Film Genre Research - The Spectacular Now

In the first two minutes of the movie the tip of the ice berg is touched for this story line. All this is, is one character talking about a misfortune he had faced in a college application essay while the flashback to the events leading up to them.What film making techniques are used (camera shots, editing, sound, mis-en-scene)?It starts with a black screen and the voice over of the lead male character's voice and then cuts to him sitting in his pyjamas typing the answer on his computer. Afterwards it flashes to him at parties with his girlfriend before going to a two-shot scene with him drinking something next to his friend on the stairs of the school telling him how he was going to get him a girlfriend. Most of the first two minutes with the exception of a few seconds here and there were voiced over with what he was typing for his college essay. For this film there are no job titles shown on the screen within the first few minutes of the movie. The film's budget was 2.5 million USD. The film made $6.9 million domestically with earning $63,980 elsewhere for a grand total of ~$6.9 million. The film was nominated for three EDA Awards (Best Writing, Best Breakthrough Performance, and Best Depiction of Nudity, Sexuality, or Seduction), a Boston Online Film Critics Association (BOFCA) Award for Ten Best Films of the Year, a Casting Society of America Artios for Outstanding Achievement in Casting in a Low Budget Feature Drama, three Central Ohio Film Critics Association (COFCA) Awards (Best adapted Screenplay, Best Overlooked Film, and Breakthrough Film Artist), three Chlotrudis Awards (Best Actress, Best Actor, and Best Adapted Screenplay), a deadCenter Film Festival award for Best Feature, two Independed Spirit Awards for Best Screenplay and Best Female Lead, a GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics Dorian Award for Unsung Film of the Year, six Georgia Film Critics Association (GAFCA) Awards (two Breakthrough Awards, Oglethrorpe Award for Excellence in Georgia Cinema, Best Ensemble, Best Picture, and Best Adapted Screenplay), a Guild of Music Supervisors Award for Best Music Supervison for Independent Motion Pictures Budgeted Under 10 million Dollars, two MTV Movie + TV Awards for Breakthrough Performance and Best Kiss, a National Board of Review Award for Top Ten Independent Films, a North Carolina Film Critics Association (NCFCA) Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, a Pheonix Film Critics Society (PFCS) Award for Overlooked Film of the Year, two Prism Awards for Feature Film and Performance in a Feature Film, two San Diego Film Critics Society (SDFCS) Awards for Best Supporting Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay, a San Francisco Film Critics Circle (SFFCC) award for Best Adapted Screenplay, a Seattle International Film Festival award for Furturewave Youth Jury Award, a St. Louis Film Critics Association (SLFCA) Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, two Sundance Film Festival Awards for Drama, a Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival Award for Best Youth Film, a USC Scripter Award, a Washington DC Area Film Critic Association (WAFCA) Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, and a World Sountrack Award for Discovery of the year. Of these nominations the film won a Sundance Film Festival Award for Special Jury Prize: Dramatic, the Seattle International FIlm Festival award, a SDFCS Award for Best Supporting Actress, a Prism Award for Feature Film, a National Board of Review Award for Top Ten Independent Films, one of the two GAFCA Breakthrough Awards, the deadCenter Film Festival award for Best Feature, and the BOFCA award for Ten Best Films of the Year.