Vain and The Brain Analysis:


Mise-en-Scene:

The costumes play a very important part in creating representations of the characters in VATB. Will (the nerd) wears very nerdy clothing such as a bow tie and glasses, these are synonymous with clothes a nerd would wear. It instantly sets him up in this stereotype and creates the audiences perceptions of him. Mel on the other hand wears more stylish clothing a popular and classy person would wear, this shows the two main characters as complete opposites. The audience sees Will they think of a geek who cares only for his education and wants to be himself, then they see Mel and see someone who cares little for education and more about socialising and being popular and not necessarily about being herself. Most of the extras wear school uniforms to create verisimilitude and to show the main characters seniority.

The props used are used to back up the representations of the main characters. Will uses a gameboy which is seen as a nerdy thing to do. The I robot prop Mel holds is a MacGuffin used to move the plot along for this reason it is essential and perhaps the most important prop in the film. It alters the audiences perceptions of her at the same time as Wills are altered, this is the key point in the film and the main plot line.

The setting of a film is one of the key points in its success, for Vain and The Brain to create a sense of verisimilitude, it was set in a school.

Representation:

Representations are constructed in VATB via costumes, props, script and camera work.

Will:

Will (the nerd) wears very nerdy clothing such as a bow tie and glasses, these are synonymous with clothes a nerd would wear. It instantly sets him up in this stereotype and creates the audiences perceptions of him. Prop-wise Will uses a game boy which is seen as a nerdy thing to do reinforcing the perception the audience gain from the costume. Will often sneezes due to his allergies (often penned as a stereotype for nerds) and speaks in soft tones in one scene we see his friend Jimmy who is also a geek ask “im not invited?”
Will replies in a very soft muted tone “me neither” this scripting one highlights he is not popular as he has not been invited to the big party and two: shows he is very quiet and insecure after years of bullying due to his nerdy ways. Camera work is the most subtle but perhaps the most powerful way of creating a representation of Will, we see many high angle shots of him which indicates inferiority until he discovers Mel was carrying a nerdy item (the I robot DVD) in which the shots switch and he becomes superior. One example of the high angle shot is the very first shot we see of him, it opens with him playing a game boy in a high angle shot, combined with his costume and prop choices we instantly see him as a unpopular social unaccepted nerd.

Mel:


Mel on the other hand wears more stylish clothing a popular and classy person would wear, this shows the two main characters as complete opposites. The audience sees Will they think of a geek who cares only for his education and wants to be himself, then they see Mel and see someone who cares little for education and more about socialising and being popular and not necessarily about being herself. This representation though is dramatically altered when the audience see the I robot prop, which is a generic nerdy DVD (The I robot prop Mel holds is a MacGuffin used to move the plot along for this reason it is essential and perhaps the most important prop in the film. It alters the audiences perceptions of her at the same time as Wills are altered, this is the key point in the film and the main plot line). The scripting for Mel paints her as a bitchy, at one point she screams “GEEK!” at Will after he accidentally knocks her books out of her hand. This highlights her as a nasty popular girl who hates nerds and people who act differently. On the opposite to Will we see high angle shots of her however when the shift in power comes, this changes.

Are the Representations stereotypical:

Both the Representations are very stereotypical all the costumes and props follows the stereotypes they pertain to. They are all reinforced by scripting and camera work. The one exception is the MacGuffin Mel holds, this however is designed to break her stereotype and is not introduced until later in the story after the audiences representations are created.