Analysis of the film, Sweet Sixteen (Part 1 of the movie) (2002)
Pauline Kate Baluyut
Sweet Sixteen is an independent, social realism film released in the UK in the year, 2002. It was completed with a low budget and hired unknown actors.
Narrative
The film deals with a sixteen year old boy (ironically), named Liam who is in a broken family and is involved in the issue of drug dealing.
The title is a play on words as the title 'sweet sixteen' is normally associated with/given to innocent teenage girls celebrating their sixteenth birthday.
This essay will deal with the ways in which the director (Ken Loach) tries to make the film more relatable to it's target audience. The film has three main features, in order to reach this goal. These are: Camera, sound and mise en scene
Camera
Personally I didn't find the opening of the film a powerful tool to engage it's viewers. The film opened with a dark setting which lasted for about a minute and a half. This meant that viewers had to rely mainly on their sense of hearing and imagination so that they are able to make sense of what is happening in the film.
Besides this, the lack of lighting gives the opening a sense of danger. The theme danger is often associated with social realism films as it often deals with scenarios of the main character in danger.
From this first scene we see that the main character, Liam and his friend, Pinball sells things to a group of young children. After this we see a 'friendly' side of Liam as he asks, a young girl what she sees in the telescope.
Even as the next scene unfolds, the lighting is still quite dark, as demonstrated on the image located below. The dark lighting may be a 'forecast' or a 'tell tale' that the movie deals with dark matters of society; drug use, such as this film is about.
Shots
The film uses a wide range of shots, these include:
- Long Shots
- Medium Shots
- Over shoulder shots
- Wide shots
- Close up shots
The film often uses close up shots so that viewers can get a glimpse of what characters are feeling/ their personality. In this scene the main character's face is both lit up and shrouded with shadows. This may indicate that whilst the boy is involved in 'drug use' he is also seen as just an 'innocent child' amongst crimes. This shot also shows that Liam has a 'worried look' on his face, this is so that audiences can see a more 'humane' side of Liam, therefore understanding his character even more.
As well as using close up shots, the film uses wide shots so that the audience can get a glimpse of the setting. This particular wide shot shows viewers that the film is set in rural Scotland.
This shocks the viewers because social realism films are often, only shot in urban areas.
Editing:
Scene 1-Scene 2
The editing for the transition of scene 1 - scene 2, was a straight cut. This may, be so that the viewers can understand more clearly that there are two different sides of Liam's personality.
Scene 2- Scene 3
Again the straight-cut, editing is used.
After viewing the 'sweet sixteen' ( part 1) video entirely, i have realised that the film only uses straight cuts in order to change into the following scene.
- Sound
Scene 1:
From the first scene we hear the voice of the main character selling something to young children, whilst this is happening a soft tune can be heard along with the background noises of trees and cars. The instrument that accompanies this scene seems to be a flute.
Scene 2:
The soft music (flute) from scene 1 then transforms into fast paced music, as the first scene abruptly cuts to the next. This is shown from the video below (please view it from 01:01-01:43 in order to hear/view this change).
Scene 3:
The fast paced music from scene two still accompanies this scene. This may be, because it refers to the characters doings. for example when Liam, in scene one, was asking the girl what she sees in the telescope, the music was slow and soft; referring to Liam's 'soft' side. On the other hand when Liam and his friend were caught trying to sell cigarettes in the pub (scene 2) the music changes from soft to fast.
Scene 4:
There is no music in this scene, only the characters' voices and the car can be heard, this is so that the audience can find this scene more relatable.
Scene 5:
There is also no music in this scene.
As Liam and his family enters this scene, we hear the soft mumble of other families and hear the footsteps made by Liam and his family.
- Mis en scene
The first scene shows us that the characters are standing on top of a hill with a view of what seems to be a nearby town.
The first clear location we are shown is a pub. This is where the main character, Liam and his friend are both selling cigarettes and are also both wearing 'hoodies'. Teenagers that are referred to as 'hooligans' are mainly stereotyped as to, be wearing hoodies and baggy jogging bottoms, this is the type of clothes that both Liam and his friend are seen wearing.
Scene three shows us a town; mainly having grey and damp looking buildings. I have also noticed that there is a small fraction of people shown (excluding the main characters) This gives off a feeling of rural deprivation.
The last scene, scene 5; informs us of the whereabouts of Liam's mother. Liam's mother is shown to be in prison. This may serve as a reason as to why Liam, was shown looking out of his window during the car journey, seeming to have a worried look on his childlike face.
The last scene, scene 5; informs us of the whereabouts of Liam's mother. Liam's mother is shown to be in prison. This may serve as a reason as to why Liam, was shown looking out of his window during the car journey, seeming to have a worried look on his childlike face.
Conclusion
From watching the film, sweet sixteen (part one) I have gained a clear understanding that the film has a specific, niche target audience. I have gained this understanding through analysing the use of the camera, sound and mise en scene features. As I and other students found it hard to understand the character's dialects, I have come to the idea that the film, sweet sixteen is targeted to the male Scottish audience, who are 15 years/older. The reason for my belief is, that during the entirety of Sweet Sixteen (part one), there was only one main female character (Liam's mother) which the film intertwines it's story with. It has been given a 15+ rating because the film contains the use of strong language and has the theme which encircles drug dealing.
Even though 'Sweet Sixteen' was released as an independent film targeted to a niche audience it was widely successful as it had scored an exceptional score on the 'Rotten Tomatoes' website with a 97% on the 'Tomatometer' and gaining an 84% like from the audience. Other websites like 'The Guardian' have also scored the film a high rating, 4 stars. This shows that it has successfully advertised its film to its target audience.
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