AN EDUCATION (2009) - OPENING TITLES ANALYSIS

The opening credits are complimented by an up beat song "Floyd Cramer - On The Rebound" which indicates that this movie will not be a horror or drama. We already know that this is a Love Romance due to the movie poster, but there are mixed opinions to what this could be. We are then introduced to a medium shot, portraying what it seems to the viewer, a private girls secondary school - by the costumes shown, we know that this is set in the 1960's. This shot then follows the girls as they practice their posture the old fashioned way. This shot then transitions to a low angle shot of the school girls ballroom dancing with each other, indicating that this is merely a posh secondary school. The low angle begins to tilt upwards showing an establishing shot of the hall, this then begins to fade into the next scene where we witness cooking class, this starts with a close up shot of the girls whisking what looks like butter. We are then introduced to a long shot which shows a school girl walking across a street. The surroundings connote the season they are in, such as frost and damp concrete, we then see a mid shot of Jenny - who is wearing school attire. High angle shots are then displayed as we are shown of what looks like a playground as there are school girls hula-hooping, these shots glide across each other. this is then cleverly transitioned into the next shot as the camera moves to the right, the hula hoop acts as a transition into the next shot, as it swings we then proceed to some school girls breathing on a condensed window (typical British weather)  printing images with the palm of their hand - this shows that they are young girls. The next shot is an establishing shot of the girls sports team, this then rotates down towards the puddles where we see their reflection. Pure boredom by the school girls is then interpreted into the next shot as we are then directed to a class room, where half are asleep, and the other daydreaming whilst staring blankly into thin air; jenny is the only one taking into encounter what the teacher is saying. This portrays how important she is to the story as we are directly focused on her, and her expressions.