For my scene analysis, I chose a scene from The Breakfast Club (one of many incredible John Hughes movies). Specifically the scene where they are sitting in a circle and start discussing what happens when they return to school on Monday, (the scene actually begins much earlier where they start talking about what they would do for a million bucks, video is shorter and so I analyzed the specific part). This scene shows us an opening into the characters that we have not previously seen and also provides a deeper meaning that connects every single teenager to this movie.

               The initial impact makes your mind spin as the scene shows so many levels within six minutes. It starts out harsh but yet we all know why Claire is saying they won’t be speaking to each other again. This is the moment the scene/ movie begins to shift as we realize that the memories they created and shared that day will mean nothing once they are dismissed. As the scene continues on, and Brian mentions having a gun, anxiety sets in and empathy makes its way through then the mood lightens shortly after when it is stated that it was a flare gun.

                     On further investigation, noting camera angles, lighting, music, I notice much more adds to the moment. The camera never moves between shots and jumps from character to character at the same angle and composition (rule of thirds!). Although, while all of the other characters are positioned on the right side of the frame (except for Andy who moves back and forth from left and right), Brian is on the left and once he starts crying and talking about having a gun in his locker, he is in the middle of the frame. There is no music, until that same moment that Brian moves into the middle of the frame and it fades out, almost as quickly as it came in, once he’s done talking and slams the chair away. I loved the fact that rather than keeping the camera on Bender as he’s yelling at Claire, it cuts to her reaction while we can still hear him talking. No two people are seen in the same shot except for the wide angle of all five of them.

                To state the overall message of the scene, each character represents a different stereotypical high school student, and the entire movie shows their interactions but this scene gives us even more. It shows us how much we really have in common, the pressures we all face, the unspoken word of mixing cliques. By seeing into why everyone is in detention, and what they are going through in their own lives, shows us more than what we have previously seen and makes this part extremely relevant to the film as a hole! As I mentioned, the scene actually starts much earlier, and Andy is the first one to say what he did to get into detention. I mention this because what he says in his explanation is brought up in the particular instance I analyzed. He says he “did it for [his] old man…[he] tortured this poor kid, because [he] wanted [his old man] to think that [he] was cool.” This pressure Andy felt to fit in and do whatever he needed to do to achieve that is what Claire and Brian express as well. Showing how much they all actually have in common, they all have problems with their friends, with fitting in, with pressure, with their families! This scene shows us why people enjoy this movie to this day. It shows us that every single person is more alike than we see on the surface, and just because we feel pressured to do, or not do something doesn’t mean we have to listen or “go along” with it as Claire states. When asked to elaborate she doesn’t even know why she always listens to her friends! Even though as Bender states, she knows “how shitty that is to do to someone,”...