Scott Pilgrim Movie Analysis Essay
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010) Film Sequence Analysis
Assignment 2
Subject: Introduction to Screen Analysis
Submitted as an Essay
Dute Date: June 5th 2012
Tutor:
Class: Wednesday, 14:00-14:50
Word Count: 2201
Contents:
1. Introduction 3
2. Narrative Function 4
3. Mise-en-Scene 6
4. Cinematography 9
5. Editing 10
6. Sound 10
7. Conclusion 11
8. List of References 12
Introduction
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010) is the action packed journey of a misguided young man desperately trying to navigate his own existence. In the film Scott must fight the conflictions within himself and the seven evil exes of his love interest. Based off the comic book series by Bryan Lee O’Malley, this film has the architecture and story of a’ live-action’ comic book where it creates a universe based off modern pop culture references such as video games, nerd romance and comics. Bordwell and Thompson (pp. 330, 2010) would define the film as one that breaks the conventions of its genre essentially because it encompasses elements of several genres such as sci-fi, romance, action and comedy. An audience that views Scott Pilgrim vs. The World would possibly be expecting (based on the cover art and advertisements) an action and romance driven story which is partially true but there is much more to it. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World has intentionally been set up to be individual and unique in its approach which prompts for its analysis.
Consequently, the focus of this essay will be to examine the narrative function, mise-en-scene, cinematography, editing and sound concepts established by Bordwell and Thompson (2010) of a sequence from the film. With the film’s live-action comic book style comes an extensive use of cutting which seamlessly binds much of the key story elements together. So, the sequence chosen for analysis runs across several plot locations but is based around one theme: Scott (the protagonist) meeting Ramona (the
Assignment 2
Subject: Introduction to Screen Analysis
Submitted as an Essay
Dute Date: June 5th 2012
Tutor:
Class: Wednesday, 14:00-14:50
Word Count: 2201
Contents:
1. Introduction 3
2. Narrative Function 4
3. Mise-en-Scene 6
4. Cinematography 9
5. Editing 10
6. Sound 10
7. Conclusion 11
8. List of References 12
Introduction
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010) is the action packed journey of a misguided young man desperately trying to navigate his own existence. In the film Scott must fight the conflictions within himself and the seven evil exes of his love interest. Based off the comic book series by Bryan Lee O’Malley, this film has the architecture and story of a’ live-action’ comic book where it creates a universe based off modern pop culture references such as video games, nerd romance and comics. Bordwell and Thompson (pp. 330, 2010) would define the film as one that breaks the conventions of its genre essentially because it encompasses elements of several genres such as sci-fi, romance, action and comedy. An audience that views Scott Pilgrim vs. The World would possibly be expecting (based on the cover art and advertisements) an action and romance driven story which is partially true but there is much more to it. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World has intentionally been set up to be individual and unique in its approach which prompts for its analysis.
Consequently, the focus of this essay will be to examine the narrative function, mise-en-scene, cinematography, editing and sound concepts established by Bordwell and Thompson (2010) of a sequence from the film. With the film’s live-action comic book style comes an extensive use of cutting which seamlessly binds much of the key story elements together. So, the sequence chosen for analysis runs across several plot locations but is based around one theme: Scott (the protagonist) meeting Ramona (the
References: Bordwell, D. & Thompson, K. 2010, Film Art, McGraw – Hill, New York Juno, 2007. [Film] Directed by Jason Reitman. USA: Fox Searchlight Pictures Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, 2010. [Film] Directed by Edgar Wright. USA: Universal Pictures Superbad, 2007. [Film] Directed by Greg Mottola. USA: Columbia Pictures