“So what’s up with the Labradoodle? Sounds like Steven Hawking or something.” – Marcus Higgins.

Hi Guys! Today I'm going to be looking at and analysing 'Grown Ups' and how the narrative structure is created in ‘Grown Ups’. Grown Ups is a 2010 comedy created by Dennis Dugan which in tales the story of five grown up men who were childhood friends and, since they have grown up, they have moved on with their lives had had their own families. At the beginning of the film, the reconnect at a mutual friends funeral after 30 years of being apart. Their childish attitudes are restored as they once again become close and they all go on a family holiday to a lake house. There genre of comedy is shown within the film by the use of diverse and quirky characters shown through props theory of characters. The film stars, Adam Sandler as Lenny Feder, Kevin James as Eric Lamonsoff, Chris Rock as Kurt McKenzie, David Spade as Marcus Higgins, and Rob Schneider as Rob Hilliard. ‘Lenny Feder’ is presented to us to be the lead character in the film as he has the most on screen air time and is presented to be the funniest character out of his male group of friends. This shows Richard Dyer’s star theory as the producers have used Adam Sandler as an A-list celebrity as the main actor in their film which will create a high budget film and attract a wider target audience hence the use of capital value. Propp’s theory of characters can also be seen here as Adam Sandler is represented to be the hero of the film as he has the most air time throughout the film and he is presented to be the lead character, relating him to be the hero within the film. He has also been seen as the heroic character in the film when he is the character who comes up with the idea to reconnect with all of his friends and go on a family holiday in which all of the other men agree. This shows his heroic qualities as it is due to his idea that all of these characters end up being reconnected and living like 12 year olds for one last time. The five male characters in the film are acting in a childlike manner to represent the binary opposition between grown-ups and children. The frown men are shown to be acting like children because they all want to go and build a rope swing near the lake which is something an audience would have expected young boys to do, not grown men. This shows narrative because this we know that men acting like children means that something is going to go wrong. I am going to be looking at how narrative is being created and how genre is presented to us through the concepts of; editing, sound, camera angles, mise-en-scene, lighting and reading.

Sound is used in ‘Grown Ups’ not only to keep an uplifted atmosphere but also to create a comical feel through dialogue and non/diegetic sounds. The first non-diegetic sound that we hear in the film is the upbeat music that is playing as all of the families are pulling up to the lake house in their cars. This upbeat music creates a happy and relaxed atmosphere with a party feel. This helps to construct a narrative because it reveals the non-serious feel that is being created by the characters themselves. Todorov’s theory of equilibrium can been seen here in a state of equilibrium as the men are beginning to act more and more childish the longer they are with each other. The high spirits foreshadow the atmosphere that is going to be carried throughout the film which reveals the comedy genre as this is a typical convention of a comedy film. Dialogue from David Spade’s character is used throughout the film to present the audience with the ‘banter’ that the friends are having throughout. This is shown because it is always David’s Spade’s character that starts the jokes and not serious conversations between the men or talk inappropriately in front of the children which is something he is not used to doing because he doesn’t have children himself. David Spade’s character Marcus kick starts the banter by insulting one of his friends dog.

David Spade’s character Marcus insults Eric’s dog on the sound of its bark, “So what’s up with the Labradoodle? Sounds like Steven Hawking or something”. This immature joke towards the dog to again showing the child like characteristics that all of these male characters have as they all laugh at Marcus including the dog’s owner Eric. The insulting jokes and comments that have been fitted in throughout the film only build on the comical element and characteristics of the characters, explaining the narrative and explicit showing the genre as no one takes anything they say seriously. Although some people may find this comment to be insulting, it was merely meant as a light hearted joke that shouldn't be taken seriously. An audience theory can be applied here in the form of the hypodermic needle theory as the audience carry this message with them, knowing no harm was meant during this conversation. The use of a joke about a seriously disabled man could be taken seriously offensively by some audience members but due to the setting and atmosphere that is surrounding the characters, we can work out for ourselves that the characters are not intending to be offensive or nasty about anyone and if you feel offended then this is not the sort of film for you.

Why isn’t this comment seen as insulting? This can be seen as an enigma code of the audience as they may question why such a serious subject has been used for a joke. This is because, the lack of seriousness and amount of banter that the male characters have between them don’t allow these comments to be insulting because as an audience, we are already aware of the unintentional harm of what the characters are saying so nothing that they say or do should be taken seriously. The way that all of the charters wind each other up and mock each other, show the lack of care and seriousness that they have towards themselves. The lack of care that each character has adds to the typical conventions of a comedy because the characters say what they think about themselves as well as other people and they are not fazed by the abuse that other characters throw at them, "Boy Banter". This reveals the comedy genre that is being portrayed throughout the film because it shows the fun that the characters have when they are together and the way that they act childish when they are together which is a typical convention of a comedy genre film. This reveals the narrative as these are all typical conventions of a comedy genre film which follows a linear structure throughout the film.

