ANGUS THONGS AND PERFECT

SNOGGING (2008) OPENING SCENE

SETTING: The sequence begins in
the main protagonists fathers car.
This is a conventional normal,
everyday setting that the audience
can immediately identify as
realistic and universal. This sets up
the running theme of a realism.
Furthermore, the change from the
car to the party is effective in
juxtaposing the teenagers family
relationship with that of her
friends. With her family (her father
in this instance) the character is
represented to be having an
attempt at independence away
from her fathers car. Whereas, in
the party setting: the protagonist is
out of her depth with her friends.
Moreover, the producers effectively
set up and foreshadow the
complicated balance between
family and friend relationships
through this contrast in setting.
Also, the seaside setting of

Brighton is familiar to the audience

with everyday places like shops
and restaurants shown.
CHARACTERS: Initially for the
demographic of the genre (young
adults and teens) we sympathise
with the conventional nagging
shown through you dont have to
stalk me and how this effects
parent-child relationships. Plus, the
main character: Georgia is shown
after in an olive costume encoding
her as a countertype of a teenage
girl; as she doesnt fit the
convention of heavy makeup,
skimpy clothing etc. Other
characters shown like Lindsay- the
main antagonist of the narrative:
clearly fit the archetypal villain,
noted by Propp. The characters
black clothing stand out amongst
the bright colour of Georgias olive
costume. Not only does the black
colour seem to connote her nasty,
manipulative side but we
immediately identify a contrast

between the protagonist and

antagonist. The protagonists
friendship group seem to identify
as different stereotypes of
teenagers. Jas is shown to be
slightly sexualised with devil horns
and a low cut red dress connoting
her as the conventional
promiscuous teen. Moreover, the
characters in the school scene like
Dave the laugh and the twins who
fit the deviant teen stereotype also
contribute to the conventional
characters of the genre:
stereotypical teens.
THEMES: A running theme is the
struggles of a teenager, from the
embarrassment of the female
protagonist wearing an olive
costume to a party, avoiding her
dad stalking her, shaving her
eyebrow off and battling with
parents being too intimate. Other
themes include embarrassment,
humour, fitting in, growing up too
soon and friendship.

NARRATIVE: Unlike Todorovs

theory, the initial scene with the
protagonists father lacks an
equilibrium due to the
embarrassment she faces. In fact,
other events in the opening like
walking through the streets of
Brighton in an olive costume
heighten this disruptive
embarrassment for the female
character. Despite this disruption
point of the narrative we still find
humour in the characters
humiliation with the help of upbeat
music and high key lighting. Later,
in the extract, the protagonist
narrates the sequence of events
through a voiceover which
encourages us to further identify
with the narrative.
ICONOGRAPHY: Costume is
conventional of the genre.
Characters like the protagonist, her
parents and other passers-by all
wear archetypal everyday clothing

(jeans and a t-shirt). Although, the

protagonists olive costume
connotes her unique personality
and how were positioned to
acknowledge her importance
against other characters.
CREATION OF ENIGMA: Even in the
initial sequence, were encouraged
to question the roles of the
characters. For instance, the
protagonists three friends (Jas,
Ellen and Rosie) not wearing food
costumes allows us to question
what is it that makes these friends
close? Do/will they stick together?
Is Georgia completely isolated from
them? Plus, the protagonists
parents seem to entice similar
questions like do they not
sympathise with Georgia at all? Will
this testing parent-child
relationship continue? The creation
of enigma in the text isnt
conventional as it doesnt
particularly evoke nervousness or
anxiety for the upcoming plot, but

it certainly encourages curiosity

about what will happen to the
teens.
INTRODUCTION TO CHARACTERS:
Initially, were introduced to the
main characters parent and friends
in a way that allows us to make
presumptions about their
personalities e.g. that Ellen is the
baby of the group e.g. her
discussing what her mother made
her wear. Furthermore, the
introduction to Libby (the
protagonists sister) shows a
contrast between teenagers and
children through the immaturity
and comedic naivety of a child vs
the struggles of maturing as teen.
In addition, the school scene is
extremely conventional of the
genre. The protagonist narrates the
sequence through a voiceover,
allowing us to identify different
characteristics within the students.
For instance, the conventional jack

the lad character known as Dave

the laugh.
SETTING UP PLOT: The main plot of
the text is the difficulty in meeting
the expectations of being a
teenager, this is set up straight
from the initial scene. Moreover,
the embarrassment of wearing an
olive costume to a party
foreshadows this continual theme
of not fitting in. Other examples
like the protagonist narrating the
school scene conveys the
overwhelming pressures of so many
different students. Hence, this
foreshadows the key plot of
whether the main character can
overcome these struggles. Another
element of the plot is the power of
adults. As well as parent authority;
teacher authority is shown through
the archetypal scary head
teacher this sets up the plot of
teenagers trying to be
independent, and how perhaps
sometimes adult authority isnt the

most beneficial. Lastly, the opening

sets up the plot of how friendship
works- the good and the bad
through scenes with the friendship
group getting on and arguing too.
Again, the text challenges the
typical ideas about plot because
the plot isnt especially tense or
dramatic, instead there seems to
be multiple plots running through
the text that all help to create this
image of teens.
PACE AND RHYTHM: The pace
seems to mirror the feelings of the
protagonist. At first, a slow and
peaceful rhythm is created through
the continual edit but after the
embarrassment of the olive
costume: the upbeat music and
rushed body language creates a
faster rhythm as Georgia becomes
more and more humiliated. The
pace then reverts to a slower
rhythm at the school and home
scene, suggesting the normality of
these settings.

MOOD AND TONE: The overall mood

is positive with elements like high
key lighting connoting the
equilibrium of the text. The tone is
also quite humorous and light
hearted with the upbeat nondiegetic music too.