CB/Deconstruction of '17 Again'

17 Again ( Burr Steers,2009)





Director-Burr Steers

Writer-Jason Filardi

Production Companies-Offspring Entertainment

Distrubutors-New Line Cinema,Warner Home Video

Stars-Zac Efron,Matthew Perry,Leslie Mann and Thomas Lennon

Running Time-102 mins

Rating-12A due to some language,some sexual material and teen partying.



Filming Locations-Los Angeles and California-USA

Budget-$20,000,000

Box Office Gross-$791,580,952 (USA,2009) £51,399,879 (UK,2009)





Here is the trailer for 17 Again-





Sypnosis-At 17 Mike O'Donell was on top of the world; he was the star of his high school basketball team, and was a shoo in for a college scholarship. And is dating his soul mate, Scarlett. But on what's suppose to be his big game wherein college scouts are checking him out, Scarlett reveals that she's pregnant. Mike decides to leave the game and asks Scarlett to marry him which she does. During their marriage, Mike could only whine about the life he lost because he married her. So she throws him out. And when he loses his job, he returns to the only place he's happy at - his old high school. And while looking at his high school photo, a janitor asks him if he wishes he could be 17 again and he says yes. One night while driving he sees the janitor on a bridge and apparently jumps in and he goes after him. When he returns to his friend, Ned's house, where he has been staying, he sees that he is 17 again. He decides to take this opportunity to get the life he lost.





Tagline-Who say's your only young once?





Opening Analysis (2mins)-





Deconstruction of shots in opening scene-

First shot is a mid-shot shows an old stadium, possibly at a high school?

The second shot anchors this suggestion as it is of 'Hayden High School' The transitions between shots are slick signifying that the action will be fast paced,engaging the audience.

Next we see a close-up shot of a basketball going through the hoop,signifying that it may be a basketball related film.Then many basketballs go through the hoop at once which also signifies that this person could be a skilful basketball player.The next shot shows a long shot/high angle shot of the basketball player.We as an audience think is this the main protagonist? Seeing him get so many shots in the hoop is impressive and the shots being close-up's of this emphasise his skill in detail.Then we get a shot looking from behind the basketball player as he is still shooting shots into the hoop.The schools badge is on the wall next to the hoop which provides yet more anchorage.The next shot shows the protagonist watching his shot fall into the hoop.He displays an athletic body which is a good attribute seeing as a large majority of the audience watching romantic comedies are female.Titles flash on showing us his name and the year the film is currently in,conveying to the audience he is a main character and that we must move forward in time as the film goes on.Following on from that there is a close-up shot of 'Mike O'donnell' which is the first time we see his face clearly.Mike then says "I'm just warming up coach" as his coach walks on, making the shot now 'two-shot'.It is also a mid-shot for it only shows up to the characters knees.As the coach and Mike are talking, the camera switches to and from who ever speaking so we can see the their individual responses and emotion.Then there is a high angle shot of the basketball squad showing exactly how many of them are.After that there are quick clips of mid-shots showing the other basketball players so the audience get a feel of what characters mainly sum up the squad.The next consecutive shot is a midshot of the basketball players looking back at the door where there is a boy who has just fallen in.This could connote that this boy is looked down upon by the other team members and that he is quite clumsy! Close-up shots between the interactions of Ned and the other players.To show the team photograph, there is a long-shot,It then flicks to a shot behind the players showing the their point of view and then to the camera mans point of view, showing the team players.Then there is a close-up of the protagonist (Mike) just before Ned screeches at the camera flash.





Soundtrack

String music which sets the atmosphere of anticipation as the audience are eagerly waiting for something to happen.As the sound isn't upbeat straight away this gives the audience a chance to see the protagonist without music masking his characteristic's









Film Titles

White font on black a background-unusual for it normally occurs on horror films, signifying that it will be serious and dark when it is a romantic comedy.However then each individual

word drops as if it was bouncing (just a basketball, as basketball is a key theme).The titles normally come in after short bursts of film footage.Some letters scroll up and some down which could connote that there could be a mix up in the film? There is a also a film title that anchors the protagonists name and the year that the film is set.





Mise-en-scene

Highschool-High school building/stadium,Gym,High-school badge on gym wall

Basketball Team-Basketballs,Basketball players in typical basketball outfits-trainers,big sized vests and shorts.





Any influence?

The array of shots e.g. high angle shots look effective so shots like these could be used in ours perhaps.