Post 11-Ferris Buellers Day Off - Mise en scene

Ferris Bueller’s day off- Car crash scene

In Ferris Bueller’s day off Ferris manages to convince his best friend Cameron to take his father’s Lamborghini out, his most prized possession and one of only one hundred and twenty models made. The skiving teenagers manage to keep it safe and pristine all day however they unintentionally build up over 3000 miles on it which Cameron was sure his father would notice. After Ferris came up with what he thought an immaculate idea, the three teenagers started to run the vehicle backwards in hope that the miles would come off. Unfortunately, this did it not turn out as successful as Ferris would have hoped. Leading to Cameron furiously talking about this father and how he pushes him around.  

The character movement in this scene is very significant. Ferris’s best friend Cameron starts violently vandalising his father’s Lamborghini as he has decided that he needs to stand up for himself against his father. He starts his violent episode by finally admitting that he is fed up of being pushed around by his father and that he will no longer stand for it. He wants to make his father angry and by kicking his favourite car he aims to do this. I think at first, he kicks it just to make a dent on the car, however then felt how good it was to be destroying the thing that has replaced him in his dad’s life, he continues to kick the car, creating more damage than anticipated. All of Cameron’s movements were representing the way how he feels about his father and is demonstrating the idea of ‘actions speak louder than words’ as if Cameron was to speak to his dad about the way he’s feeling towards him he probably wouldn’t take any notice, although, by breaking the thing his dad loves the most it is almost speaking those words for him but his dad will actually listen. Cameron wants to hurt his father just like he’s hurt him and he feels he can only do this through hurting his car. In this image you can see the way that Cameron is leaning over the car, by doing this he is showing confidence and that he no longer worries about damaging the car as he has realised that he is better than it and should worth more than it. Cameron’s body language in this scene is showing a lot more confidence from what he has in past scenes, especially the scene prior to this where he completely breaks down.

 When Cameron starts kicking the car he manages to do a lot of damage, symbolising all of the rage which he has in side of him which has been building up to explode and break everything around him. Whilst kicking the car Cameron is repeatedly shouting “Who’d you love?” as if he is talking to his father. The character expression in this scene is also foreshadowing the consequences in which he is going to be facing once his father finds out. After each hit the camera cuts to the stand which the car is placed on and whenever Cameron is kicking the car the stand falls back slightly. I think the stand is representing the level of punishment that Cameron will be receiving, after the first kick it leans back a little symbolising that his father will be angry but won’t be that disappointed, and as the stand leans back further and further after each dent is made, his punishment is slowly getting worse.

Furthermore, the two other characters in this scene Ferris and his girlfriend Sloane have significant expressions which add to the meaning behind the violence which Cameron puts on his father’s car. The first character is Ferris, he’s laid back and has always had an easy life, something which Cameron has not, in this image you can see how he has his hands in his pockets and is watching Cameron look at the car and is listening to what he is saying and is looking as if he knows what Cameron is about to do. By having his hands in his pocket, he is coming across laid back, however with his facial expressions looking concerned it’s almost like he’s trying to put on that ‘Ferris Bueller’ front and is trying to seem confident and relaxed when in reality he’s worried about Cameron. Ferris’s girlfriend Salone isn’t ashamed of hiding her concern in front of Ferris or Cameron, in this image she has he arms folded and her face looks extremely worried as if she’s trying to empathise with Cameron and really listen to what he has to say. However, after the first kick, I think Ferris realises that this is what Cameron has got to do and he pulls back Salone when she tries to stop Cameron. Ferris is showing how he is Cameron’s longest friend as he understands how Cameron thinks this will help him and doesn’t want anything to take that chance of him finally sticking up to his father away.

The setting in this scene plays a key role in the importance of the car and the serious trouble that Cameron will get in after his father sees the damage he’s done. The car is based in the garage, an all glass room separate from the rest of the house within the trees. This setting plays a significant part in the wealth of Cameron’s family as well as the car. The car is one of only one hundred and twenty made and so it is serious when Cameron starts destroying it. The garage looks like an expensive piece of architecture and so when the scene starts you can immediately tell that Cameron’s family are wealthy and that the damage that Cameron is about to cause is serious. Cameron has been bought up in a wealthy family and so his back fire to his father’s actions are so extreme because of the expensive environment that he has been brought up in.

The setting is also important because of the level of protection which Cameron’s father has gone to just to make sure his car remained untouched, therefore exaggerating the extreme consequences Cameron will receive when he father sees the damage he has done to his car. The fact how his father has a separate building for his car shows how important it is to him in contrast to the way how Cameron thinks he feels about him. It shows the various levels of importance that Cameron has in comparison to the car and therefore the setting is showing that his father doesn’t care for him as much as he cares for this car. Therefore Cameron starts attacking the car.