Film Analysis

Lauryn Kyriacou

Opening

At the very beginning we start of with an institutional logo changed with 8-Bit graphics to look like a retro video game. This is probably because the target audience for this film are people who enjoyed reading the original Scott Pilgrim comic books, who are also likely to play or be aware of retro video games, so this will appeal to them. The target audience is obvious to me as this is a film adaptation of a 6 comic book series, therefore there is already a set audience for this film.

Narrative

A hint towards the narrative of the movie is given to us here by having comic book style narration on the screen. From this we know the story is set in Canada, we also know that Scott Pilgrim is dating a high school girl. Straight away I start to question as to why this certain information is mentioned. If I hadn’t have previously watched the film, I would think that it suggests that the film might be something to do with Scott’s relationship or relationships.

Exposition of CharacterThe main character’s name is first introduced to us when the narrative is set in the very first scene, but we first meet him when he is with his band. Sticking to the comic book style, the character is first introduced with a little black box next to him, stating his name, age and “rating”. This is exactly the same way all of the characters are introduced in the original comic books, as well as the film. It was a good choice for the film because it shows that this film is only an adaptation of the comic books.

The same black box is used to introduce other characters.

Shot Types

A panning wide shot is used to make the room look bigger (from Knives’ POV) while Knives is listening to Scott and his band play, to show how dazed she is by it.

There are two over the shoulder shots (one from Scott’s POV and one from Knives’ POV) to establish a conversation between Knives and Scott.

Editing and Sound

As well as ambience and music being performed by a band as part of the film, there are also sound effects used. Most of the sound effects used in this film are from 8-Bit Nintendo games (like Zelda) which ties in with the comic book style.

There are sound effects used in this film that are accompanied by visual effects, which tie in with a comic book style. These visuals are also used to emphasize sounds within the film, as they would in a comic book.