Elizabeth Kerlin

ETT 531
Fall 2014
Learning Activity 10: Motion Visual Analysis Paper

Analysis of Selection of Ferris Buellers Day Off:

While serving as a Cult Classic film for an entire generation, mine specifically, Ferris
Beullers Day Off, not only served as a comical relief and overview of Chicago highlights but
incorporated multiple aspects of the art of film making. Throughout the film the main
characters personalities are conveyed and explored through various music changes, lighting,
camera angle shots, and more. The analyzed segment of the Ferris Buellers Day Off can be
viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubpRcZNJAnE.
In this segment, three of the main characters have escaped their routine school day and
are exploring the Art Institute of Chicago. Throughout the film, viewers are continuously
redirected to hyperbolized fun to intense solitary emotions, depending on which character is
being explored. The characters join a group of elementary students, seemingly on a field trip.
The viewers are then taken on a quick tour of well known pieces of art throughout the
museum. The characters then play in their surroundings, mimicking objects at their disposal.
The characters are then split between the couple and the individual who is isolated. The final
frames teeter between the third abandoned character and a subject within Georges-Pierre
Seurats A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.
This entire 1:50 minute segment uses the concept of Montage to present a multitude of
information in a compressed time period. The information being conveyed is of our main
characters trip through the Art Institute and all of the works of art they are exposed to. In the
time frame 0:19-0:27, I thought the director was using the art to show the three characters and
their personalities. The first piece of art shown is Edward Hoppers Nighthawks, which shows
one individual setting isolated from a conversation at the diner (Cameren character in Red
Wings Jersey who throughout the film fights for acceptance from his parents and life). The next

frame shows two similar pieces of art that can only belong together (Ferris and Simone who are
boyfriend and girlfriend). The third pieces of art are a now representing each of the characters,
Cameren as the abstract art on the far left, Simone as Picassos Nude Under a Pine Tree, and
Ferris is Albert Giacomettis The Walking Man II.
Starting at frame 0:57, during the montage, the director uses composition and
symmetry to draw the viewers attention and create an interesting arrangement. The
symmetry further draws attention to characters in juxtaposition to the art. The three main
characters and various patrons of the museum remain motionless while the camera cuts from
frame to frame. A medium close up of the characters at 0:57 also incorporates an angled shot
to show depth in the frame and in the characters too, leaving our angst-filled Cameren at the
end of our sight.
Lighting, cutting between frames, zoom-in and a variety of screen space selections from
medium-close up to extreme close up at integrated quickly and seamlessly from 1:05 till 1:42.
Cameren is shown alone in from of the large Seurat painting, framed in a medium-long shot
from head to toe with soft natural lighting. The frame quickly switches to the couple, framed in
a silhouette embracing. Composition and the Rule of Thirds is evident here are the couple is
positioned in the lower third intersection of points. Frames change their use of screen space as
the viewer is taken back and forth between the lone character and the couple. The lone
character at 1:18 again follows the Rule of Thirds, remaining on the far left line. At 1:24 though,
the screen space being used now creates a back and forth cutting of frames between the lone
character and a small child in the Seurat painting.
Seurat was master of Pointillism, which I feel is important in this scene for our lone
character who is struggling to find himself. Pointillism if looked upon closely is a blurred image
at best, being created with thousands of tiny dots of paint. At the final extreme close-up of the
small child and the lone character, Cameren, the viewer is being shown that he feels as
obscured and without focus as the Pointillism subject. At 1:38, Cameren has a moment of
recognition with the painted child and the camera then only frames in for the final moments
into the Pointillism child being further and further obscured. After the last moment of the Art
Institute scene, a quick image of the loud and boisterous parade scene that proceeds.

Throughout the entire segment the only audio viewers have to interpret the emotions
of the characters and importance of these moments in their life is the calming instrumental
music that carries the viewers to the end. This important segment in Ferris Beullers Day Off
shows the dichotomy of a young adult through its serious tones and multiple uses of film
technique. This comedic film explores both the life-loving nature of young adults, while
exploring their need for acceptance and clarity of self-awareness.

Citations
Basic Film Techniques [Motion picture]. (n.d.). USA. Retrieved from:
http://www.screencast.com/t/BJKR59v4Bx4
Ferris Beuller's Day Off--Museum Scene [Motion picture]. (n.d.). USA. Retrieved from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubpRcZNJAnE
Giocometti, A. (1960). Walking Man II [Painting]. Retrieved from
http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/23368?search_no=16&index=3
Hopper, E. (1942). Nighthawks [Painting]. Retrieved from
http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/111628?search_no=18&index=1
Picasso, P. (1959). Nude Under a Pine Tree [Painting]. Retrieved from
http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/23968?search_no=11&index=107
Seurat, G.P. (1884). A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte [Painting]. Retrieved
from http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/27992?search_no=17&index=2