Analysis of the Film "Superbad"

Name
Course
Professor
Date
Analysis of the film Superbad
Superbad is an American teen comedy film released in 2007. It was produced by Judd Apatow and directed by Greg Mottola and stars Jonah Hill as Seth and Michael Cera as Evan. They are high school teenagers, almost graduating, and they want to party and lose their virginities. However, their plans do not go smoothly as they thought. They meet several challenges getting alcohol for the party due to their underage, arrest threats from the cops, and judgment from their conscience. Mottola uses several cinema making techniques, including cinematography, editing, and character development, to develop the themes of childhood friendship, teenage peer pressure, the human side of cops and the need for parents to guide their children.
Mottola extensively uses cinematographic techniques in the film Superbad. Close-up and medium close-up shots are the most dominant in the film. These shots emphasize the facial expressions of the characters about various issues. Evan and Seth drive to school in the opening scene and head straight to the supermarket's, the magazine section. The audience learns from a prior conversation between the two that Seth like erotic stuff, and a close-up shot of them in the supermarket confirms it. The cameraperson gives a close-up shot of Seth picking an erotic magazine with a half-naked woman on the cover page. The close-up shot is of the magazine is meant to affirm to the audience the kind of content Seth likes. The shot then cut jumps to Seth's face looking closely at the magazine cover, saying, "look at those nipples" (Mottola, 00:04:50).
The film uses camera movements, including pan, to establish various scenes and introduce the audience to a different twist in the plot or show more details on the current scene (Jiang et al., 3). The camera is positioned in front so that Seth and Evan drive towards it when they enter the school to show that they are approaching a special setting which is the school setting. School is governed by rules, including prohibiting students from parking at the faculty. This is why Evan tells Seth that he should not have parked at the faculty lot. (Mottola, 00:04:32). The camera pans following the two teenager's car as it approaches heads towards the faculty parking lot. This pan creates an establishing shot to show where they are headed.
The camera is handheld in the scene where a person robs the liquor store where Fogell goes to buy liquor, and the seller calls the police to the scene. Fogell is underage and has a fake ID with one name, McLovin, Seth, and Evan are outside the liquor store, worried about how to handle the situation. They move away from the store's entrance discussing the situation, and their movement is recorded on a handheld camera, as shown by the shaking frames (Mottola, 00:43:18-00:44:18). The shaking frame shows the dilemma situation of the two boys who need the liquor but do not have more money yet have to impress the party host and the guests. They are also in a dilemma situation because their friend, Fogell, is in trouble without their parents' knowledge.
The film's characterization is crucial in developing teenage friendship and peer pressure themes. Seth and Evan, the protagonists, are good f...