Friday 13 November 2015

Critical Investigation Task #1 - Textual Analysis

Critical Investigation Task #1
TASK #1 TEXTUAL ANALYSIS
The Inbetweeners


1.       Football Friend

Analysis of clip (after 55 seconds)
Media language:
The concept of the clip demonstrates how Jay is being ridiculed by his two other best mates Neil and Simon, who repeatedly use the word “friend” to mock Jay’s new football partner.
Setting: the friends are all outside what appears to be a private road
Camera work: two-shot frame used when Neil and Simon mock Jay to show they are in control and the ones who aggravate Jay to damage his football friend’s car. Medium close-up used to show the frustration Jay has after being the butt of the joke and therefore jumps on his friend’s car.
Composition - As it is a single camera sitcom, there wasn't any complex arrangement with the camera. It would always be placed in front of the action and facing straight on.
Editing - There was a lot of cutting in the clip, especially during a conversation as it’s a single camera production they have to cut from one person to another. And when it came to changing scene, they would do a simple clean cut to move the clip on smoothly.
1.29   – there is a dissolve, this suggests how Jay is the object of comedy for a long time
Non-digetic sound, for example at the end of the clip when Jay has humiliated himself in front of all his mates upbeat music playing in the background, they use this because it is the type of music that age group would listen to that type of music and creates a comedic atmosphere as the audience are entertained by Jay’s extreme antics.
Diegetic sound is most prominent when the car alarm sounds goes off.
Lighting – high-key lighting is used throughout the clip to illustrate the fact that the characters are young and simply because the whole scene takes place on the road. The use of natural lighting reinforces the light-hearted banter between the boys and creates a settling atmosphere for the comedy to take place.
Pose – at the start of the clip, Simon and Neil and sitting down and mocking Jay at the same time, this depicts how they are a tag team and Jay is the only one standing up.
Costume - Jay’s clothing represents his age as he’s got that very casual almost chavy look with the Adidas tracksuit top, which is a look more common in younger generations. This links to Dyer’s theory of ‘Stereotypes’ as it reinforces the average working/middle-class teenage boy.
Theory –
Barthes theory – action code: the fact Jay is stomping on a car and the alarm goes off loudly signifies that he’s going to get caught out and the neighbourhood is quiet.
Post-modernism: adolescent nature and includes frequent use of extreme swearwords. There are many intertextual references that they employ throughout the episodes, allowing audiences to familiarise themselves with settings, props, locations, characters and plots and link it to their own personal experiences and everyday life in general. The Inbetweeners is much more daring and rude, by far and swearing is used very freely and loosely.
Issues for debate – the fact that Jay is seen to be stomping of a car makes it seem that teenagers are out of control and have no high-standards in society as they act out and vandalise things. Others could interpret Jay to be a hooligan, but I think that he represents a stronger representation of a typical “lad” as he’s standing his own ground and proving himself. This links to gender roles, typically because he’s trying to be overly masculine and shouts curse words to reinforce that he is not the butt of the joke which is that he and his new “football friend” are closer than what their friendship actually is.

2.       Simon Pukes Over Carly's Little Brother
Camerawork: use of a fish-eyes lens when Simon talks to Carly to highlight how drunk he is
Two shot frame as Simon declares his love for Carly in the kitchen, in the living room Will and Carly’s younger brother talk about politics in the UK – the fact that two different discussions are going on highlights the theme of a sitcom
As Simon gradually becomes sicker, the camera zooms in and many jump cuts as he pukes were the camera then automatically turns to Carly to get her reaction.
In terms of language, Simon repeatedly refers to Carly as "babes" which reflects how young teenagers in Britain often refer to each other.
This scene is comedic as it ends with Simon vomiting all over that same, poor, little brother which Will scared beforehand telling him that his parents were in danger.
Gender roles: Simon is needy and suggests that Carly pleasures herself, which reinforces typical traits of a young teenage boy as he is overly desperate.
Theory –
Carly is a source of male gaze (Mulvey), she is a pretty teenage girl who is intelligent, with blonde hair
Uses and gratifications – the fact that Simon gets overly drunk and pukes on an innocent child is humorous and interlinks with the ‘entertainment’ factor as Simon’s aim was to impress Carly, when in actual reality he has made himself look like a fool.

Uses and gratifications (personal identity) – another reason why this scene is comedic is because many teenagers could most probably relate to some elements of this scene, such as trying to impress a girl and being overly drunk. However, as Simon pukes on a helpless child this heightens the comedy and is outside the norm of what an average teenagers would do if they were drunk themselves. 

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