Mean Girls - Opening sequence Analysis

Mean Girls (2004)

Mean girls is an American teen comedy directed by Mark Waters. The movie explores the themes of a typical school through the use of the character Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) and highlights school pupil stereotypes such as 'the plastics'.

The title 'Mean Girls' is coloured white for 'Mean' and pink for 'Girls'. The 'Mean' is a much thicker and bolder font, however the 'Girls' is thinner and more rounded.This immediately stereotypes as the word 'Girls' is thinner. However it suggests that the film will revolve around the girls' behaviour towards each other. The audience can also get the impression that it is a 'chick flick' type of film.

After this, the audience are then introduced to the main characters and their backgrounds. This is used by a point-of-view shot through Cady's eyes. This make it look as if Cady is looking up, towards her parents, highlighting to the audience that she is young. The shot can also highlight that she is weak and her parents are protecting her. The non-diegetic voice over allows the main character (Cady) to introduce herself to the audience, providing background information. The tone of her voice can make the audience feel as if they already know her. After this, there is a soft but slightly sinister piece of piano music playing in the background, representing Cady's high school experience. This adds to the comedy theme.

Once Cady arrives at her new school, the music switches to pop music, which can reflect the music taste of the characters and the type of characters that are expected. This appeals to the target audience. The shots at the setting of the school, are long shots to highlight how busy and crowded the typical school environment is.

The movie plays on stereotypical expectations of American High School which adds to the comedy aspects of the film as cliques are exaggerated a lot which shows how Cady does not fit in at all. The mise en scene is effective as it portrays everything expected such as the yellow school bus as well as adding to Cadys bad luck which contributes to the audiences enjoyment. The mise en scene together with the diegetic sound of the school bus sounding its horn as Cady is nearly run over effectively builds a more humorous opening, making the audience want to watch more.

There is a close up shot of Cady's face to convey to the audience the emotion that she may be feeling. This portrays Cady as feeling lost and nervous. The clothes that she is wearing are casual which makes the audience think that she                                                       will fit in. The editing pace begins                                                        to increase which can emphasise how nervous Cady is feeling.

 This shot shows some of the characters laughing at Cady. This can highlight to the audience how students at school can be so mean, making the audience feel sorry for Cady.