The Breakfast Club Opening Analysis ☮ ☮ ☮

The opening to "The Breakfast Club"(1985), shows a David Bowie quote. Stating,"...And these children that you spit on as they try to change their worlds are immune to your consultations, they're quite aware of what they're going through...", This casts a mood over the audience that the film is going to be centred around young people, showing their problems, which would cast a rather serious and possibly upsetting mood. we also see this with the song "Don't You (Forget About Me) by The ''Simple Minds'', also suggesting with the genre of music which is rock that the film will be entered around teenagers, and with the lyrics suggesting that the characters are unforgettable.
Following this we see a medium shot of a high school, showing the audience where the scene is being set, and also the type of characters we are going to see (teenagers). After we see a medium shot of an empty corridor and school canteen , giving the impression that it is out of school hours due to the deserted space. Suggesting to the audience we aren't going to be seeing a regular school day, also suggesting that this isn't going to be a typical high school movie.

We then see various close-up shots of what would be perceived as stereotypical to certain groups. For example we see a student store board, with books and pencils advertised,which would be stereotyped towards "nerds" or "geeks". Next we see a close up shot of a plank of wood with the sentence "i'm eating my head" engraved on it, which would be stereotyped with "basket-cases" and "out-casts", who typically don't care about school.

After, we see a red school locker standing out from the rest in a medium shot, the locker looks tarnished and black as with whats on the floor that has clearly fallen out of the locker, suggesting a stereotype of a "bully" or "rebel". After that we see a newspaper, which headline reads, "Clarke Sparks Grapplers" with a picture of a wrestling match occurring, stereotyping to an "athlete" or "jock", Immediately here I got the impression that the shots were outlining characters in the film, due to the use of a specific name, This also makes the audience feel that this film is very much based around stereotypes, or at least focuses on them.We also see a medium shot of banners and decorations advertising to students to "vote for your prom queen", Which gave the final impression that we would see a "popular" or "high status" girl.

The camera then jumps to the front at the bottom of a BMW car(immediately giving off the impression of wealth), panning up to see a teenage girl in the passenger seat looking out the window with a glum irritated face, while an older man who is presumed to be her father is looking at her, making the audience believe she may have an attitude and a lack of respect as she doesn't look at her father while he is talking to her. The camera then jumps to inside the car with a close up shot of the teenage girl "Claire" with her father seen beside her. She then states that it is "absurd" that she has to be at school on a Saturday, to which her father reveals is because she skipped school to go shopping. Claire's father has his arm around her smiling, whilst she makes an angered face and gets out of the car, showing that claire isn't very close to her father, and gives off the impression of a spoiled brat, and also making the audience feel she is the typical ''prom queen" character.

After we see a close up shot of three people in a car, where a woman is yelling at her son to study whilst he is in (which is revealed to be) detention, she also reveals it is the first time he has been in detention, making the audience insinuate that he is the "nerdy" character, He comes across as quite a shy and quiet person who does what he's told, With him also seeming quite distant from his mum because he seems hurt by her ranting at him.He then also is seen getting out of what seems to be a pretty average car, which gives the impression he comes from a normal/average family.

We then see a boy dressed in a varsity jacket, immediately showing that he is the "jock" character, With his dad seeming quite masculine and understanding about why his son is in detention, He seems more annoyed that he got caught, as he may have been banned from a "match", which gives the audience the impression that his dad isn't very affectionate to his son, and the reason his son acted up was because he wanted his dad attention, as he dad admits he also "messed around" giving the impression that he only does these things to impress his dad. The boy seems quiet and distracted as he doesn't look at his dad when he talks but directly in front of him, which shows he is listening but that his dad hasn't go his complete attention. He is then shown getting out of a "pick-up truck" which is stereotyped to masculine/butch men.

As the truck pulls away it reveals a teenage boy in a trench coat and sunglasses crossing the road, where another car brakes dramatically almost hitting the boy, but the teenager doesn't flinch or stop and carries on walking. This gave the effect that because all the other teenagers had got dropped off by their parents, That this boy doesn't have a relationship with his parents at all or not a nice home life, as he seems very independent, This illustrates that this could be the "rebel" figure in the film, due to his not caring persona and different style of dress.

The car that almost ran him down is only shown from the outside in the same long shot, showing a girl get out the back seat, dressed in all black, she closes the door and pauses, she goes to walk to the front door to lean in and possibly say goodbye to what the audience would presume is her parent(s), but the car drives away before she can. Making the audience think that her relationship with her parents isn't very functional either, but she seems to be making more of an effort to communicate than her parents. Her black hair, outfit and lack of dialogue or any sort of body language suggest that she is the "out-cast" of the group due to her dismal first impression.

Overall within the car shots seen, the audience can gather, that none of the teenagers get along brilliantly with their parents, all seeming to take something for granted that another one of the characters would most probably want from their parent, This links to the quote seen at the beginning as it talks about how the older generation "spits" on the younger generation. The audience can also gather each characters personality on first impressions due to the stereotypes that were given off and shown in the previous shots of the school, this also showed the impact on what each one has on the school, good or bad. for example, the athlete bringing publicity (and trophies which were seen in a cabinet)to the school, would be considered a good thing. Whereas the damaged made to schools property, like the locker shown, is a negative impact.