the lighting is still natural. The sound on this part of the scene, is mainly the sound from the headphones. Which is diegetic sound, and the dialogue heard it also diegetic as it is all within the scene. Moving on, the editing mainly consists of cuts. We also see a cross-cutting between the mother and daughter. Cuts are fast and effective, encourging the narrative to move along faster. The semiotics in this scene are the football which Viola is holding. This challenging stereotypes as footballs are mainly assossicated with men. On the other hand, Monique carries a handbag, sunglasses etc. Representing her feminity and it shows how she is encourging stereotypes as she is wearing what is typically seen to be assossciated with women. The mise-en-scene in this scene is, facial expressions. When Viola is talking to Monique we see the sarcasm on her face, expressing how she doesn't really like Monique and doesn't want to talk to her. This reinforcing her feminity, as it shows girls being bitchy towards one another. The clothing is very different with the two girls even though they are the same gender there dress sense is different. For example, Viola is wearing a hat, hoodie and jeans. Whereas, Monique is wearing a pink top, sunglasses and holding a bag. The cinematography in this scene is essential. As we get a POV shot from Viola's point of view as she is walking into the house, this again encourging the auidence to identify with Viola and to position themseleves with her. We also get a zoom into her mother face when Viola tells her mother she does not want to wear a dress, which again challenges stereotypes. We also get a over the shoulder shot, when Monique is running up to Viola thinking she is Sebastian. [Her Brother]
Institution:
Dreamworks: American Company representing American Values. The promotional methods consist of, trailers mainly. At the start of the trailer we see the DreamWorks logo appear. This staright away shows that a big well known and mainstream company is producing this film. Encourging audiences to watch the trailer as the company suggests the film will be good. The production is Hollywood, and the disturbution is mainstream, multiplex cinema.
Genre:
In my view, it is a hybrid genre, as i feel it is a chick flick as well as a comedy. The icongraphy is the football, which is essential throughout the whole film. The setting is the Viola's house, to make us get familiar with the surroundings. Film genre's consist of, comedy, chick film and teen movie.
Representation:
Ethnicity-white characters mainly. Stereotypes-reinforced by Monique but challenged by Viola. Due to clothing and image. It is postive in a sense that it is an American film, as the majority of the population in America is white. We see the brother being represented as a typical rebel, by going to London for two weeks and not telling his mother. The mother is typical, by wanting her daughter to take part in a feminine beauty contest. The only character which is not typical is Viola, as her sense of sport, hobbies, and image are very different from the other girls in the movie.
Audience:
The primary audience consists of teenage girls due to the representation being challenged. The secondary audience can be males, due to Laura Mulvey's male gaze theory. And other auidence can be either the fans of the genre, or fans of the characters in the film.
Narrative:
Close Narrative. Exposition: Foreshadowing what Viola might do, as her brother wants her to cover for him at school whereas, her mother says "You Might As Well Be Your Brother!" This all foreshadows that she will turn into her brother. Linking to Twelfth Night. It is a linear narrative, as there is no flashbacks and it is in chronological order. For narrative structure we can link it to Todorov, however in this seen we see a equlibrum and a build up to the diequilibrum as Viola is going to turn into her brother. We know this will have certain negative effects. We can interpret the resoultion in two ways, one being there isn't one yet as she is only turning into her brother at this point. Whereas, another being that she is able to challenge stereotypes through her brothers image, helping her to play football. With narrative roles we can link it to Propp, as we see Viola as the protagnist and as the hero to a certain extent. Lastly, with narrative themes, we can use binary opposition, [Levi Strauss] in this scene between Monique and Viola. As their seperate representations are juxaposed at the start of the scene.
