Research opening- Grease

Information about the film.

Grease was made in the year 1978 and the film is certified PG- 13. Paramount pictures produced the film.  The director of Grease was Randal Kleiser. The distribution company was Cinema International Cooperation. At opening weekend the film produced $8,941,717 (USA) (18^th June 1978) (862 Screens). 

However the film was also brought back to cinemas in July 1998 and 2010 due to its popularity. The film won a Golden Screen award in 1979, Peoples choice awards in 1979 for favourite overall motion picture and favourite musical motion picture. The film was also nominated for 5 Golden Globes and one Oscar all of which were in 1979.

Target Audience and whom it appeals to.

From watching the opening of the film I can connote that this film has a target audience of the ages of 13 to 30. I think this because there is a lot of elements in the film that appeal to different age groups. I think that this film would be appealing to females due to the storyline and genre of the film. I also think people who would go and watch this film would expect romance and musical pleasures from this genre of film.

The Titles.

The titles in the film are very fluent with the animated sequence that is going on. For example the word Grease is created through someone squeezing a bottle of hair product to create the title of the film. This can also link in with the narrative, as in the film a lot of the male characters care about their hair. Throughout the whole film the titles are blended in with the background settings e.g. some of the actors names are added to the billboards. I think that this has been done because it could make the audience think that i.e. the production team were famous in the narrative therefore their names are on billboards in the setting or to make the opening titles more exciting. The text that is used also fits in with when the film was set along with the music and helps to set the scene of the film.

Sound

In the film title there is a non-diegetic sound track included in the opening sequence. I think that music fits in with the time when this film was set. The soundtrack that is used is quite retro and groovy and fits in with the music that high schoolers would have listened too in that era. There are also sound effects added into the opening sequence such as when the character is squeezing the hair product.

Representation of the characters and Mise en scene.

In this opening sequence for this film we are given an introduction to the main characters of the film and their friends. The way that the character are introduced are quite playful and helps the audience to feel more related to them, the way the characters are presented also shows us their personality and their interests which we see more of in the film. This could help to familiarise us with which character is which. At the end of the sequence it shows the gang driving past school with a policeman chasing after them this could connote that they are group that get in trouble a lot.

In the opening we are shown the different groups of people in the film and they are represented using mise en scene. At the beginning we see Danny with slicked hair in a quif and wearing a leather jacket. The stereotype for this outfit would be that he has a bad boy image and cares a lot about his appearance. It then goes to Sandy who is wearing very pale pastel clothes and is in a nice bedroom, there is also a sequence where birds fly in with her dressing gown- the mis en scene could stereotype that she is quite innocent and has a lot of money-the opposite to Danny. It could also connote that she is very kind. The next character is Rizzo and she is portrayed as someone who wears a lot of tight clothing and some black- this could be a stereotype of someone who is quite popular and socially active.

In the next part of the opening sequence it shows the T-Birds and Kenickie and is in a garage working on a car with his friends. This could be the stereotype of a motorhead and also having a bad boy image because of the leather jacket and hairstyle.

Atmosphere created

In the opening titles there is a happy atmosphere- the whole atmosphere is quite cheery, which might make the audience keep watching to see if the atmosphere changes at all. The fact that the characters are cheerful could show us that they are carefree like some people would be in high school. The characters are represented as quite bubbly characters and they are animated cartoon versions of themselves in the opening. Their features are quite emphasised and are similar to the style of caricatures.