Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging

Opening Analysis

What themes are put across?• Concern with appearance

• Friendship issues

• Interest in boys

• Mean Girls

•Imperfect protagonist

• Romantic comedy (genre)

Concern with Appearance• Concern with appearance is represented within the first two minutes of the film as the song states “she’s so lovely” and discusses a girls appearance. This introduces concern with appearance as a theme• Also a diegetic laughing sound shows that others are concerned with the protagonist’s appearance• There is use of crabbing shots showing old people staring at the protagonist which also shows a concern for appearance• As the protagonist runs she looks around at others therefore representing her as self conscious and therefore concerned with her appearance• Use of high angled shots forced the audience to look down on her and this represents her as having low self esteem which links to concern with appearance

Friendship issues• Friendship issues are introduced within the first two minutes as the protagonist is first shown without her friends whereas her friends are introduced together, this represents that the protagonist is left out of her friendship group• friendship issues are also represented through a mid shot of her friends showing them to feel embarrassed by the protagonist and therefore represents friendship issues as a theme. “but we said we’d all go as h’orderves to be original” shows a lack of solidarity within the friendship group and shows the protagonist to be let down by her friends• Friendship is portrayed to be an important

theme within the film as is pushes the title sequence.

Interest in boys• Concern with boys is shown thought the use of medium long shot showing the reaction of boys to be judgmental, therefore showing interest in boys as a key concern within the film• Also interest in boys is represented as a key theme because the protagonist’s friend says “boys don’t like girls for funniness” therefore putting boys before her friendship, representing interest in boys as a theme within the film

Mean girls• Mean girls are introduced within the first two minutes of the film through the use of dark colours. The antagonist is dressed in all black to contrast the bright colours that the protagonist is dressed in, this represents their contrast and foreshadows a clash of their personalities.• Mean girls are also introduced through a close up of the three girls, this shows their facial expression which are of sarcastic smiles. This represents them as fake which corresponds with the character of a ‘mean girl’• Mean girls are also portrayed through a close up the antagonist, showing her as the first one to laugh at the protagonist therefore representing her as the mean girl.

Romantic comedy (genre)• The font used for the titling is swirled therefore corresponding with the ‘girly-girl’ character which is commonly found within romantic comedy.• The situation shown within the first two minutes represents the protagonist as goofy and imperfect, this causes the situation to be comedic, as also shown by the song (describing a beautiful girl whilst the protagonist is dressed comically in the shot) creates comedic irony.• The use of high key lighting is often found within romantic comedies because it links to an upbeat and positive tone• The use of white writing also represents romantic comedy as a genre again linking to a bright tone, showing the audiences that the film will be light hearted.