The movie, Little Miss Sunshine, is quite similar to our film brief as it depicts a young female protagonist and falls under the same genre of Independent Movies.
In the opening of Little Miss Sunshine we are introduced to six characters, ranging in age and gender, whom we assume are a family. The audience gets a small taste of each role as they are introduced briefly and individually to the non-diegetic sound of an instrumental song that possesses somewhat of a tragic tune, the piano and violin working to create a sad mood.
The audience is first introduced to an extreme close up shot of a little girl, the screen focused on her wide innocent eyes framed by large, thick rimmed glasses. Later on, the diegtetic sound of a man announcing the winner and a reverse shot unveils that she is watching a beauty pageant. Her intent stare behind the thick rimmed glasses, suggests that she longs to be part of this world, and the innocence and naïvity that radiates from her face implies that she believes she can. The little girl soon comes into full view as a low angle shot records her pausing and rewinding the video of the pageant she is watching, implying that this is not the first time she has watched it and that this is something she is very focused. The young girl appears to be holding her chubby stomach in brightly coloured clothes that don't quite match, a complete opposite of the manicured, beautiful girls that she is watching. An establishing shot then gives the audience a clear view of the room in which she is standing, dull and mustard colour. The décor suggests that the movie may be set in the late 1960s, early 1970s in the home of a modest family due to the scarceness of the furniture and decoration. The little girl is then seen imitating the women on the television screen, waving and clasping her face in delight. The contrast between the awkward clothes, big glasses, chubby belly, stringy hair and the actions she is making whilst watching the clip imply that although she desperately desires to be in this world, she does not fit in. The instrumental non diegetic sound compliments the tragic essence that this scene transmits.
Following the little girl, we see a low angle close up shot of a middle aged man holding some sort of speech to an audience in front of a large projector. The diegetic sound of his voice is loud and encouraging as it booms through the room, suggesting that he has a lot of faith in his programme of turning losers into winners. The low angle and establishing shots make him look important, as the room is dark apart from him lit up by a large streak of artificial lights. The hand gestures and actions that he uses whilst addressing his audience implies that he confident, almost arrogant, about the product he is trying to sell. Once his speech is ended the audience is expecting a large crowd of whooping people. However, as the lights flicker on, it is soon discovered that it is taking place in a very empty classroom and only four people are hesitantly clapping. His cheap, shabby suit is also exposed suggesting that he is from a modest family and background. This adds a sense of irony to the speech as the once 'winner' of this scene is now discovered to be somewhat of a loser as he is holding his speech to an empty audience in a shabby suit, convincing them to buy a very unconvincing product.
The audience is next introduced to a teenage boy. He is working out prefusely in his room, the close up and jump cut shots allowing the audience to feel the effort that he is putting into his work out. The boy's room reflects the house that was previously seen when the little girl was introduced, mustard colour and scarce apart from a large poster depicting Friedrich Nietzsche, suggesting that they are perhaps siblings. The boy then proceeds to cross off a long list of days on a calender. The combination of the poster, the work out and the calender is a strong implication that he is working very hard towards something he desires, Nietzsche perhaps being his idol. He is dressed in very conservative clothes, reflective of any teenage boys, and he does not speak during the scene, suggesting that he is quite reserved and focused on achieving his goal. The determination he uses whilst working out depicts a very hard working boy, striving and counting down the days until he can achieve what he wants.
The scene then changes to an elderly man, locking himself into a bathroom similar to all the rooms that were previously viewed, implying that they may all live together. The man is dressed in quite eccentric clothing, suggesting that he is not a typical grandfather. The sudden change in non-deigetic music to quite mysterious and mischievious and the fact the he is locking himself into a bathroom depicts him as having a secret that he does not want the rest of the family knowing. These suspicions are confirmed when several close up shots follow to show him pulling out cocaine from his fanny pack and snorting it up. He then takes a seat and his face goes into a daze as the drugs kick in. The combination of the locked bathroom, eccentric clothing and cocaine in this scene depicts someone who feels quite out of place in life, and needs an escape for himself without the rest of the world knowing.
Next in line to be presented to the audience is a woman driving a car. We see a close up of her hand grasping the steering wheel and a cigarette, suggesting that is very stressed. The entire scene becomes quite hectic all of a sudden in comparison to the calmer drug filled previous one, the non-diegetic music picking up quickly as the violins play a more feminine and busy tune. The woman is bickering into the phone as if her patience has run out. She speaks of almost arriving in the hospital and the fact that she is 'not smoking' even though she clearly is. This emphasizes how stressed she must be if she is not a regular smoker, and the fact that she may be worried about a loved one in the hospital. There are several close ups of her face, and it is clear that she is tired as the audience is subjected to the lines in her face and the messy state of her hair. During this scene there is a huge blur outside the window as she drives faster and faster to reach the hospital. This emphasizes the hectic mood of the sense even more.
The last person to whom the audience is introduced to is a man in hospital. There is an establishing shot allowing us to see the scarce, clincal hospital room as he sits in a wheel chair looking out of the window. There is a blueish colour wash, illustrating the hospital as cold and intimidating, and perhaps reflecting the mood in which the middle aged man is. The fact that he is in hospital leads the audience to think that he may be the reason why the woman is rushing there. We are then subjected to a close up of his face which is miserable, the expression in his eyes dead. There are bandages around his wrists implying that he may have tried to kill himself, therefore landing him in a hospital. The scarceness and coldness of the room may be a reflection of him having lost everything before he decided to commit suicide.
The editing in this film, although subtle, is very effective. The fact that the audience is introduced to each character seperately, suggests that although they all seem to be connected they are not at all a close family or group of people. The quick cuts in between scenes allows the most important points of the person to be viewed, still keeping the time in which they are shown reasonable. Yet these short cuts, in combination with the obvious seperation between these people, causes the audience to be curious, interested in each of these characters and how they are connected.
