Shyanne Sanders

Angus, thongs and perfect snogging- opening sequence

The silent opening forces the audience's attention to the

film's institution, Paramount. The stars connote value

and high ratings and the fact that their trademark

includes the top of a mountain above the clouds suggests

films in which dreams come true. After a brief pause,

mysterious staccato music begins to play and slowly the

screen fades to black. This indicates an enigma and leaves the audience in anticipation.

Slowly, what looks like splashes of orange paint moves

towards the camera. This has the connotation of children and as

the image of the nickelodeon trademark appears this idea is

emphasised. The fact that this film is associated with

Nickelodeon suggests themes suitable for a young audience.

The orange colour connotes joy, happiness, creativity and

stimulation whilst the bold white writing is neutral and unisex.

Adding to the enigma, a closeup shot cuts off the

protagonist's head making the audience question who

she is and why she is dressed like that. The way in

which her arms hang out of her costume is to make the

audience see the comedic element to the character and

therefore to entertain the audience (uses and

gratification). The tracking shot involves the audience,

making them feel as though they are in the car with the parent watching her and the action. The

character says that she doesn't want to get in the car because she doesn’t want her costume to get

crushed, and then walks into a lamppost. This is for the audience's entertainment (uses and

gratification) and highlights the idea that this character will be made to look stupid. The protagonist

calls her dad a “stalker” and this is so that the young teenage target audience can identify with her,

saying anything to make you feel independent and to get rid of the feeling of embarrassment.

A wide shot reveals the protagonist's face. The font on

view is supposed to reveal just how idiotic she looks.

The director has made it look like she is talking to a car,

as you can't see the other character's face, highlighting

the comedy element of the narrative. The last line of

this shot is “I want to make an entrance” and

expectations of this genre automatically suggest that it will all going to go very wrong for this

character. The font of the text is swirly and the fact that the first work of the sentence is not

capitalised connotes that it was written by someone young, fitting

with the narrative.

Sharply all the characters turn their heads to the camera and diegetic

gasping noises bring the background music to a stop. This wide

p.o.v shot creates enigma as the audience are unsure about what

they are looking at. The fact that the whole room of character's are

looking straight at the lens of the camera puts the audience in the

protagonist's position and allows them to identify with her

embarrassment (uses and gratification).

This slightly high angled shot puts the protagonist in the

vulnerable position, exactly how she is feeling. By

positioning the audience within the crowd, the director

is making the audience feel sympathy for the character.

The bright green of her costume stands out amongst the

light pink colours that the other female character's are

wearing connoting that this character is quirky and

contrasts with the stereotypical, girly female character usually featured in films within this genre.

A mid shot reveals a group of girls laughing at the

protagonist. The blonde hair and bitchy comments is a

stereotype often included in films of this genre.

Expectations to do with this character includes lack of

intelligence, bad attitude, picks on the main character

and is very popular with boys.

The shot quickly cuts to a three shot of three girls

looking embarrassed yet genuinely worried for the

main character. The immediately indicates that they

are her friends (hyperdermic needle). Conventions of

this genre include the protagonist's main group of

friends, who usually stick by the protagonist and help

them through their issues. In this case their worried faces suggests that they may have created the

problem but their guilty facial expressions allow the audience to understand that they are good

character's.

When the protagonist comes over to her friends, the

story behind this situation is revealed and the fact

that the other character's can't look at the

protagonist in the eyes highlights their guilt and

embarrassment. This mid shot separates Georgia

from her friends and presents her in the way that she

feels. The teenage audience could identify with the

the feeling of being let down by friends or the being

exposed to bullying (uses and gratification).

After laving the party in a rush and banging into

everyone creating chaos, Georgia is seen running

through the streets in her costume. This connotes that

she feels as though nothing can be more embarrassing

than what had just happened and that she has nothing to

lose. A modern song (She's so lovely- scouting for girls)

is playing and the lyrics mock the situation she is in but

highlight the teenage genre and themes.The fact that you can only see her legs moving and the rest

of her body is completely trapped in the olive costume, allows entertainment for the audience (uses

and gratification) and makes the character seem clueless.

