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1. Style
The style isverydescriptive inthe visual appearance
of the script,forexample “naturallypretty”,“she has
a fantastictan” due to the pictorial nature of the film,
the plotbasedon girlsandthe pressure ontheir
physical appearancesinhighschool.Moreoverasthis
scriptis writtenfora film,the characterisationis
extremelyimportantincreatingrecognisable and
relatable personalitiesforthe audience tofollow,
these personalitiesbeingmajorlydetectedthrough
the way theyare physicallyinterpretedbythe
audience.Ontopof this,the actors will alsogainfrom
the intenselygraphicimagerypresentedinthe
character descriptions,astheywillneedto
interrogate the true meaningsbehindthe visualsand
embodythemonscreen.Anexample of thiswouldbe
the seeminglyobsessivefeelingof perfection
surrounding“Cady”andthe wayshe choosesto
presentherself.Whataspectdoesshe lackthat she
reliesonherbeautytofulfil?
Content
Thisscript isfor the film“MeanGirls”,a 2004 TeenComedy
that presentsthe storyof a teengirl tryingto fitintoa new
school.Rateda 12A, it followsthe formulaforatypical
Paramountteenage movie with interestsinlove,friendship
and identityasrelatable ‘comingof age’experiencesand
followsprotagonistCady’sjourneyindiscoveringwhoshe
isin the societyof Americainthe early2000s.
Narrative Structure
The structure of thisnarrative follows Brannigan’sidea
of everystory/narrativeembodyingajudgement
througha beginning,middle andanend. Here Cady’s
effortstofitin andfindher‘tribe’withinschool canbe
judgedthroughoutthe storyasshe strivestofindout
whoshe is.The bad decisionsshe makessuchastrying
to become a “plastic”can be scrutinizedbythose inthe
audience whocan see the dramaticironyin howshe
compromisesherself tobe like othersandherfinal
decisiontostickwith‘outcasts’of the school society
can be congratulated.Moreovershe alsofitsinto
Propp’scharacter type:The Hero.Seekingsecurity,love
and happinessinaforeignsociety,Cadyembodiesthis
categoryin herjourneythroughthe script.
Genre
The genre of thisscriptis “TeenComedy”asit followsa
girl throughhighschool and boththe teenand comedy
aspectsare intrinsicallyclearinthe firstpage asCady is
introduced.Asa“15” yearoldherself,the protagonistis
an obviousconventionof the teengenre asthe viewers
will relate mostlytoacharacter of theirownage going
throughthe same stagesof life asthem.Moreoverher
introductionasshe “liesinbedasleep” isconventionally
stereotypical of ateenager,the ideathattheyare the
‘laziest’of the age groupsbeingknownbythe target
audience.Intermsof the genre of comedy,Cady
“wrestlingwiththe cats”conventionallyrepresentsthe
introductionof humourbothinthe descriptiononthe
page and visuallyon-screen.Inaddition,thismix of
genresfallsunderAltman’stheoryof “hybridisation”as
the Teengenre hasborrowedconventionsof comedy
and alsoromance lateron inorder to survive infrontof
itstarget audience.Ryall’stheoryof representationalso
becomesapparentinthishybridgenre,asthe
stereotypesof teenlife are exaggeratedtoappeal to
those whocan relate to theme.gclique cultures.
Target Audience
In termsof target audience Iwouldsaythatthe film
targetsteenage girls.Asthe mainprotagonistislabelled
as 15, I can see that herlife wouldbe relatabletoother
15 year oldfemalesasworldwide the structure of this
pointof life issimilar:livingathome withsome kindof
familyandsupportsystemlookingafteryou,state
educationandfriendshipsyetwithafirsttaste of
independence. Inthisfirstpage the mentioningof the
age andthe descriptionof Cady’soutfitmayattract the
teenage targetaudience astheywill recognise the
youngfashiontaste of “khaki pants”that will have been
chosento identifyCadyasyoungand identifiable in
mainstreamfashion.The familysettingof afull kitchen
will alsobe recognisabletomoststereotypical 15year
oldsas theywill see thisintheirownhome andfamily.