Task Five- Director Case Study

John Hughes

Background Knowledge Of Hughes

This is a video I made which list some of Hughes' greatest films and achievements.

              

John Hughes was an American Director. He was born February 18th 1950 and died of a heart attack in 2009. While growing up in Michigan he became inspired by the film industry at college. He slowly developed into a director and it began when he dropped out of university to sell jokes to established comedians, this was an early sign of his ability. His breakthrough film was National Lampoons vacation which he wrote himself inspired from his own family vacations. Later stories soon revealed his talent for targeting a teen audience and their indignities.

Hughes made it clear that he was not interested in hollywood when he turned down the opportunity to direct 'Mr Mom' as he didn't want to get 'chewed up'. This shows he wanted to be different to the mainstream directors which gave him a particular style. Hughes used mise en scene in several ways to achieve this. Firstly he wanted settings and films to be realistic. For example, in 'Ferris Buellers Day Off' he uses primary settings such as his bedroom, school and down town chicago. This is done as it immerses the demographic in the narrative as they will find the film relatable. The quote above shows that Hughes strongly believed it was essential for teenagers to play parts in teenage movies as it gave this demographic a relatable form of escapism. Hughes also uses lighting effectively to set the mood and atmosphere. At the start of Breakfast Club he successfully portrays a picture of gloom for the teenagers in detention by the awkward setting a slight low key lighting. Hughes uses soundtracks in most of his films which have lyrical importance to the film. For example, the simple minds song used in Breakfast Club reflects abandonment and themes 80s teenagers will have struggled with.

Throughout his career he did not reuse actors unless it was for a sequel such a 'Home Alone' however some interesting revelations about his directing techniques have been revealed. Firstly, he often let teenage characters improvise to add further realism and truth to his teen films. For example in Breakfast Club he let the actor improvise each of there confessions while filming. He even used the name Edmond Dantes for weaker movies such as Beethoven so it would not affect his reputation. Lastly he tried his best to give teenagers a fair chance and used his films to help negative views held by the public. He used quotes such as this one to show this.

The narratives in his films were often similar. The films he produced like Breakfast Club and Ferris Buellers Day Off were based around school and teenagers. His films also shared a common demographic of young adults or teenagers as they were often rated a 12 or below. His legacy will remain simply as the man who involved the younger generations in the film industry when they were not previously wanted or trusted.

Example Of Film

The opening scene highlights the specific audience which Hughes targeted. The film opening shows a young character who is trying to bunk off school. This scenario is perfectly relatable to the demographic who Hughes wanted to be immersed in the narrative. The Mise En Scene in the opening is stereotypcally a teenage boy as he has posters and a untidy room. Furthermore his relationship with his sibling is rocky which carries the narrative further. The voiceover clearly shows that the film is set in America like all of Hughes' films as it is a trademark of his. Lastly, the narrative is relatively obvious as it suggested to the audience how and why the equilibrium will be disturbed in the opening two minutes.

What have I learnt

This piece of research has showed me how important John Hughes was to the film industry. He almost single handedly helped teenage actors gain recognition in films as he trusted them to perform for their own age group. In addition it shows that every director has their own  trademark due to techniques and genres they favour, in Hughes' case school life. When I decide a suitable director for my film I will have to consider directors that have trademarks which target my demographic. If they do not fit this the film will seem disjointed and unrealistic.