The Bad Education Movie Analysis

Bad Education Movie (2015) Dir. Elliot Hegarty

The Bad Education Movie is an English comedy directed by Elliot Hegarty and produced by Cave Bear productions and Tiger Aspect productions. The film made over £3 million in the box office. 

Hegarty uses the lighting in the film to immerse the audience and invite them to be apart of all the antics taking place throughout. The film is almost entirely shot in daylight other than a few scenes shot at night. The scenes shot in the light are used to connote the fun being had by the schoolkids on the trip they have to Cornwall. In the opening scene of the movie, we see Alfie (the teacher) sat on a chair with students spread out behind him, while one of them draws something on his back. From this opening scene we can tell that the movie is going to be about or based around a failing or badly behaved school. The use of having a student draw something on the back of a teacher shows to the audience that the film is going to be filled with people playing pranks or doing things that they themselves wouldn't do.

The use of the bright lighting in the scenes is used to show the bright side and funny side of all the events taking place and the hope behind the teacher fully taking charge of the schoolkids like a teacher would usually do and turn them from delinquents into proper well educated schoolkids.

The use of the fairly dim lighting shows the down and dark side of having a teacher that lets you do whatever you want and not having any repercussions. For instance in the picture on the right, we can see Alfie is blindfolded and surrounded by a group of people, and is sat at a table with an old, possibly drunk man, the use of the dimly lit setting is used to foreshadow a bad event that is about to unfold, however the use of the light in the scene is also used to connote the funny side of what is about to happen. 

In this picture, we see several of the teens in the back of a truck with Alfie, the darkness behind them is also used to foreshadow them being in the dark about something that they are about to be dragged into.

The use of camera angles in the film also immerses the audience and captivates them, bringing their attention back to the movies events. The close-ups and extreme close ups in the movie are used to show us how the characters are feeling at the time. 

In the picture on the right, we can see that Alfie looks terrified of the ride he is on and about to go down. Hegarty does this to show the audience how he really feels about what is happening to him. Behind Alfie, we can see one of his students behind him with a big grin on his face. This connotes to us that he is having fun pushing Alfie and making him scared of the ride.

The picture to the left shows an almost euphoric look on Alfie's face whilst his student has a concerned and confused look on her face. Hegarty uses these shots so we can see the characters true thoughts and so we can almost empathise with them throughout what is happening in the film.