Sixteen+Candles+Analysis

=Sixteen Candles=


 * 1) 1. __What is the plot (what does the character want)?__

Sam wants Jake Ryan to notice her and like her back. She also wants her family to appreciate her more and not focus so much on her older sister. An equally important character, Farmer Ted aka the Geek, wants to get with Samantha, as he is basically unaware of the social gap between their two friend groups.


 * 1) 2. __What is the theme (what does the character need)?__

Just like many of Hughes’s other movies, the main character has to get over their wants and realize what is actually good for them. However, in this case these two things are very similar. Sam needs to find her confidence and approach her life with optimism. Farmer Ted, on the other hand, needs to somewhat relax and lay back on his optimistic doings, as they are leading him to be known as a jerk. He needs to focus on the more important things, like embracing who he is as a person, and using __this__ to achieve his goals. This theme of finding yourself is extremely evident through this one and all of Hughes’s movies.


 * 1) 3. __10 Elements:__

In this scene at their high school dance, Farmer Ted is starting to approach Samantha, as he is interested in her, while Samantha, at the same time, is beginning to notice her love interest, Jake, more and more.


 * 1) **1.** **Sound:** Hughes puts nondiegetic sound effects in his films to emphasize certain parts of the plot or his characters’ personalities. In this case, as Sam turns around and farmer Ted appears in front of her, an iconic “DUN DUN DUUUN” sound effect is strategically placed here to show her horror at the situation. This, in addition to making the film more humorous (which is a big part of Hughes’s motive), adds to the social stratification between the two characters and exemplifies the theme of teenage struggles and problems of high school society (which the characters have to overcome).


 * 1) 2. **Mise-en-scene:** Hughes uses a variety of different backgrounds in this scene, the most important being the high school students dancing in the background. In specific, as the geek is dancing around Sam, one of the less popular “nerdy” extras is in the background, wearing mono sunglasses and snapping his fingers repetitively. This, in addition to other shots of the “nerds”, also builds social stratification and a gap between social groups, which builds Hughes’ theme of overcoming these kinds of things (as his main characters do)


 * 1) 3. **Lighting:**Hughes uses different hues in this scene, to show his characters’ motives and needs. For example, when slow songs start playing and the focus is on Samantha, the light has many red and pink tones, commonly seen as colors of love, and her interests in Jake are highlighted.


 * 1) 4. **Editing:** When Jake and Sam’s eyes meet as he is dancing with Caroline, it seems as he is looking at her directly. However, she does not seem to notice this even though she is staring right at him. Only after another shot of Jake does she look away embarrassed. This seems to show her building optimism and growing strength and belief in herself as she is becoming bolder.


 * 1) 5. **Mise-en-scene:** When the geek’s friend, Wheeze, is scoping out Samantha with goggles, a POV shot of him includes a completely red hue and a scope/goggle overlay. This adds to the comedic effect of the movie, but also serves to alienate Samantha as something unreachable for the geeks, similarly to how Jake seems unreachable to Sam.


 * 1) 6. **Cinematography:** At the beginning of the scene, a fairly long dolly shot of all the geeks shows them lined up against the wall, just watching the dance. The moving shot makes them look like simple objects, part of the scene, without making them feel real and like 3D characters. Again, this adds to separation of social groups in the film (which the geek breaks).


 * 1) 7. **Sound:** Hughes’ choice of music is simple yet effective. He uses 80s style music, something that 80s teenagers would listen to at a high school dance in the 80s. In addition he chooses slow songs when Sam is the focus of the shot, as she is interested in Jake, and faster songs when the Geek is making an appearance, emphasizing his optimism.


 * 1) 8. **Dialogue:** When the Geek is talking to Samantha, he comes of as a complete jerk, somewhat objectifying her and making her seem as nothing more than a goal to use against his friends. This, in addition to his other behavior, shows the audience that he is not as secure as he seems and that he needs to bolster his ego by acting this way. Hughes’ theme of being yourself is challenged here.


 * 1) 9. **Mise-en-scene:** During the scene, smaller storylines can be seen, with unnamed characters. For example, one boy is dragged to the dance by his parents, and he repeatedly tries to escape because he wants to spend more time with them. This shows the diversity of the teenage life in the film and serves the theme of being yourself.

10.**Mise-en-scene:** Another example of the previously mentioned technique is a girl with headgear that has difficulties completing everyday tasks like dancing and drinking from a water fountain. However, she is able to overcome these difficulties eventually, which relates and connects to the main characters’ needs to overcome the difficulties in their lives.