The first scene is a flash forward. From her body language we can assume a very negative vibe from the girl and that she is the main protagonist in the movie. The fact she is looking straight in the camera combined with the dialogue we feel as if she is daring the person behind the camera and the audience feels

more drawn in because it is if she is talking to them.

American beauty

The tracking aerial shot shows us the whole neighborhood where the family live. We can automatically assume that they are normal suburban family and although the camera doesn't focus on one house we can see the closeness

in the neighborhood which may presumably be a problem later on. The voice over on the scene makes it feels as if Lester is coming back down to

earth to recount his last year on earth. We also can assume this because the voice over is in first person so the audience know the character will be

telling a story. the lack of color in the scene connotes the boringness of their life and the audience emphasize because we feel as though there

American dream hasn’t worked out.

The high angle shot makes the character ‘Lester’ appear weak and powerless. The audience also as though lesters soul is watching over his body. The dull room and dark lighting connate the segregation between him and his wife and the lack of love in their relationship. He faced away from the window so this could be suggesting that he is hiding away from reality. The music is calm and is often associated with spirituality and dreaming. The single shot allows us to see how immaculate the bedroom is and we can see that his slippers are placed wonky and out of place therefore we can infer that he is the fault in the relationship as he is the only thing out of place. There is also a shadow behind his lamp and not his wife's, This could be suggesting that he has a great darkness inside of him.

from the continuation of the last scene we now feel as though Lester has re entered his body through the use of a close up. This is also signified as the alarm

was added as Foley sound to signify a new beginning. From his body language the audience feel as though he has given up and the high angle shot makes him

subvert from a stereotypical male role as he look weak.

The extreme close up of the rose signifies love and passion therefore the cutting of it connotes that the

love that Lester had is now gone. The scene then jumps onto Lester's wife where we are first introduced. From the mid shot we can see that she is portraying a

typical role of a woman as she is taking on garden duties. However the fact that she is wearing a suit could imply that she still likes to maintain control. The colour of the red rose, blue and White house are all colours of the American flag and represent the american dream

This shot is often used in film noir. It is visual metahphor and makes the audience feel as though lester is imprisoned in his house and

marriage.leasters concentration on jim makes us feels as thoguh he is longing for the same freedom and like he has never seen anyone like

him before

From the shot reverse shot we can assume that Jane is a typical teenager in a stereotypical nuclear family. From her clothes and make up we can infer that she is a rebellious teenager. However her looking in the

mirror makes the audience feel as if she is questioning her appearance and what is supposed to

typical American beauty.