Case Study

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off   

List of camera shots in order of the introduction:

• The introduction starts with an establishing shot of their house then goes to a close up shot of a boy lying in bed.  

• Two shot from a low angle looking down on boy 

• Close up again on boy face 

• Two shot low angle 

• Back and forth close up and two shot 

• Master shot of room featuring parents looking down on kid 

• Over the shoulder shot, standard focus pull 

• Knee level, high angle shot, close up of shoes 

• Hip level close up shot 

• Shallow focus on boy, close up, high angle 

• Close up fades out of focus, point of view shot 

• Half body shot of boy laying in bed. 

• Shoulder height shot, shallow focus 

• Close up of boy 

• Close up women 

• Two shot, low angle, point of view  

• Close up of women 

• Two shot, low angle, point of view 

• Over the shoulder, close up of boy, Standard focus pull 

 

For this assignment, I chose the Movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off from Netflix. A master shot of a room is established in the first scene which covers the important actions in the scene, including major characters and scenic points of interest. It captures everything the audience needs to know and see in order to understand the purpose. The camera work contributed to the text's meaning because it showed more emotion. For example, when using a close-up shot, it captures a subtle difference on the actor's face that the audience might otherwise miss in longer or wider shots. Specifically in the introduction of “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” it shows a close up on the boy’s face and women's faces to show confusion as they converse with each other. The boy pretends to be sick and constantly makes over exaggerated faces which clearly shows the viewer his intention. Especially when he is shown winking at his sister, as she yells at their parents. Without the close up, these facial expressions wouldn’t be as clear, and the audience wouldn’t understand what’s happening.   

In the next scene the parents are shown from a low angle looking down on the boy to convey the sense of authority and power they hold over him. The over the shoulder shot looking towards the boy helps capture the perspective of the subject whose shoulder the camera is placed behind. This can display to the audience the relationship dynamic between two characters on screen as well as Ferris Buellers vulnerability.  

The beginning scene is a sequence of close-up clips that cut fast between one another. These quick, back-to-back shots help connect the dialogue between the characters. It can also be used to suggest the chaos and swiftly convey a lot of information. Tension is show through this as Ferris Bullers sister doesn’t believe he is sick and is mad at their parents for letting him stay home. This is portrayed through a Knee level, close up of his sisters' shoes and a hip level close up shot of her hands on her hips. This shows her anger towards the situation through her body language.  

Most of the framing in the close-up shots are closed to make a statement about the inconclusiveness of the film. when the camera is up close to the boy's face, it shows how trapped he is in that situation as his parents tower over him. At one point the camera does an over-the-shoulder shot with a standard focus pull so the foreground is blurred and the background is clear, which focuses on the subject and makes the scene more intimidating. Rule of thirds was presented when it showed both the parents talking to the camera to create more interesting and appealing composition. These all aid to the construction of meaning because it creates the sense of atmosphere and allows the viewer to be more connected to the actors.