Grease Title Sequence Analysis

 

 

 0:00-0:05-
·         “Paramount pictures presents” appears on screen and bounces towards the audience then back down to make it stand out and connote its importance. It also fits with the music
·         School bell rings showing the representation of age being those still in school, and makes it relatable to the target audience of a teen angst, (teenagers.)
·         Fades into next scene
·         Background of a radio/alarm shows represents the characters within the film to be stereotypical teenagers who listen to loud music.
·         Animated background
·         Cartoon shaped font, white colour stands out.

 

0:26-0:28-
·         Title “Grease” flies on to screen from a tube of hair grease. This represents the title “Grease” as connoting the hair product, relating back to the target audience who stereotypically care about their appearance.
·         Title continues to move drawing attention to the title.

0:28-0:32-
·         Animated car appears behind title, making it stand out even more.
·         Names appear at the bottom, in a plain black font. Although the black font makes it stand out from the plain background, it seems quite dull and average compared to the previous titles, suggesting it may not be as important.

 

0:40-0:44
·         Camera zooms out from the mirror, connoting a teenager’s vanity.
·         Name of actor and character fades in.
·         The bold font and colours make it stand out.
·         The font being in red connotes importance.
·         The font is large and takes up half of the screen drawing attention to it.

 

1:12-1:15
·         Repeats pattern from the last title scene, zooming out from the mirror onto the names.
·         Font is bold and in yellow and orange, they stand out from the background.
·         This is repeated for the next two characters, keeping the pattern the same but the colour of the font changes to keep the audience interested.
·         Blue fond and background is a stereotypical connotation of males.

 

2:08-2:14
·         Title is displayed on a billboard after appearing from a cloud of smoke.
·         Takes up the whole screen signifying its importance.
·         Music continues to play throughout all of the shots. It’s upbeat and fast pace, making it seem exciting.
·         The camera zooms in on the names emphasising the importance.

 

2:16-2:21
·         Similar to the last shot of names on a billboard, connotes a similarity between the two groups of names.
·         Pink font and background is a stereotypical connotation of females.
·         Title appears as the car speeds past.
·         Camera zooms in to show importance.

 

 

2:34-2:37
·         The rest of titles appear on billboards around the city, appearing after the cars drive past it.
·         Animated, bold coloured and shaped backgrounds.
·         Font type and colours are bold and stand out.

 

Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging

Characters:

Georgia Nicolson:

Georgia is an average 14 year old girl. She is a stereotypical teenage character, who tries to change herself because she wants to be prettier, popular and is overall unhappy with herself. She writes a diary, where we find out she has a crush on the new boy Robbie. She also wants to know how to kiss, wants to be treated like an adult and has an enemy, “Wet Lindsey.”  She is portrayed as a self-obsessed, childish character but deep down a nice person, who’s just unhappy with herself. Georgia faces a lot of issues a teenager faces in everyday life, making it relatable to the younger audience.

Robbie

New boy at school, he straight away catches Georgia’s attention with his charming good looks and sweet personality. However at first he is dating “Wet Lindsey.” Even after they break up Georgia keeps embarrassing herself in front of him and although there is a spark between them they don’t end up together until the very end. He is a stereotypical character in a teen angst, being a sweet, good looking English male which all the girls want.

Wet Lindsey

Given the nickname “wet Lindsey” by Georgia and her group of friends, she is the popular, pretty girl that all the boys want. However she is the antagonist in the film and the school bully. She is stereotypically beautiful but fake and nasty. However at first only Georgia and the Ace gang see her for what she really is. She’s the girls that all the boys want and all the girls want to be. She is self-absorbed and believes she is above everyone.

 

The Ace Gang

Georgia’s group of friends are protagonists within the film. They are all very close and have similar interests, such as make up, boys and being cool. They are all average looking, stereotypical plain and ordinary teenagers. They do not stand out particularly but all wish to be popular. They all face stereotypical teenage problems such as wanting a boyfriend and arguments within their friendship groups. This is relatable to the target audience.

Settings

The beach

The film is set in a dull, boring seaside town, where nothing exciting tends to happen, this is relatable to the audience who probably live in a similar type of setting. It supports the idea that Georgias life is quite boring and average.

 

 

The school

A main setting within the film is the school, it is an average English school, which is relatable to the audience. It represents the age of the girls and their immaturity.

Mise-En-Scene

School uniform

The school uniform is a tartan knee length skirt, blazer and tie. The Ace gang, being represented as less cool wear their uniform correctly, whereas popular girl Lindsey alters hers to be tighter and more revealing.  The school uniform connotes they are still quite young and immature.

Make-up

Make-up and anything used to alter the girls appearance (such as tweezers to pluck their eyebrows) is a main form of Mise-En-Scene within the film. It is iconography of a teenage girl, as they stereotypically care about their appearance. When Georgie accidently shaves her eyebrow off this shows they are young and naïve, they are trying to act like they know what they’re doing because they want to be treated as adults. This connotes them as being immature and childish.

Lighting

The lighting used within the film is dull and low key. This represents the mood of the film and the average life of Georgie. However the lighting when her and Robbie finally get together is light because it represents the light-hearted mood and atmosphere. The lighting throughout connotes the everyday ups and downs of Georgias stereotypical teenage life.

Narrative

The film is about a 15 year old girl called Georgia, she lives with her mum, dad and younger sister. She wants to be treated like an adult and therefore despises the fact her parents treat her like a child. She goes to an average English school and has a group of friends who are all considered fairly uncool. The film shows everyday problems faced by Georgia, such as embarrassing herself in front of her crush Robbie, falling out with her best friends, and the fear of her parents getting divorced. The film ends with a moral ending to care less about what people think about you and be happy in yourself. In stereotypical teen angst ending Georgia ends up with Robbie, makes up with her friends and her dad comes home and her family begin to treat her like a grow up. Robbie chooses Georgia over Lindsey and everyone sees her for who she really is, meaning they have ‘defeated’ the antagonist.