Footloose analysis

 

Footloose

 

In this opening scene from the film footloose you can immediatly tell that this is a musical film as the background music is up beat and the shots show that everyone is dancing and that everyone is having a good time. This is a good opening for a musical as it introduces the theme song and also the genre of music. In this film the music is generally country which you can tell by the fact most people in this scene are wearing boots and seem to be line dancing. However as there are a differentation in shoes the audience may think that the genre of music changes throughout the film.

 

Some things to expect in a musical is that everyone will be happy and having a good time throughout the film. Also there will be some form of musical theatre, singing, dancing or drama, to follow the genre. Also, there will usually include a dependant woman in the film that will usually cause a distraction to the protagonist. She will usually be really good at dancing or singing which will attract the protagonist and then will be shy of showing her talent as an act of flirting. However, in this film the woman is a not afraid of showing her talent which attracts the protagonist. In the opening you can't see the protagonist or the woman and you cant tell who this will be. Having watched the film, I know that this is because they haven't attended the party and you aren't introduced to them until a later stage.

 

Some of the camera angles in this opening scene consist of close up to show the feet of the people dancing and also cups on the floor suggesting that this is a party that people have attended. Also there is a medium shot which includes a lot of people singing and dancing allowing the audience to know the genre of the film is a musical.

 

Throughout the film the audience is introduced to the protagonist and the antagonist which also fits the musical genre as the protagonist is usually identified just before the mid point of the film as the audience will want to be engaged and will want to know who the main character is and why. This make a musical because they usually take a lot to engage a wide range of audiences and so they will want to keep certain people entertained throughout. I think this film includes different genres for people that prefer a different genre. I can tell this with the opening of the film as in the close up with the shoes the types of shoes differ which suggests that the film has a mix of genres in.

 

The sound of the opening scene of the film is the main title song and also up beat suggesting that this song may have a turning point where some point something must go bad. However, at the time you are led to believe that nothing will go wrong because the audience feel a part of the party which seems all characters are at. This suggests that they will want to watch the whole film as they will want to see what happens after the party.