Teen Angst Opening Scene Analysis

Wild Child

The opening of 'Wild Child' is of the girl laying in her bed asleep, she is the main focus, which clearly shows she is the main character. She is represented here as innocence. There is non-diegetic sound of a lullaby, which suggests peace. this comes to a stop when she wakes up, there is a close up on her face showing a shocked expression. the non-diegetic music is broken by her swearing. this straight away shows her representation change. She says "S***", then non-diegetic upbeat catchy pop music beings.

The title of the film appears, as the girl is getting out of bed. The girl runs into the titles, which shatters them; this gives the girl a rebellious, destructive and fore boarding character. as the titles shatter there is SFX of shattering this emphasises the destruction.

The mise-en-scene instantly shows she is wealthy as the big house she lives in has an infinity pool, next to the sea on a cliff edge. A long shot is used to shows the house which is occupied by a lot of young people.

There is a mid-shot of her surrounded by her friends, this shows she is popular. Mise-en-scene, shows her wealth again because of the jewellery she is wearing.

Dramatic non-diegetic music starts to play, the girl takes her step mum's clothes and she runs of the cliff and jumps into the sea, once again emphasising her rebellious side. during this, the editing is shot-reverse-shot. there is an extreme long shot of the cliff, the house and the girl falling.

Teen Angst FilmsTimeline

Grease (1978)
Director= Randal Kleiser
Love interest (trend)
Reinforcing stereotypes (trend)

Footloose (1984)
Director= Herbert Ross
Love interest (trend)

Dirty Dancing (1987)
Director= Emile Ardolino
Love interest (trend)

The Breakfast Club (1985)
Director= John Hughes
Self-sufficient (change)
Teen friendship (trend)

10 things I Hate About You (31 March 1999)
Director= Gil Junger
Breaks female stereotype (change)
Love interest (trend)

Clueless (19 July 1995)

Director= Amy Heckerling
Breaks the female stereotype (modern trend)

Mean Girls (2004)
Director= Mark Waters
Teen friendship (trend)
Reinforcing stereotype (trend)

She’s the Man (2006)
Director= Andy Fickman
Gender equality (change)

John Tucker Must Die (2006)
Director= Betty Thomas
Revenge plot (change)
Female independence

Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging (2008)
Director= Gurinder Chadha
Teen Friendship (trend)

Wild Child (2008)
Director= Nick Moore
Becoming independent (trend)
Learning from mistakes (trend)

17 Again (2009)
Director=Burr  Steers
Countertype main character-male (change)

Easy A (2010)

Director= Will Gluck

Becoming independent (trend)

Footloose (2011) (remake)
Director= Craig Brewer
Stereotypical on-screen romance (trend)
Racial diversity (modern trend)

The Duff (2015)
Director= Ari Sandel
Self-confidence (change)
Breaks the female stereotype (change)
Female independence (modern Trend)