Haley Unger

ENG 111
Grochowski
5/6/2017
FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF PARADE SCENE ANALYSIS

The parade scene in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off by John Hughes, (1986) is the fun-filled climax

of the film. Ferris, having convinced his parents he is sick and therefore cannot go to school, has

an entire day to sit back, relax, and enjoy his day off. However, he is not alone as his best friend

Cameron is also actually sick and stays home from school that day as well. He even finds a way

to get his girlfriend Sloane out of school, by faking a phone call to the school exclaiming that her

grandmother had died. The three of them, now free from school, go on various adventures

together. They take Cameron’s dad’s beloved car for a joy ride, go to a museum, and even end

up in the middle of a huge parade. This parade scene is a fantastic scene in cinematic history,

with the fun of the teenagers’ day off coming to a head with a huge, joyous, amusing parade. The

importance, significance, and main theme of seizing the day is portrayed heavily through the

editing of this scene. This is done through the spatial relationship of shots, rhythm of shots,

length of shots, and type of editing between shots.

The scene begins with a master shot of a small parade going on within the streets. This is to

show us what space we will be occupying and what will be coming up in the scene. We then cut

to the sidelines of the parade, with people waving at the paradegoers passing by. We hear

Cameron and Sloane talking about how they have lost Ferris as they walk along the sides of the

parade. It is an extremely long shot, totaling in time about thirty seconds. At the end of the shot

we hear Ferris’s voice, and we then finally break the long shot with a shot of ladies on top of a

parade float. This was done to make us wonder what was coming, it built anticipation and made
the cut to the parade float that Ferris is on even more effective. We then cut in close to the parade

and as the ladies step out of their circle we see Ferris appear. It then cuts back to Cameron and

Sloane, showing their reaction to Ferris somehow placing himself in the parade. We cut back to

Ferris, and then a fast cut to the entire float, as we see Cameron and Sloane running up to it. It

cuts to a shot of people we haven’t seen before, but because the shots are placed next to each

other we know that these people are also at the parade, reacting to Ferris placing himself in the

parade. They seem confused as this isn’t in the program. It eventually cuts to a shot of a woman

playing the accordion in tempo with the music, smiling as hard as physically possible. In the next

shot the police approach Cameron and Sloane to begin to take them out of the way of the parade,

but we then cut back to the group of people running the parade who are confused and getting

increasingly angry about Ferris being on the float. We then cut to a higher up shot of the parade

quickly, then back to the ground with Cameron and Sloane being escorted off by a police officer.

Next in the scene we have a cut to Cameron and Sloane walking again, this time not in the

middle or the sidelines of the parade. We know they are still near, however, thanks to the nature

of the edit of putting the shots of the parade next to this one. It then uses the 180-degree system

as we cut back and forth to Cameron and Sloane having a conversation. After a longer shot of

them talking, we cut back to Ferris on the float.

As the song playing in the parade switches, we really get into the rhythmic editing of shots

and the idea of seizing the day. We cut to a band playing in tempo with “Twist and Shout” which

Ferris is now lip-synching to. We cut rhythmically back and forth from Ferris to the band with

faster shots. There is then an interesting cut to a construction worker dancing high up on the top

of a building. We assume he is near the parade as the shots are placed next to each other and he

is dancing to the music playing. It cuts back and forth between Ferris and the band again, until
we cut to a shot of people coming onto the screen and dancing. This is to show the group is

growing, with more excitement and fun being had by everyone involved. It isn’t just Ferris who

is seizing the day anymore, but anyone who comes into contact with his fun-loving and

adventurous personality and air. We cut back and forth between Ferris and the group of dancing

individuals on tempo and beat with the song. We cut to the sidelines with even everyone there

dancing and enjoying themselves as well. It cuts back to Ferris and the float, and then cuts to the

sidelines again, however this time it is from behind and focusing on their dancing bottoms. The

cutting to the sidelines dancing, back to Ferris, then back to the dancing bottoms happens

multiple times to show all of the people Ferris has gotten to jump onto the “seize the day” train.

No one is worrying about how they look or what responsibilities they may have. Then, on each

beat of the song we have fast, less than a second cuts to the sidelines dancing, Ferris dancing,

and even the committee of people who were at first angered by Ferris’s appearance dancing.

Ferris has officially gotten everyone on board, even the sticklers. People begin to do flips in the

air to the music, with fast rhythmic cutting happening.

As the song comes to its climax, we cut to various individual’s faces in the crowd as they sing

and dance along to the song. The cuts start off as a second or two, and then cut rapidly between

all of the paradegoers faces. The excitement is building and is coming to a head. We cut back to

a shot of the parade and the streets are now completely filled with people. For the first time we

cut to a different location, Ferris’s dad’s office. We see him get up from his seat and go over to

the window. We then cut to the parade, to signify that this is what the father is looking at from

his window. It then cuts back to the father now dancing in his office. This parallel editing allows

for some humor and a new location for the scene. Though the father doesn’t know it was due to

Ferris, he is now also seizing the day.

 We end the scene with a long twenty second shot of the entire parade, sidelines, and streets

full of people dancing to the end of the song with all of their might. No one is holding back and

everyone seems to be having the time of their lives. Finally, we cut to Ferris who is obviously

proud and happy with what he has just done. Instead of sitting in school, he just caused hundreds

upon hundreds of people to begin to dance, sing, and take a little time out of their day to enjoy

themselves. He spread the idea of seizing the day, making the choices you want to make, and

taking chances.

The editing of this scene definitely helped portray the fun-loving, spontaneous life Ferris tries

to live. From the rhythmic editing along with the song, to the parallel editing with Ferris and his

father, to even the length of each shot, the editing perfectly matched what was trying to be

portrayed in the scene and the film overall. Carpe diem, or seizing the day, is the main

underlying theme to Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. In this parade scene everyone, even the uptight

parade committee and Ferris’s father, decided to make a choice and seize the day. The editing

heavily contributed to this theme, and the director’s choices paid off in the end by creating a cult

classic.