The Art of the Title: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

As the title sequence begins there is narration superimposed into the film which tells the audience where the film is set; in Toronto, Canada. The first scene of the introduces us to the main characters and our protagonist, this scene has numerous shot-reverse-shot and two shot techniques used and close-ups of the characters to familiarise the audience with them, each character has their name, age and rating edited in using vfx the last virtual effect of the scene is the onomatopoeia of the doorbell ringing. The mise-en-scene informs the audience that these characters are quite messy as the countertops in the kitchen are cluttered and the table they’re sitting at is full of old, unwashed mugs.

 The second scene begins as the door swings open to reveal a secondary character in a close up, followed by quick, two shot, cuts between the characters ‘Scott Pilgrim’ and ‘Knives Chau’ until they’re abruptly interrupted by ‘Steven Stills’, making the scene a three shot. The next notable shot is of Scott and Steven, this shot is notable because all of the scenes before had been filmed on tripods however this scene is hand held to allow for a closer shot of the characters; ‘Scott’ and ‘Steven Stills’ before the camera moves backwards and the shot returns to a three shot with ‘Knives’ included.

The third scene is set in the living room of the house; the mise-en-scene presents the audience with a cluttered room with poor lighting, it is clear that this is where the band practises using their old, worn instruments which mimic how old and worn the entire house is. There are some shot-reverse-shots between ‘Knives’ and ‘Kim’ using close-ups of Kim and mid-shots of Knives to convey to the audience how focused Kim is.

The fourth scene is of the band finally playing their music, the camera pans into an extreme close up of Knives’ face ad there are quick edits between her and the band, following this the camera pans back from the band, the movie title is edited in above the band and the opening credits begin, the vfx used as the names of those involved are on screen there are images for the audience to associate with them. The final shot is a close up of Knives’ face awestruck at the band before it cuts to black.