Opening Sequence Analysis - Angus, Thongs, and Perfect Snogging

Sound:

The film starts with the logos of the institutions that have had a a hand in the film, either through production or distribution, etc. There is a non-diegetic sound which is mysterious yet quite happy as I think the instrument used is a xylophone. It makes the audience feel relaxed yet they want to find out more.

The first scene is of a girl, who the audience presumes is the main character, having a conversation with with a man who we find out is her dad through the dialogue. We hear the father and daughter having a normal conversation, about dropping her off to a party but she doesn't want a lift, that you would hear parents saying to their children in real life. This straight way makes the target audience feel connected to the main character as she is a teenage girl who seems to be just like another British teenage girl.

The sound from the beginning continues through the scenes as non-diegetic background music until the girl reaches the party. The sound then fades away and we can hear the diegetic music that is supposed to be playing at the party.

In the dialogue, the main character Georgia is arguing over costumes with her friends as they changed theirs at the last minute. We hear them say typical excuses that teenagers would say like "my mum said no", "it made me look fat" or "I didn't know how to". We also hear the girls mention boys which tend to be one of the biggest worries in teenage girls life. The dialogue effectively makes the audience feel sympathetic towards Georgia and sets the genre as a romantic comedy/chick flick.

When Georgia leaves the party running home, we hear more non-diegetic music playing; it is "She's So Lovely" by Scouting For Girls, this music is fast and happy and about a girl. It was very popular when this film was released and I'm sure all teenage girls would have been singing along to it! This music then becomes the title sequence music.

Titling:

The first titles to appear are the production companies and the director. These appear at the very start of the film when Georgia is talking to her dad. The rest of the titles for the film don't appear until the song "She's So Lovely" by Scouting For Girls start to play. The font is curly and in light pink which gives it a girly feel as well as making it significant that the film is aimed at girls.

The name of the film is the next main title we see. It is placed on the right of the screen, rather than in the middle, this is so that we can see the main character Georgia running on the other side of the screen so we can keep following her in action.

The next title that appears is the main characters name, we know that it is her name as there is a mid-shot of her and her name is placed right next to her. After this, the titles are the names of the rest of the cast. The titles are all placed, sometimes one on its own and sometimes three at a time depending on how important the characters are, at different parts of the shots while we follow Georgia as she runs home. We also get the titles of the crew, e.g. casting, music, co-produce, costume designer, editor, etc.

Camera Work:

The very first shot is from inside the car the Georgia's dad is driving alongside her, it is a medium close up of her dad and we can see Georgia in the background. Although we are following Georgia walking, it is the car that is moving not the camera; the camera is inside the car and so the audience feel as though they are inside the car viewing the action in first person. The next shot however is what helps us understand what is going on because up until think point the audience had just been thrown into a father-daughter conversation and they hadn't seen the main characters face yet. The second shot is a long shot in which we can fully see the main character and the car.


The shot when Georgia enters the party is very important as it helps the audience to feel sympathetic for the main character; it is a point of view shot of everyone at the party looking in horror at Georgia's costume, and judging her. We then has a series of medium close up reaction shots of people seeing Georgia's costume; we see her looking embarrassed, we see a girl (who we presume is the main "villain" as she is focused on at many points in this scene) laughing at her, and we see three girls looking embarrassed and sad for her (we presume that these are her friends). The reverse shots used in the next scene help us to understand the conversation between Georgia and Lindsey (the main "hero" and "villain") and between Georgia and her three friends.

In most of the shots, until Georgia runs out of the party, the camera is mainly stationary. Once Georgia does run out, the camera tracks her as she crosses the road and then pans out to show the scenery of Eastbourne beach where the film is set.

There are many different camera shots from this point on which all help to establish the setting of the film, e.g. the wide shot of Georgia running past Eastbourne Pier, the point of view mid-shots of the elderly people sitting on the benches who are looking at Georgia jog past and the birds eye view of Georgia running past two elderly people. The camera tracking Georgia helps the audience feel like a part of the film as well as showing the landscapes and scenery of Eastbourne and really setting the scene for the film.

Since so many of these shots have elderly people in them it emphasises that fact that the town may not be very lively and fun, instead quite quiet and boring. Before Georgia enters her house we see her coming up her road. It is an extreme long shot and Georgia is on the furthest left third of the screen, this helps to show off the unusual pastel coloured houses on her street.All of these camera angles, shots and movement help to establish the setting and set the mood for the film.

Editing:

The whole opening sequence uses cuts in between shots as it does not disrupt the flow of action and continuity is a lot smoother. The opening is also in chronological order, since it the story isn't meant to be mysterious or difficult to keep up with. The time period also seems to be a mere couple of hours as the only thing that happens is Georgia goes to the party, gets humiliated and then runs home; and the lighting was bright and sunny at the start and the sun seems to be starting to set when she returns home.

Mise en Scene:

The costumes the actors are wearing are hard to describe apart from saying that they are "normal", the actors (apart from the girls at the party) are all wearing clothes that people would wear in everyday lives, especially in England. This make the film seem very down to earth and not unrealistic like a lot of big budget american romantic comedy productions. The costumes which the girls at the party are wearing are also the typical costumes that girls would wear if they had to go in a costume, e.g. cats, angels, devils, etc, - I have been all of these things at least once if not more!

There are not many significant props that are used in this opening as a lot of it is filmed outdoors and is just showing the scenery. The few props however, like the car, all add to the "British middle class" element of the film which helps the movie appeal to the mass market.

Since the film is set in Eastbourne all things that you see the characters in the film doing, are things that the audience can relate to as they are not in a foreign country doing wild things. The lighting of the opening is also very bright and well lit which sets a light hearted mood as opposed to a dark and dim lit opening which would create and tense and mysterious mood.

Narrative:

The opening sequence seems to be following the traditional narrative structure of equilibrium (Georgia walking to the party, talking with her dad), disequilibrium (Georgia reaching the party and being humiliated), and new equilibrium (Georgia returning home).