Pitch Perfect- Opening scene questions

Identify the key actions within the opening - what kinds of actions are included and how is the narrative moved forward?

The actions that are included in the opening scene of pitch perfect is that at the beginning of the movie there is a volume control sort of view that when you play music the louder it gets the longer the lines, and the faster the song the closer the lines are together. This gives the impression that music is going to be a big part of this film. The next thing you see is a computer screen adjusting and editing the track, so this also gives you the impression there is going to be music calibrations and editing music. Then the camera zooms out of the computer and shows a girls hands editing the music. Then you see the girl pack her things away and out them in a taxi, which shows that she is taking all her equipment and skills to wherever she is going and makes you believe she is going to put them to good use. Then the camera moves up and travels throughout a city which explores the fact that the girl is going somewhere. There is not much action in the opening scene of this movie.

Identify the enigma codes within the opening - what kinds of questions are posed and how is the audience meant to read these codes?

Why is she editing music?
Where is she going?
Why is she taking her equipment with her?

3. Identify key characters and think about what they represent in the opening.

There is only one key character in the opening scene of this film and this is Becca, she represents a character that has a big interest in music, and her facial expression when she gets out of the taxi at the end of the opening scene shows that she does not want to be wherever she has arrived, and makes you think that she just wants to get back onto her computer and carry on with editing her music. 


4. Interpret the cultural codes in the opening. What kind of knowledge is being drawn on? social/historical/political/art and culture etc. Highlight the 3 most important references in the opening that help with audience understanding.

In the scene there is a valuable piece of equipment (apple mac laptop) which shows that she must come from a medium or upper class family, as people with lower class would not be able to afford such a valuable piece of equipment. As she is attending university, she is living in a student room and sharing it with her roommate. The majority of the film is set in the university complex, and all the people around her are therefore people that also attend the university that she does.