The trailer for Angus, Thongs And Perfect Snogging, from a storyline point of view, is very 'child-trying-to-be-adult', it has a sense of desperation to grow up and be a woman, which mirrors exactly how Georgia herself feels. The actual layout of the trailer, what with one problem after the other, is maybe a bit too 'un-real', it doesn't follow how life actually goes. There's never a break to Georgia's problems, and it does seem as if her life was purposefully made to make a movie and to incorporate specific scenes before even focusing upon the character herself. Regarding this, I don't think I'll be taking alot from the trailer as it seems a bit too 'cookie-cutter' perfect, following Todorov's narrative theory to the point where it's spelling it out for you and not allowing you to think. It seems a very passive film, and I want my movie to make people think and show the darker side of being a teenager, whereas in Angus... the biggest problem is 'the girlfriend', when there's so many more problems in life.
On the other hand, there are aspects to it that I like as a viewer, for instance, the notebook and polaroid pictures shooting up between each scene, and the constant voice over telling us exactly what's happening, and though this technique seems a bit too passive for my liking, I can see why other viewers will enjoy it, especially since the audience seems to be aimed at the younger generation of teenagers rather than the older ones, who introduce alot more problems into their life rather than those do at Georgia's age.
Aesthetically, the trailer as a whole is very pleasing to the eye. It's bright and colourful and constantly some form of happy, and though this is what draws in the young teens, it's not active in the slightest, it is merely there to interest people, and because it gives a hell of a lot away in the scenes and the voice over to boot, there's nothing there for the viewer to question. It is immediately clear that Georgia is the typical teenage schoolgirl, has her group of best friends, falls for the forbidden boy, Robbie, who, of course, already has the bitchy girlfriend, and sets out to obtain him through any means at her disposal, generally backfiring with hilarious consequences. Nice, simple narrative; girl meets boy, girl falls for boy, girl just has to have him.
The trailer for Angus... is much like the film, and it is shown as a mini movie in itself, with a coherent story line and nothing left to the imagination of exactly what this film contains. It is quite long, and almost exactly two minutes in length which agains adds to the sense it is a mini movie. It begins with a panoramic shot of the street in which Georgia lives, and then cuts to scenes with her laughing with her friends - mimicking Todorov's 'equilibrium' narrative; this is the beginning, everything's rosey, there is an equilibrium in her life - despite the angst she has towards her parents. This is simply part of life for her, though. She expects to have her parents in her way, being embarrassing and 'old', however, and so it still belongs to Todorov's equilibrium. There are short scenes with Georgia and the mishaps she gets herself into, with notepad flashes coming up with sentences like "how to flaunt it", and then showing her how she really doesn't know how to 'flaunt it', and this adds to the mise en scene of the ideal 'teenage girl's life'. It's very typical. Then, of course, 'the boy' comes into play. She spots a gorgeous new pair of brothers, and this is where the disequilibrium comes from. This part of the trailer features short clips of Georgia basically stalking this guy, Robbie, and therefore worrying even more so about her appearence, and how she looks for him, with a brilliant shot of her inspecting her nose in the back a spoon, which automatically makes your nose look huge anyway. During a scene with a good friend, Dave The Laugh, Georgia enquires what exactly a boy looks for in a girls. When Dave says, with barely a heartbeat for him to think about it, their 'nunga nungas', it snaps to shots of Lindsey, Robbie's girlfriend, with her perfect boobs and the dribbling boys that follow her around with saucer sized eyes. This is exactly where the disequilibrium comes into play, and Lindsey and Georgia battle it out, without Robbie's knowledge. Lindsey knocks Georgia to the ground in a hockey match, enforcing the fact she's Robbie's girlfriend and Georgia will never have because she's more powerful, in the sense she's older, prettier, and has bigger boobs. Another disequilibrium rears its head when Georgia spots Robbie at the local swimming pool; her legs are bright orange from the mishap of applying fake tan. Robbie laughs it off, and it then cuts to the scene of him and his band playing a local gig, with the two sharing a lingering look. The viewer automatically realises, of course girl will get the boy, but Georgia, ever determined to impress Robbie, demands to her parents her birthday party has to be at a hip and happening club, to mimick the one The Stiff Dylans - Robbie's band - played at, and also to out-do Lindsey's birthday. While she's demanding this, her Dad announces he's been offered a job in New Zealand, and Georgia screams "what!?", the scene then morphing into a tumoultuous flicker of snappy, fast clips of the film, mirroring her troubles; how's her Dad going to pay for her awesome birthday now!? The disequilibrium is then completely reinforced by a handful of clips showing Georgia in a darker, more depressing light instead of the technicolour brightness of before; it shows her mumbling to her friends, curled up on her bed in the dark and crying etc. The editing in this proves the disequilibrium of the trailer, as well as the film. And then, all of a sudden, the disequilibrium is fixed, and a new, shinier, better, equilibrium is created, with clips of her amazing party, Robbie leaning in for a kiss, Robbie and Georgia messing around and having a laugh, with beautiful men, wonderful friends etc. The longest clip in this is Robbie admitting to Georgia that he likes her, despite her madness, and thus creating a film, and trailer, that fits Todorov's narrative theory perfectly. The end clip is of Robbie and Georgia shouting from a boat on the beach "thank you, and good night!", again hinting to the viewer that this film is exactly what it says on the tin.
Mean Girls
The trailer for Mean Girls is like a film in its own right. It shows sections of the actual picture, conjoined into a set storyline for the trailer, and this technique definitley works very well on the passive viewers, since, like Angus... it tells audiences exactly what to expect. Unlike Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging though, it doesn't give too much away in the trailer, and it is alot more grown up, obviously because the characters are older, but the way in which it is filmed; the angst and the typical teenage bitchiness is very sneaky and clever. It isn't up front, it's behind the scenes and alot more cold and scientific. Though it still has hilarious results, there are alot of connotations within finding yourself as a person, and not only that, but yourself as a good person.
Regarding influences from this trailer, I think I'll be using Mean Girls' trailer technique in which it focuses slightly on the more adult problems in life, like sex, friendship and surviving "Girl World". Like Angus... Mean Girls is still very catty and high school, whereas my trailer will focus more on personal problems rather than those regarding a social life, as such. Mean Girls is still very passive in the sense that, though it looks at it in a scientific light, the storyline is still girl meets boy. Despite these two films being nothing like what I want my trailer to look like, I still think they're interesting to look at as it shows the life of teenagers perfectly, particularly within school.