Slowly the shot moves away from Georgia and pans up to the

top of a statue. This establishing shot shows tranquility

without the sight of Georgia's chaos. There is a pause in the

music and for a second this shot is still and calm, added in to

contrast massively with the frantic manor of the main

character.

A tracking shot follows the action of the narrative

and makes the audience feel involved and interested

in what might happen next. It is unknown by the

audience where she is going as the camera is focused

on the character rather than what is ahead of her

(enigma), but expectations of the genre include

character's running home to their bedrooms when

feeling upset, angry and alone. The swirly font of the

text is similar to handwriting and this time the

grammar is correct to emphasise that this is the title.

The reactions for an elderly group is added in for

entertainment (uses and gratification) and connotes

that wherever she goes she always seems to embarrass

herself. This makes the scene seem more naturalistic

and the embarrassment unavoidable. The fact that all

the character's seem to be mocking her makes the

audience join in.

A close up of the protagonist's face singles her out and

draws focus to her facial expressions. This allows the

audience to feel sympathy towards the character. The bright

red hat and top makes her stand out even more but her facial

expressions show that for once she wanted to go back to

being invisible. The fact that all her hair is covered makes

her look unfeminine and connotes how little she thinks of herself. The teenage target audience will

be able to relate to the insecurities felt by the protagonist at this point (uses and gratification). The

red also connotes comic relief and embarrassment and allows the audience escapism, becoming

emotionally connected with the protagonist.

This bird's eye view shot connotes that she is

unmissable and the director used this to entertain

the audience (uses and gratification). Red and

green are contrasting colours, and the plain brown

floor makes them stand out, connoting the

character's conflicted thoughts about her friends,

her anger (red) and jealously of the other girls

(green). This shot emphasises the size of the costume next and almost looks like a bowling ball

about the know over the pins connoting that character's destructive thoughts.

The low angle shot finally put the protagonist in the

power position connoting that she is taking control of

the situation and fixing her problems. Positioning the

audience almost beneath her feet makes it seem as

though she is stamping on everyone who once laughed

at her. The red top connotes her frustration and the soft

pink walls of her house in the background connote that

it is the protagonist's safe base. A teenage audience will be able to identify with the comfort of

being at home (uses and gratification).

A new character is introduced in a mid shot. This

character is smiling which contrasts greatly with

the feelings and emotions of the protagonist

connoting conflict between these two characters.

Siblings are a common convention of a film within

this genre and expectations to do with this character

include arguments and mischief, both indicated in

this shot.

Another character who is immediately identified as the

mum (hyperdermic needle) is introduced in a wide shot.

Conventions of this genre include relationships

between parents falling apart and separating, leaving

the protagonist with a broken home or having to

choose between the parents. There is no suggestion of

this in this shot, but it is expected to happen later within

the narrative.

A close up shot of the cat connotes that it is an

important part of the narrative. Later in the plot he is

identified as “Angus” and him going missing brings

Georgia and her love interest closer together. His

prominence is emphasised with a still shot of him

sitting up straight seeming powerful.

A mid shot displays Georgia standing along in her room.

The fact that she is starring into space connotes that she

is thinking about something, leaving the audience in

suspense. She continues to tear down pictures of her

when she was younger and throw away teddies in order

to make her look more grown up. This theme can be

identified with by the teenage audience (uses and

gratification) and are a usual convention of this genre.

A sense of defeat is emphasised in this low angle shot of

the protagonist. The audience can see that she has given

up and broken down into tears. The teenage audience will be able to identify with this feeling (uses

and gratification) and the high positioning of the camera makes her seem vulnerable and alone,

creating empathy.

The opening sequence ends on establishing

shot which pans down to display the peaceful

setting in which the film is set (equilibrium)

and the soundtrack gradually faced out. This

connotes optimism and the clam image of the

sea and the emptiness of the streets connote

that the issues have been resolves and the

narrative has moved on.