Critical Review of Personal Film Spectatorship - CMSE analysis

As well as enjoying the narrative of the film, I noticed the wide variety of technical features used throughout the film. A range of different cinematography, sound, mise-en-scene and editing features were included which really enhanced my viewing pleasures and increased my general enjoyment of the film. One scene where an array of features were used to complement the narrative was during the 'Girls Gone Wild' scene at the climax of the plot. The contents of the Burn Book has just been revealed all over the school and the girls are all arguing with each other. Cross-cutting is used between the chaotic scene in the hallways and the peaceful, dignified meeting being held in the principal's office. The huge contrast in the atmosphere between these two places made me laugh a lot and made me feel more knowledgeable than Cady for once as I knew more than she did - she and the characters in the office were completely oblivious. As one of the teachers, Ms Norbury, tries to settle down the students, she gets knocked down to the ground, her glasses falling from her face in the process. A low angle shot is used on Ms Norbury here, making her look vulnerable to the girls despite her status as a teacher, and I felt really sympathetic towards her. A pull focus shot is then used as the focus is on a pair of broken glasses before these become blurred and suddenly a piece of paper on the floor is unblurred and becomes focused instead. With this shot we are first drawn into the fact that Ms Norbury's glasses are broken before we are made aware of the bigger picture and the more important object - the piece of paper on the floor stating that Ms Norbury is a drug dealer. The camera slowly zooms in on the piece of paper to allow the audience to see exactly what is written before the shot changes back to one of Ms Norbury. As a spectator, I felt really bad when I read the page; it felt like I was seeing it alongside her and experiencing the hurt that she would have felt. The cut back to the meeting in the principal's office lightened the mood a bit for me as I was no longer having to look at the Ms Norbury's hurt expression. Later in the scene, we see Regina stood in the centre of the shot and the camera slowly reverse zooms to let us take in the chaotic sight surrounding Regina. This shot made me feel really angry - Regina caused all of the turmoil yet she was standing in the centre, totally unscathed, whilst in the background we could hear amplified sound effects such as the sound of clothes tearing and the contrapuntal sounds of wild animal noises. The reverse zoom shot seemed to be handheld as it was slightly shaky - but I enjoyed this as it made me feel more involved with the chaotic scene. High-key lighting was used throughout the scene; nobody was specifically highlighted using the light, yet all the characters were well lit so I was able to see them clearly and not miss any of the action. Whip pan cuts were used between girls to show how everybody was arguing but they were all having very similar arguments. Again, this was using a handheld camera as well and the shaky element enhanced the idea of the turmoil. I really enjoyed the whip pan cuts as I thought they were really effective in portraying the anger and upset felt by all of the girls in the scene. Piece is finally restored at the end of the scene by the piercing sound of the fire bell and the amplified sound of the water falling.