Genre Analysis - Little Miss Sunshine by Julia Knigge

Setting

3002419_1 — 2024-03-21 17:02:06 UTC

Little Miss Sunshine fits the topic of road trip with setting very well. Majority of the film is set in the car on the way to the beauty pageant. We have many scenes showing off the nature and stops along the way to show the progress this family makes during their trip.

Characters

3002419_1 — 2024-03-21 17:02:25 UTC

Many characters can fit into a road trip category because characters can be conformed into the story. However, the characters in the film were very beneficial to the plot. Many characters were polar opposites, like Dwayne and Edwin. Dwayne takes a vow of silence, and Edwin is a very loud, opinionated man. Those two characters being polar opposites makes the road trips all the more awkward and humorous.

Iconography

3002419_1 — 2024-03-21 17:02:43 UTC

Iconography and setting really do carry the topic of road trip. We see lots of props in the car used to keep the children entertain. We see Dwight reading a book, along with Olive listening to her music on her walk-man. Additionally, there are highway signs shown to represent the pace of which the family is moving to California.

Plot

3002419_1 — 2024-03-21 17:02:51 UTC

The whole of the movie is about a family going on a road trip. The film starts off in the Hoover’s home set in New Mexico and by the end of the movie they get to California, the way the family gets there was their 1980s Volkswagen bus. All the characters have some sort of problem occur to them during these road trips to keep the plot moving but overall.

Mood

3002419_1 — 2024-03-21 17:03:03 UTC

The mood we get from this movie, specifically focusing on the road trip, is as expected. It evokes emotions from happiness, to sadness. We have scenes where characters are bickering, for example, in the car when Edwin and Richard were arguing about what is appropriate to discuss in front of Olive. We also feel happy when the family is supportive of Olive's dance and cheers her on.

Cinematic Style

3002419_1 — 2024-03-21 17:03:23 UTC

Cinematic style does fit into the road trips. We see lots of wide shots to show off the entire family all in one shot. They also do quick cuts to make the scene seem more chaotic, just like a road trip would be.

Setting

3002419_1 — 2024-03-21 17:03:34 UTC

There are settings that fit into the Tragicomedy part of Little Miss Sunshine. We have scenes that are set in the hospital, and where there are florescent lights and very dull colors. These characteristics of the setting causes the viewers to feel the tragic part.

Characters

3002419_1 — 2024-03-21 17:03:44 UTC

Characters do fit the part of a tragic comedy, especially Olive. We immediately see that Olive is interested in attending beauty pageants, and that humors the viewers because she does not look like a typical beauty pageant contestant because of her body. Once Olive gets to the beauty pageant, she starts to realize how different she is from the other contestants and starts to become insecure. Seeing a little girl ashamed of what she looks like then makes this movie sad.

Iconography

3002419_1 — 2024-03-21 17:03:53 UTC

The iconography of Little Miss Sunshine does fit into the topic of tragicomedy. There are not a lot of visuals having to do with a tragedy, although there are parts to the movie that are related to comedy, like the door of the Volkswagen van falling off.

Plot

3002419_1 — 2024-03-21 17:04:01 UTC

The plot also fits into the topic of tragicomedy. For the most part, this movie was filled with humor, but some parts were also filled with tragic/sad emotions. For example, when Olive was quizzing Dwayne to test his vision. Olive firsts announce to the car that he has 20/20 vision, then she pulls out a color-blind test and Dwayne discovers that he is color-blind, which ruins his dream of becoming a pilot in the air force.

Mood

3002419_1 — 2024-03-21 17:04:09 UTC

Throughout the film, we do see a certain place that bring us a sad feeling. In the hospital scene the grandpa is dead and there are sad quiet moments, but then the plot changes and the director makes the plot humorous (carrying Edwin’s body out the window)

Cinematic Style

3002419_1 — 2024-03-21 17:04:24 UTC

The director of Little Miss Sunshine did long shots where a character was close to the camera and the others were in the background. This causes the camera to see the emotions that the one characters is experiencing while being able to see what the other characters are doing, maybe even feeling based off of their body language.

3002419_1 — 2024-04-04 01:39:04 UTC

I believe the purpose of this film is to show that family should always be there when needed. In the film, there are many times when one character undergoes a major transformation in their life, and the family member are there to comfort them. Some examples of this is Frank attempting suicide, but his family offers him to stay with them during his recovery. Also, Dwayne find out he is color-blind so his dreams f being a pilot are crushed, but Olive was there to comfort him. Finally, we have Olive preforming her dance and security tried to kick her off, but the whole family protected and supported her. Overall, it was very heart-warming to see the relationship between all the family members and how they all oddly clicked together.