Character Mise-en-scene Analysis

Teen Angst films include varieties of the stereotypical teenager such as, being lazy, anti-social, mean/rude, school focused (nerdy) and also the sporty stereotype. Whilst looking into teen angst films I realised that each of these stereotypical groups is established mostly through the clothes that they wear and the props that they hold/use. Due to the importance of the mise-en-scene in Teen Angst Films I decided to annotate some of these conventions.

Regina George - Mean Girls

In the picture below, you can see that Regina is wearing a lot of pink which is a stereotypical girl's colour and it emphasises her feminism. She is also wearing a white top, which is very contradictory of her personality, as white usually connotes innocence where as her character has a mean, judgemental personality. Another stereotypical factor of a teenage girl would be the fact that the skirt she is wearing is very short, which is a common theme throughout all of her outfits in the film as they are all fairly risqué.

Wesley - The Duff

In the Duff there is a character that could be defined as sporty. The character Wesley is usually shown in the film in a sporty background such as a field where he is shown playing American football. This is further supported by the fact that the picture is set in a locker room, which is associated with sports. The clothes that the character usually wears are muscle tops and shorts or stylish clothes such as simple hoodies and jeans. The reason he wears a mix of these clothes is because although he is identified as being a jock he is also one of the most popular guys, thus meaning that he needs to keep up with the trends. An example where he is keeping up with the latest trends would be the continuous appearance of a mobile, which supports the fact he is also technological - another teenager stereotype.

 

Princess Mia - Princess Diaries

The picture above shows Mia from the princess diaries before she is given a make-over form her grandmother. This is significant as this then emphasises a huge change in her appearance from this nerdy character to a princess. When she is presented as a nerd, the mise-en-scene is very stereotypical as it includes, immaculate uniform that consists of a blazer, glasses and her big, frizzy hair. The hair is not the strongest stereotypical aspect as it does not appear in all films where a nerd is present, however it can be argued to be an aspect as it shows that she is not too bothered what other people think of her appearance. This can be supported in Harry Potter with Hermione who also has very frizzy hair and is presented to the audience as an extremely smart teenager.