Little Miss Sunshine

How is sound and camera being used to display each characters individual rite of passage?

 

Characters

 

Uncle Frank

Olive

Dwayne

Father

Mother

Grandfather

 

Rites of Passage

 

Uncle Frank - Trying to kill himself after falling in love with one of his male grad students. Possibly loosing his job, home and coming out as a gay male to his family and friends.

Olive - Getting into the 'Little Miss Sunshine' compitition in California and at the end of the trailer, we as the audience can see Olive is lost, and sepertated from her family.

Dwayne - Chooses not to talk due to his beliefs and oppinions relating to Friedrich Nietzsche, a 19th-century poet.

Father - Coming to terms with his relation or friend coming out as a gay male, having a better relationship with his wife and father, and finally allowing his daughter to enter the 'Little Miss Sunshine' competition.

Mother - Having a better relationship with her husband, her husband's father, and allowing her daughter to enter the 'Little Miss Sunshine' competition.

Grandfather - Growing older, seeing his relation or friend coming out as a gay male.

 

Sound

 

The simple music at the beginning of the trailer, shows that none of the characters are happy, Frank is recovering from attempting to commit suicide, Dwayne with his views on life and his surrounds, Olive, coming runner up in the regional 'Little Miss Sunshine' competition etc. This also shows the family are not a unit, the music is slow, and has individual beats, this shows that this 'family' is full of individuals and are not really as family, as they are not a unit. The western music that follows, shows that the characters begin to fight their unhappiness, and come together through this child, Olive, and this competition. This is highlighted once the non diegetic sounds come to a sudden stop when traveling in the car when Olive is not present.

 

Camera

 

Camera also show the family as seperate individuals insteed of a family unit. The is shown through constant midshots of the family as indivisuals. Even when sitting down to eat, the camera bearly shows a long shot of all the family, and when it does they are not interacting.