Mise-en-Scene

Imagine being the most unpopular kid in high school and having one chance to change it all with a bottle of alcohol. The deal sounds too good to be true right? That's what Seth (Jonah Hill) and Evan (Michael Cera) thought too, so there was no doubt in these teenagers minds that they wouldn't get the alcohol for the popular kids, so they thought. Besides not being cool Seth and Evan also have other problems with themselves that they want to fix before going to college. They both are virgins! To a teenage male still being a virgin in high school is a big deal and somewhat embarrassing from their perspectives.

 Getting alcohol and being under age can be extremely hard if you don't have an adult on your side willing to purchase it. Seth and Evan even went as far as buying a fake ID to do so. The adventure that Seth and Evan go through just to obtain this alcohol will keep you laughing. The two teenage males end up running from the police all for a bottle of alcohol. The plan was initially that Seth and Evan would purchase the bottle of alcohol that would help the two ladies (Jules & Becca) become more interested in having sex with them because they would be drunk. This idea certainly did not go far because it was never successfully completed. Even though Seth and Evan did eventually obtain the alcohol they never lost their virginity they did realize how much they would truly miss each other when they both went their separate ways to college.

Most of the setting of the film takes place at a high school and also at a party towards the end. The clothing throughout the film seem kind of retro and older fashion but on the con trier the characters were  also using cell phones so it is somewhat difficult to name an exact time period. The film never mentions an exact time or location of where the film was suppose to take place. The lighting throughout the film that was used the most was frontal lighting because we as the audience rarely saw any form of shadows. Top lighting was used a lot for the scene where the police officers and Fogell began to perform car tricks with the police car. The scene where Fogell shoots a gun for the first time has some implements of frontal lighting.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7EV50zaEh8

The costumes and make up and this film definitely fit the characters. The high school students were dressed as such, it wasn't hard to determine who was a part of the "in crowd" and who was not. The popular kids had on clothing such as Lettermann jackets that showed that they belonged to some sort of team at school. The kids who weren't popular had on clothing such as high risen pants like Fogell aka Mc'Lovin (the last name on the fake id) who happened to be a close friend of Seth and Evan who also helped obtain the alcohol throughout the film. The teachers, police officers and other people with a form of title also were clothed appropriately to fit there role.

Sources:

Cera, Micheal, and Jonah Hill, perf. Superbad. 2007. Sony Pictures. DVD.

youtube. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Dec. 2011.