Teen Ansgt Research

Teen Angst research task

Section one: Formulate a list (with dates and directors) of significant teen angst films. Put these together in a timeline and attempt to demonstrate trends or changes in the genre over time.

Grease (1978) (Randal Kleiser)

Footloose (1984) (Herbert Ross)

Sixteen Candles (1984) (John Hughes)

10 Things I Hate About You (1999) (Jil Junger)

Mean Girls (2004) (Mark Waters)

Easy A (2010) (Will Gluck)

A common theme that runs through most of these films is that they are set in schools and have teenagers as the protagonist(s). A clear change that I can see is that the older films such as Grease and Footloose are heavily based around music and dancing. In the, 1980’s rock music was huge and that is why 1984 was a suitable year for Footloose to come out. The newer films, such as Easy A differ to the older Teen Angst films. The newer films have themes such as dealing with relationship problems.

 The newer films also explore much more adult and sexual themes in comparison to the Teenage Angst films in the 70’s and 80’s. For example, the whole plotline for Easy A involves a girl losing her virginity, where she pretends to get with unpopular boys to improve their and her own reputation. Having these types of themes also allow for different types of humour, this maybe could not have been shown in the more musical Teenage Angst films due to the different themes. While the newer films explore more adult themes, many of the older ones do not. Sixteen Candles is an example of this, as the plotline is about a girl who is having a “sweet” sixteenth party and she suffers many embarrassing moments. All of the Teenage Angst films have some sort of comedy in them, which caters to the target audience of teenagers, who wouldn’t want the film to be just serious.

Easy A Opening Sequence

Camerawork - The camerawork right at the beginning uses establishing shots of the area to set the scene. You can see in the first few cuts that the film is taking place in California, Ojai. There is a mid shot of “Ojai North High School” which indicates that this film will take place in a high school. Right after this cut, there is a close up of some old trainers hanging from a tree which could infer some sort of bullying or messing around with someone’s shoes. This could show that the school might not be the best of places for some people. It then pans down to show the school and many people walking by. Every person in that shot seems to look happy and having a good time, which can mean that the film is not going to be a negative film. There is a section where the protagonist is holding books and paper and someone walks into her and they get knocked over. It shows a mid shot of her struggling around on the floor trying to get her books and looking annoyed. This was effective because it shows the audience that this girl doesn’t really have the best time in school, which is what the plot is about and you can infer this straight away. There is also a close up of the protagonist when she is eating food around a friend’s house that she doesn’t like and she pulls a funny facial expression. This gives a clear signal that Easy A will be a humorous film, which fits the Teenage Angst genre.

Sound - All throughout the opening sequence, there is non-diegetic music in the background. The music sounds quite calm and chilled out meaning that this film might also be that way. As soon as the scene has been set, a voiceover starts from the protagonist. She is explaining what the film (her tale) is about and uses a bit of humour to set the tone – “If Google Earth were a guy, he couldn’t find me if I was dressed up as a 10 story building”. This further emphasises the fact that this film shouldn’t be taken too seriously and is humorous. The voiceover shows that the protagonist is narrating over a past event which has happened. She is talking directly to you, rather than to someone else, which might make you feel more involved in the film and makes you know the protagonist better. There is chatter and just general noise in the background, which is what you expect from a school environment. The target audience are teenagers and they will be familiar with this.

Mise-en-scene – The whole of the opening sequence is in high key lighting which sets a positive atmosphere. The only section that isn’t in high key lighting is funny and doesn’t change this positive atmosphere. Everybody who is in the opening section are wearing clothes that you would expect. For example, the students are wearing just casual clothes and the teacher is wearing smart clothes. This is what people expect from a school environment and just makes the film more realistic and believable. Props such as bags and books are used to make everything look like a school environment.

Editing – After the protagonist gets knocked over and her books are on the floor, there is cross cutting between her and her friend to show the different things that are happening. The editing is all quite slow paced, this is because the opening sequence contains a lot of dialogue and I think showing the dialogue like this is useful because it helps on character development early on in the film.

Representation -

The protagonist is made out to be promiscuous. This is because the whole plot which is partly explained in the opening sequence, is to do with losing her virginity. The stereotype is for her to be promiscuous but this is also counter typical because everything that was said were just rumours to try and get a bit of attention and fit in with the crowd. Society’s perception on teenage girls wouldn’t be too great after watching this.