This document summarizes and compares the films Mean Girls and Napoleon Dynamite. Both films are set in high schools and involve teenage characters, with Mean Girls focusing on stereotypical "mean girls" and Napoleon Dynamite featuring awkward, comedic protagonists. The director of Napoleon Dynamite, Jared Hess, has an auteur style of realistic, non-CGI filming and unique, unconventional humor that is consistent across his films.

1. Mean Girls - Lacey’s Repertoire of Elements
Mean Girlswas releasedonthe 19th
of April,2004 froma
productioncompanynamedParamountPictures.Alongwith
twootherscombinednamedBroadwayVideoandSNL
Studios.The filmstarredLindsayLohanandRachel McAdams,two well-knownfemale actors.Rachel
has appearedinothersuccessful filmsafterMeanGirlssuchas The Note Book andHot Chicks.
Lindsayhasstarred ina numberof filmsforexampleThe ParentTrapand wasin the publiceye since
she was veryyoung.
Mean Girlsisa ChickFlickfilm,andaimedata target audience of younggirlsintheirteenage years.
Most likelytobe inhighschool as that iswhere the filmissetmainly.Thishilariousgirlyfilmwasa
hitin 2004 and still tothisday. LindsayLohanplayeda girl calledCadyHeron.Who movedall the
wayfrom Africato Californiawithherfamily,asshe’sbeenbroughtupinquite adeprivedareaof
Africashe isn’tfamiliarwiththe waythese stereotypical meangirlswork.Hercharacterispresented
at the start of the filmquite laidbackanddownto earth.She enjoysthe simple thingsinlife like the
out – doors andnothingto major,as thisishow she has beenbroughtup.Howeverthe girlsshe
befriendsathernewhighschool contrastto herpersonalityawhole lot.Rachel McAdamswhoplays
the character of the main‘Mean Girls’groupisyour stereotypical,self–obsessedgirl.Whoonly
cares forher ownwell – being. Onthe otherhandCady befriendsanothergroupof friendswhichare
a lot more like hernamedJanisandDamien,twooutcasts that have neverreally fitinwithany
social groupin the school as theiropinionsonpeopleandthingsare veryhonest.These characters
are representedas muchlaidback,nice,genuine people whobecomefriendswithCadyrightaway.
The settingof the filmisverystereotypical forateenmovie,itssetinaHigh School where all the
girlslive,verysimilartoNapoleonDynamite whichisalsoa popularteenmovie.Napoleondynamite
isalso setina HighSchool howeverhave verydifferentsociallyawkwardcharacters.HighSchools
are usuallyusedasthe mainsetand locationfora teenmovie tobe set.As the targetaudience
relateswell tothislocation.The HighSchool inmeangirlslooksalotmore modern,andlessshabby
whereasNapoleonDynamiteissetina HighSchool whichlooksquietunfashionable,andbasic. The
lightingof the filmisbrightandcolourful connectingtothe moodof the filmitself,asit’squietlight
heartedandenjoyable.
In Mean Girlsit’sveryiconicto see LindsayLohaninanotherteenmovie;she hasappearedin
popularteenmoviessuchasFreakyFridaywhichhasthe same locationasMean Girls,typesof
characters andhumorousfactors.So the audience knowswhentheysee LindsayLohanappearingin
the filmas the maincharacter it isgoingto be thiskindof genre.AlsoRachel McAdamsisiconicto
the genre as she has appearedinotherpopularteenmoviessuchasHotChicks,againset ina high
school,withthe same typesof characters.

2. Napoleon Dynamite - Applying Auteur Theory
Napoleon DynamiteisaComedyfilm, starringJonHederandEfren
Ramirez. Itsstoryline isveryunconventional asthe twomain
characters are veryawkward,and comical.NapoleonDynamite who
isplayedbyJon Hederandthe filmitself isabouthislife,hisfriends,
hisfamilyandawkwardexperiences.The filmissetinahighschool,whichisveryconventional fora
movie involvingteenagers,againlikeMeanGirls. The filmwasdirectedbyJaredHessandproduced
by JeremyCoonandtwootherproducersnamedSeanCovel andChrisWyatt. The production
companyof thisfilmiscalledMTV Filmswhohave done othersimilarfilmstoNapoleonDynamite.
The budgetof thisfilmwas $400,000.
The principle creatorof the filmisnamedJaredHess;he has a certainstyle of presentinghisfilms.
He has alsocreatedanddirectedfilmssuchasNacho Libre andGentlemenBroncos,these twofilms
are alsocomedyfilms.Hesshashisownstyle andwayof presentinghiscomical andhumorousfilms,
and hisfilmsare alsoverysimilartoeachother.He isquite a youngdirectorso hishumourisveryup
to date and on trend,hisaudience isalsothe same eachtime.Mostlymalesagedfrom15 onwards,
and probablyalreadyseenone of hismoviesbefore.ForexampleNapoleonDynamite isavery
awkwardyetrelatable humourforyoungpeople,asit’ssetina school and aroundfriends. Hessalso
sticksto basic,realisticeditingandcuttingof the movie.He doesn’t use anyCGIor technical
computereditsinNapoleonDynamite,maybebecause he wantstomake the filmlookasreal and
relatable aspossible,addingCGIwouldn’tsuitthe style andnarrative of the movie. Hisstyle of
filmingwithacamerais alwaysthe same,smoothsteadyclearshots;nohandheldshotsjustall
professionallyorganizedwellthoughtshots.
I thinkwithNapoleonDynamite demonstrateshow Hesshasconsideredthisfilmto
promote hisownartisticmeritovercommercial success.Asthe filmisverydifferentto
a usual teenmovie,quickwouldincludeontrendclothes,attractive charactersand
partiesetc.Napoleonispresentedasaveryawkward,unsociable character.He hasn’t
got much family,andonlyhashisone friendnamedPedro. Mostof JaredHessmovies
are veryunique andunexpected;he hashisownwayof presentinghismovie’stohis
audience.He howeverproduceshisfilmstosuithimself,it’swhathe enjoysandIget
the impressionhe wantstoshare that withhisaudience. Hessalsocreatedandwas
directorof anotherfilmnamedGentlemenBroncos.Thisisalsoa veryunique,different
type of humour,somethingyouwouldexpectfromHess.The DVDcovershownon the rightquotes
at the top‘fromthe creator of Napoleon Dynamite’this tellsusstraightawaythisfilmisgoingtobe
a un – stereotypical comical movie.
Jarod Hessusesa similartheme throughouthisfilms.He alwayssetshisfilminthe past,or the
future neverpresentday.Sohisfilmsare alwaysgoingtobe consistentof differenttimeperiods,it’s
somethingwe canexpectwhenwe see hisnamedadvertised. He hasonlyeverycreatedComedy
genre movies,whichispartof histheme asan auteurdirector.