ANALYSING FILMS: Jennifer's body

Film Analysis: Jennifer's Body (2009)

Director: Karyn Kusama

BBFC 15  MPAA R 

Opening Length: 11 minutes

Budget: $16 m 

Box Office: $31,6 m

Re-Release: $55,000 (UK)

Theatrical Distribution: US only

Production Company: Fox Atomic, Dune Entertainment

Distributor: 20th Century Fox

Synopsis: A newly-possessed high-school cheerleader turns into a succubus who specializes in killing her male classmates. Can her best friend put an end to the horror? (IMDB)

LINKS: wikipedia , IMDB , Box Office Mojo , The Numbers.com

                              

Trailer:

We looked closely at Jennifers body as a case study for our film opening so it's important to understand it's history and reception. 

I looked at this Guardian article by Kira Cochrane: Jennifer's Body: a feminist slasher film? Really?

Jennifer's Body is a hybrid comedy and  horror film from Juno (2007) screenwriter Diablo Cody and director Karyn Kusama, (previously known for her film Girlfight (2000)). The film does follow a female protagonist who is a man eating, bisexually coded schoolgirl.

The film does feature such stereotypical,  male-gazey (Laura Mulvey) attributes: closeups of Fox's cleavage, as well as an extended kiss between the two girls but it also explores the complexity of a deep female friendship. 

It is full of sex and violence. Kusama says there was subversive ­ intent in the kiss between the two female leads, but for many, it will just look like two hot girls kissing. And, as its title suggests, the film revolves around one woman's physique – especially the Jennifer's cleavage which Jennifer calls her "smart bombs".

Cody won an Oscar for her 2007 teen comedy, Juno, and has said that "horror is a surprisingly feminist genre. The last person standing is usually a woman." Kusama tells me that the film has "a feminist structure. We're looking at the nature of these two girls' agency in the world, and it's written by a woman and directed by a woman. To me those things are very powerful." 

Opening Shot:

Opening shot

The opening shot is a medium Shot showing a person with long, blonde hair, and a hospital gown with her back to the camera. They are surrounded by toys which connotes innocence and purity. Counter typical for an opening shot, as they tend to be ELS to reveal as much exposition as possible. 

Sound: 

There is light, eerie, music playing, with long-drawn out notes to create a sense of unease and build tension. 

The opening sequence is accompanied by voiceover remaining narrative enigma around who this person is or why they are in this institution. 

Titles:

Counter typical to other films I have looked, the main titles of the film come at the end:

The titles at the end of the film

Only the production company, the primary producer Fox Atomic, and the main title of the film are presented at the start of this film. The titles are in a thin, misty, cursive/hand written font anchoring the teen aspect of the film. The film's title is in a pink cursive font, connoting femininity and its primary female teen target audience. 

We first see Jennifer with an extreme close-up of the mouth. Laura Mulvey would not approve, since this us a prime example of her male gaze theory. However, there is an image of decay and supernatural aspects, connoting a supernatural horror.

First shot we see of Jennifer

The mise-en-scene in Jennifer's room anchors the teen-rom-com horror hybridity in this film. The pink further anchors a teen female primary audience and the posters behind her contextualise this as being set in the 2000s eg. Fall Out Boy poster

Jennifer's bedroom

The Locker Scene: 

The locker scene served as a huge inspiration in the creation of our film opening. The school provides us with exposition that these are teens (being played by 20 year olds). But most importantly it provided us with exposition on the characters relationship and their power dynamic. We replicated this shot reverse shot sequence in our film opening. 

Jennifers Body Locker Scene.pptx from AlexP92627