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Jason Martin Film Studies Hartman July 9, 2013 Sequence Analysis: Perspective and Tension within Editing Ferris Bueller’s Day Off John Hughes is most widely known for his coming of age films. His comedy includes the tragedy of the minute little things in everyday life. The writing alone does not foster Hughes’s success though. In the 1986 classic Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Hughes demonstrates how deft manipulation of camera techniques and editing combine create tension and show perspective within a film. Ferris Bueller is the type of kid who can get away with anything. Tension begins to peaks right before this sequence time is ticking. His parents and his sister who desperately wants him to get caught are on there way home. He needs to beat them home before they find out where he has been. An analysis of the scene demonstrates the capacity of film knowledge that John Hughes had in regards to editing and perspective. The sequence begins with Ferris running through a yard on his journey to get home. The camera then cuts to a wide shot of Ferris’s mother and sister driving home. The tension is created because the viewer knows that they are going to the same place.



This is where John Hughes proves what he knows about perspective. The editing in this sequence shows exactly what each individual character knows. Unrestricted narration is used more in this sequence than any other sequence in the movie. In this sequence we understand what each character knows, this creates tension as the spectator becomes scared while they root for Ferris. The sequence continues as Ferris runs out into the street and then we an unusual camera position that points out a lot of detail in a short amount of time. The camera is placed in the back middle seat of the car. This view provides information about Ferris, the mother, and Jeanie. In just one second we hear the sound of tires screeching which shows that Jeanie-Ferris’s sister does indeed see him.
 * Understanding Perspective I**



We also see that his mother does not know that he is there because the papers she was holding have temporarily blinded her. We then cut to a point of view shot of Ferris seeing her mother who cannot see him.



Papers are in the way and her head is down. Spectators know without a shadow of a doubt that his mother is clueless about the fact that Ferris is right in front of her. However, the following shot reveals that Jeanie knows of her brother’s presence.



Hughes cuts back to a close up shot of Ferris looking intently at his sister. The next shot continues to show his mother’s obliviousness.



The next shots are extreme close ups of Jeanie’s eyes followed by Ferris’s eyes. These consecutive shots naturally build tension by showing the dramatic facial expressions near their eyes. In addition to that, having back-to-back similar shots show the importance of what is being seen by the viewer. These shots are v­­ery important in showing where we are at in the film. There are a million ways to do this scene wrong. It was very crucial for Hughes to show this scene to build comedic tension. It is also very important for the editing to show everyone’s perspective. Hughes shows us that the mother is still clueless. While, at the same time, Hughes toys with the notion of sibling rivalries. We end this part of the sequence with an close up shot of Ferris seeing her sister and then running out of frame. Ferris jumps over a bush. He still has a long way to go. Jeanie slams on the gas. She is going to try to get Ferris caught. Hughes then continues to use the parallel editing technique to show that Ferris is running through backyards while his sister speeds down the road. This is accentuated with Ferris’s mother yelling at Jeanie. Viewers know that Jeanie will be reckless and do whatever it takes to get Ferris caught. Jeanie is so hell-bent on getting her brother caught that she even pulls out in front of a cop.



The cop turns his lights and begins to pull them over. Let us not forget that this is not just a race. It is above all a comedy. Hughes creates comedy in this sequence by informing the audience of things that other characters do not know. The unrestricted narration of the perspectives of each character in this sequence allows the audience to laugh at the improbable scenario.

Tension can be created in other ways as well. Parallel editing can be used as well; we know that his mom and sister are being chased by the police, we have also seen his dad is on his way home. The editor then cuts back to Ferris jumping over and running past these girls
 * Understanding Tension**



Of course, he would not be Ferris Bueller if he didn’t come back and introduce himself.



John Hughes takes advantage of the long take camera shot. This helps create tension. This long take combined with all of the previous parallel edits creates my favorite shot of the whole sequence. Ferris is in a hurry; we just saw his father driving and saw him run through this backyard. But the man still has time to run out of the shot and then calmly walk back into frame with a real smooth demeanor and introduce himself. Hughes knew exactly what he was doing by holding this shot just long enough to show conflict by created tension and build the character we know as Ferris Bueller. The reason this shot is so perfect is because of the change of pace in the sequence. The whole sequence up to this point has been about moving as fast as possible. In this shot, we slow down and have a good laugh because we know Ferris is in a hurry, but he must introduce himself to the girls.

Perspective is used in this mini-sequence. We cut back to his father driving. He looks in the dash for some tic-tacs.
 * Understanding Perspective II**



Ducking his head, he misses his daughter and wife pass him at the stop sign while being chased by the police. His unawareness creates even more comedy. The father, the mother, Jeanie, and the police officer are all in the very similar space right now, but all have very different realties of the events that are unfolding. Jeanie knows of her brother’s delinquency. The mother and father are both clueless of what is going on. Ferris’s dad is busy searching for tic-tacs. He ducks his head and misses his wife and daughter who drive right past while being chased by the police. Editing helps show the viewer everyone’s perspective. Again, viewers laugh because of the hilarity of the situation. Spectators know more than the characters. The tension is created because we know the exact moments when Ferris can be caught, but somehow he avoids being discovered.

More perspective is shown in this next segment. Ferris is running down the road when a car starts honking at him to get out of the way.
 * Understanding Perspective III**



His dad glances out the window and sees a man running, who we know to be Ferris.



His dad looks back toward the road. Ferris continues to run and then turns back his head.



The next shot shows his dad shaking his head like maybe he was seeing something. The camera then maintains the same position while Ferris drops back and slows down.



We can see that he realizes that this man in the car is his father. He then runs to his right behind the car and out of the shot. This scene is very difficult to pull off. Every detail needs to be met. The viewers need to know what characters know at exactly every second in order to be funny. The shots show a tremendous amount of detail. Below we notice that his father does not know exactly what he saw. We also can see Ferris running behind the car meaning that at any second his cover could be blown.



His dad looks back and then checks his rearview mirror, but it is too late. This semi-long take has a lot to offer. Hughes could have cut this shot off as soon as Ferris ran out of frame. The shot is edited so that once again we know that Ferris dad suspects something, but it is just a hunch. He has no real evidence so if Ferris makes it home in time; spectators know that he is safe.

Viewers then see a shot of Ferris running through a house as the camera dollys left. The shot shows Ferris’s and the family’s reaction to him running through the house. Ferris even yells “Dinner is ready!”



We cut back to a medium shot of his dad who looks up into the rearview mirror and then turns his head and smiles.



This firmly establishes that his dad does not think he saw Ferris. It was just his imagination as far as he is concerned.

The camera is a unique entity. John Hughes demonstrates that successful use of the camera and editing technique can help achieve a comedic masterpiece. He shows us that editing can show multiple perspectives. These perspectives need to be shown to let the viewer know what information all characters know. This becomes special for the viewer because they will see understand tension by knowing more information than any individual character. Hughes continues to show that the camera must pay attention to the little details so that spectators will by into the verisimilitude of the situation. If the scene was not edited and shot properly viewers could have very easily be skeptical of Ferris making it home. It could have been very easy for his parents to see him. Showing this sequence shows how lucky Ferris is as a person. He gets away with a lot. This scene is very important to continue to amplify all of the characters in the movie. Editing and camera technique were done so perfectly that we knew every single character’s perspective and understood why the tension made the sequence funny.
 * Perspective and Tension within Editing**