Book Smart is an entertaining drama film directed by Olivia Wilde in 2019 staring Kaityln Dever and Beanie Feldstein as best friends.
During the intense speech played over meditation music the camera slowly pans over different areas of her room. We see different awards, photographs of inspiration women like Michael Obama and quotes, one saying, ‘To ask for freedom for women is not a crime.’ We can assume this girl is hardworking and dedicated to her goals and morals.
We are then shown a closeup of her face where the speech says, and I quote ‘look down on anyone who has ever doubted you, fuck those losers, fuck them in their stupid fucking faces.’ This opening was really original and got me hooked. It is quite comedic as we are shown all these lovely items around her pink room which is then juxtaposed with the intense language of the ‘morning routine inspiration.’
We can tell the film where the set is set when there is a mid-shot of the back of their car. The license plate says California, American. Their high school also looks like a stereotypical America school with big hallways, lockers, and different archetypical groups. The film is set at the end of the school year as there is a ‘Class of 2019’ sign above the main entrance. People are also throwing round toilet paper and schoolwork, actions that people would only do if they were finished with school. The accents are other give away that the film is based in America.
We know a lot about the characters from being shown not told. The main character is a book smart senior and the president of the class. She comes across as a person who stands up for worldly matters and what she believes in. An example of this is in the beginning when we are shown a closeup of a feminist sign in her bedroom, also, the back of her best friend's car on the bumper, there are multi stickers supporting lgbtq+, black lives matter, feminist stickers and a sticker saying, ‘I like big books and I cannot lie.' We can tell the girl at the beginning is the protagonist because she has longest screen time. She is wearing a denim skirt, yellow turtleneck, and a plaid blazer. Her clothing is quite conservative but smart, which fits the unpopular passionate school student she is.
When her and her best friend pull up to their parking space there is a closeup of their sign saying ‘reserved for class president’ but the ‘cl’ is crossed out. Depth of field is used here to emphasise the sign and draw the audience's attention to the writing. The director included this to show the audience that she is made fun of and possibly isn’t exceedingly popular. People at school also walk into her in the hallways, showing that people do not really acknowledge her. Even principal Brown sighs with annoyance when her and her best friend come to his office.
Her best friend is similar to her. In the morning when the non-diegetic soundtrack takes place the two girls dance together on the street, matching each other's energies. The best friend is wearing a jacket with many badgers and patches. Both girls come across like hard workers, as when in the principal's office we discover Molly, the main character is going to Yale.
The tone of this opening sequence is fast paced and fun. The non-diegetic soundtrack is funky and danceable. This narrative feels personal, comedic, and relatable. We can tell this film is going to be an entertaining drama film which will tell the story of these two girls' lives and their high school experiences or the lack of their high school experiences. Maybe they go to the same college where they discover their new lives together or they go to separate colleges and meet halfway for holidays. Whatever the rest of the film will be about, I believe that it will completely revolve around these two best friends and their experiences with finishing high school. In my opinion I definitely think this opening sequence was successful, it made me laugh and left me wanting to discover more about these best friends.
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