Editing has been used to construct a fast paced comedy as a lot of the editing types that have been used are straight cuts. This editing type has been chosen as it keeps the pace of the film fast, making it upbeat and energetic, both of which are conventions of comedy genres.A straight cut has been used in ‘Grown Ups’ when all of the dads and their children go out into the forest and find a rope swing. The other male characters encourage Eric, (whom is the largest male of the five), to go on the rope swing. We then see a straight cut from the point in which Eric gets on the rope swing to the point in which he forgets to let go in order to land in the water so he swings into a tree. We then see a straight cut to the slapstick comical reactions of all his family and friends when he crashes into the tree. This shows Todorov’s theory of equilibrium because it shows a state of chaos in which we are watching as all the male characters start to slowly transform back to their childhood selves. This is known as slapstick comedy because, it is blatant comedy that is being used which is most likely to make an audience laugh. The straight cut helps to show the narrative and genre of comedy because it shows the fast paced movement from scene to scene in order to show difference scenes quickly or simultaneously. The narrative is told in a linear format.

Camera angles are used to create a different view for the audience depending on what the produces what emphasise or seen more clearly. In ‘Grown Up’s’ a medium shot of Eric’s wife breast feeding her four year old son is used to emphasise the strange act the we are seeing and to explicitly show that they are in public. Breast feeding a four year old is something that is not usually seen or looked upon positively and the fact that she is doing this in public makes the situation even more awkward and strange as she is happy to show everyone what she is doing. The four year old is happily paying with his friends but then comes over to his mum to get breast fed. All of Eric’s friends look at him in disgust asking him why that is happening when his wife answers for him, “He just likes it so much and we don’t like to say no”. This is also seen as a point-of-view shot as we see the angles of this scene from each of the men’s perspective so that we as an audience can see what the character’s in the film are seeing. Disequilibrium is shown at this point in the film as the characters begin to act differently to what they are normally like as they have all been reunited together which then builds up into a state of chaos.  At this point all of the male characters including Eric burst into laughter, including Eric, again showing their immaturity and lack of care that they have. The medium shot has been used to emphasise that she is proudly doing this at a wedding in front of everyone. The comical genre and narrative is shown here because, as an audience, we are seeing something that we think is strange and weird but it is being presented to us to be normal, making us laugh, almost with awkwardness.

Mise-en-scene is a vital concept in creating a narrative structure and revealing the genre. The colours, costume, setting and props all contribute to the structure in which narrative and genre are revealed to the audience. Colours and costume in ‘Grown Ups’ are both bright and mainly primary colours to represent the child like attitudes that all of the cast carry. Cars, costumes, wallpaper and even props have bright colours on them which helps the spirits to stay lifted and bright. Bright colours on costume and setting are a typical convention of a comedy genre because it represents happiness and not serious. A Binary opposition that has been used is the use of primary colours such like blue, yellow and red, to show the childish theme that is most likely going to be running throughout the film, whereas black and white is more mature and represents adults. The three primary colours have been used because it is a connotation of children and what they are like.

The setting and props also play a part in revealing the genre and narrative structure because a typical convention of a comedy genre setting would be somewhere like a lake house which is where ‘Grown Up’s is set. Other comedies such as ‘Cheaper by the Dozen’ have also used a lake house as their chosen setting as there is a large area of landscape and a lot of scenes that can be filmed there. A lake house also has the capability to house a lot of people which is also a common feature of a comedy genre film. Binary opposition has also been used here as there is a clear difference between the ways that the children act compared to the adults. In the children’s newer generation, they are used to having fun by playing games and watching TV and compared to the adults, this is a drastic change from playing out in the woods for hours a day. This division soon disappears as the adults encourage the children to go outside and have fun by banning them off video games but they end up having more fun themselves than the kids. Setting, along with props, helps to reveal the genre because props such as an old style TV is used in the lake house which the children who are staying there start questioning about what it is. This shows the modern technology that these kids are used to and they are not familiar with staying in the middle of nowhere in a lake house that has no Wi-Fi.

Finally, lighting is used throughout ‘Grown Ups’ again to present the uplifting atmosphere as majority of the film is fully light because the film is high energy and comical. Also, a lot of the scenes are filmed in day light so the light that is being used can also be natural light. Reading is also important because it is the point of view of the audience and what their preferred reading is and how this helps to construct a narrative and reveal the genre. In this case, the preferred reading of the audience is that also though each of the five male character have different character personalities according to props theory, Adam Sandler’s character, Lenny Feder, is represented to be the main character as he is shown to be ring leader of him and his friends, he is presented to us to be the funniest character out of the five males and he has the most air time out of all of the characters. This shows Richard Dyer’s star theory once again as Adam Sandler is presented to be the hero character according to props theory throughout the film which will attract a wider target audience interested in watching the film.

 In conclusion, ‘Grown Ups’ is presented to be a comedy genre with the narrative of, a group of male friends reconnecting after years apart and acting as if they had never separated. This is shown throughout the film through the use of sound, editing, camera angles, mise-en-scene, lighting and reading. All of these conventions build up a structure of the audience to follow creating the narrative and the genre of the film.