Hi guys,
So, this is my final blog for
the jijasnap film genre series and today we’re going to be talking about The
Fault in Our Stars, directed by Josh Boone, he is no stranger to the romance genre
having directed the film ‘Stuck in Love’ in 2012.
The Fault in Our Stars is
based on the book by John Green. It follows the life of 17-year-old Hazel Grace
Lancaster who has lung cancer. Hazel is content with her life and knows that
death will come soon but chooses not to attempt to make her mark on the world.
That is, until she meets Augustus Waters who is the epitome of every teenage
girl’s dream. Augustus crashes into Hazels’ life very suddenly and changes her
whole ideality of what it means to really live. The movie follows the story of
their romance and the love that they share within the short time that they
have.
The first technique we see
being used in The fault in Our Stars, is a voice over. This technique can be
seen in the close up of Hazels face that then has a straight cut to her date in
Amsterdam with Gus as she says in the voice over “where beautiful people, learn
beautiful lessons. This shows that Hazel thinks that Gus was a beautiful
lesson. In the close-up shot of Hazel, you can see that she is wearing a white
top. The colour white has connotations of purity and innocence which makes the
audience like Hazel. This links with Barthes Enigma code as the audience
question why is Hazel being reminiscent and ask why is she wearing an oxygen
tube? This impacts the audience as it makes them want to keep watching the film
so that they can find out what is medically wrong with her and discover why she
is so reminiscent.
Another technique used in The
Fault in Our Stars is match cuts and they are used to link together the
different shots within the flash back of Hazels life at the beginning of the
film. This technique can be seen within the zoom shots in Hazels flashback of
her time in Amsterdam with Augustus. The match cuts end with a medium shot of
Hazel at the hospital where her doctor says “she’s depressed”. Within her
flashback and in the hospital Hazel is wearing the colour blue. The colour blue
has connotations of sadness and is used to show her sadness regarding her
cancer. This links to Barthes Enigma code as the hospital gown accompanied with
the flashbacks of her wearing an oxygen tube makes the audience question what
is the matter with Hazel? This impacts the audience as it makes them feel sorry
for Hazel and gain an emotional attachment to her which results in them
continuing to watch the movie so that they can find out if she is ok.
Contrapuntal sound is also
used within the film. This technique can be seen in the zoom shot of Hazel when
she is in the support group with other cancer patients talking about how dying
makes them feel. The diegetic upbeat guitar song is a contrapuntal sound as it
sounds happy when the characters are discussing a sad subject therefore the
music presents the ideology of happiness when in reality the scene is sad. In
this scene Hazel is wearing a white top which symbolises her innocence and
makes the audience feel sorry for her as she is innocent and is dying. Hazel is
also wearing blue within this scene which symbolises her sadness about dying.
This links to Levis Strauss’ Binary opposition theory. This is because the
happy music is going against the sadness of the situation which symbolises the
cancer patients trying to remain positive even though they have cancer.
Therefore the conflict is between the characters and their cancer as they are
fighting against the negatives that their cancer brings and attempting to
remain positive. This impacts the audience as it makes them feel sympathy
towards the characters because they have cancer and the audience worry about
the characters. Therefore they continue to watch the film so that they can find
out what happens to the characters.
Also, reverse shots are used
within the film to express how two characters feel about each other. This
technique can be seen when there is a high angle close-up of hazel looking up
at Augustus smiling and a medium shot of Augustus looking down at Hazel
smiling. This technique is used to show that Hazel and Augustus’ romance was
love at first sight. Within this scene Augustus is shown to be wearing a brown
leather jacket. The colour brown has connotations of confidence, therefore
showing that Augustus is a confident young man, possibly because he beat
cancer. This links to Levi Strauss’ binary oppiosition theory. This is because
Hazel and Augustus are both fighting against their cancer to find happiness and
they find this happiness within each other as shown in the reverse shot. This
impacts the audience as it makes them want to see if Hazel falls in love with
Augustus therefore making the little time that she has left as happy as
possible.
There is a close-up shot used
shortly after the reverse shot which shows Augustus’ prosthetic leg. The close
up of the prosthetic leg also interlinks with Augustus’ brown jacket. This is
because the brown colour of his jacket shows Augustus’ confidence and the
prosthetic leg accompanied by his dialogue explains that he fought cancer and
won. Therefore this would make Augustus confident as he beat a life threatening
disease. This links to Levi Strauss’ binary opposition theory. This is because
Augustus fights against the cancer for his life. This would impact the audience
as they would see Augustus in a positive manor as he fought against cancer and
lost his leg and still kept the comedic and enthusiastic personality.
Finally, the film itself is a
flashback. This is evident when in the voice over Hazel says “so I went” as we
see a long shot of Hazel and her mom in the car driving to the support group.
The flashback of Hazels life shows the problematic life that she has led due to
her cancer. She wears the colours blue and white throughout the film to show
her innocence, making the audience angry that she was an innocent and had her
chance at a normal happy life ripped away by her cancer. The colour blue shows
her sadness that she will never have the normal happy life that she deserved
due to her cancer. These colours accompanied by the explanation of how her
short life consisted of hospital appointments regarding what painful treatment
she would receive next and finally finding love and happiness only to have it
stolen away by cancer killing her ‘star crossed love of her life’. This links
to Levi Strauss’ binary opposition theory. This is because Hazels life is how
the narrative is told and her life is a constant battle against the cancer in
the hope of her living a happy and fulfilling life. However the cancer cuts her
life short and steals the only source of happiness and contentment that she
has. This impacts the audience as it makes them feel sympathy for Hazel as a
result of the emotional attachment of which they gain for her throughout the
course of the film
So that’s it guys. I hope that
you have thoroughly enjoyed my analysis of these films in preparation for our
exciting new film genre season and that this will encourage you to watch it
when it begins.
Keep checking my page for more
updates regarding the work of jinjasnap.
Speak soon.
Holly x
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