Use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products:
As a group we focused on using and developing the forms and conventions of our chosen genre, teen romantic comedy.
From our research we discovered that the two main stock settings of a teen romantic comedy were a high school (10 Things I Hate About You CLIP) along with the main character’s houses or bedrooms. As a result of this, the main setting we used was a high school, as school is a significant part of teenage life. We also decided to use the bedrooms of the four main characters – the Geek, the Jock, the Bitch and the Loner – as this helped us portray to the audience the stereotypes associated with youth, such as the Geek putting on glasses. (CLIP)
Throughout our research we discovered that the stock characters seen in a teen romantic comedy are a Geek, Jock, Bitch, Rebel, Rich Girl and Cheerleader. As this was apparent we asked in our questionnaire: ‘Tick the characters which you would expect to see in a teen romantic comedy’. (CHART) The results showed that Geek, Jock and Bitch were the most common responses; therefore we decided to include these character stereotypes in our opening. Although the Cheerleader and Rich Girl had a higher percentage in comparison to the Rebel, we felt that they were more of an American stereotype; consequently we decided not to include these stereotypes in our opening. As a group we decided to include a Loner stereotypical character instead of a Rebel, as we felt this was more of a British stereotype seen in teen romantic comedies.
We found from our research that linear narratives are stereotypical to teen romantic comedies, with a clear beginning, middle and end. We have included this style of narrative in our opening. From our research, we also discovered that the majority of teen romantic comedies follow Todorov’s theory and features many frequent disruptions, examples of this are Mean Girls and Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging. A film from our research that didn’t follow this theory is Easy A, however, we chose to follow the theory in our synopsis. (SYNOPSIS)
Our research showed that the iconographies of a teen romantic comedy are a high school, uniform, expensive cars and big houses. We felt that expensive cars and big houses are more dominantly used in American teen romantic comedies. As a result of this we decided to focus more on the use of a high school, as this focuses on the idea that education is a large part of teen life.
The research of our chosen genre showed that modern fonts, such as block and handwritten styles, are frequently used throughout the openings. Bright colours such as orange, blue, green and pink are also consistently used in the titles of the films. As a group, we chose the name Geek Chic for our opening, as this portrayed the two contrasting stereotypes of Geek and Bitch. Due to this decision we decided to use contrasting colours of pink and black to distinguish the main stereotypes used in our opening. However, we chose to use white for the actor’s first name and pink for the actor’s last name, as this allowed the text to be seen clearly on screen. (PICTURE OF ANNA/GEEK CHIC) In our questionnaire we asked a variety of questions regarding the use of titles and where the audience expected to see them on screen. (PICTURE) Although the majority of the people asked expected to see the titles in the centre of the screen, we chose to only have the title of the film here as we felt that we needed to make this the main focus point. We decided to place the actor’s names at the bottom centre of the screen as we felt that this didn’t distract the viewers from the action. Even though we changed the positioning of the titles here, we felt that it was more effective, yet highlighted that these titles are less significant than the main title.
The main themes we identified from our research were relationships, family and fitting in at school. We have included the theme of relationships, which is shown through the identification of the Jock and Bitch’s romantic relationship. We felt this was an important theme to include in our opening, as this is a stereotypical type of relationship associated with youth. As a group we decided that family wasn’t as an important theme as relationships and fitting in at school, so we didn’t include this theme in our opening. Our main character, Nina, is new at school, which immediately highlights that a major theme in our opening is fitting in and our use of stereotypes aids this.
Representing Particular Social Groups:
The social group that we focused on was youth. We showed this particular social group through the use of mise en scene. As we have already acknowledged, the stock setting we have used in our opening is a high school, as this is a major part of teenage life.
Through our use of costume we were able to portray the stereotypes associated with teen romantic comedies to the audience. For example, the Geek wore jeans and a plain top, showing that she didn’t stand out from the crowd. She also wore glasses, which is continually used to show a Geek stereotype. Another example of the use of costume in our work was to portray the stereotype of a Jock. We chose to use a varsity jacket to represent the athletic trait associated with the Jock stereotype. (CLIP OF JOCK) We also decided to show the Jock putting on a t-shirt, showing his body. This reinforced the stereotype that Jock’s have muscular bodies.
As a group we came to the conclusion that the Geek should have closed body language – such as not making eye-contact when talking to people and should fidget with her books – showing that she was insecure and not used to being noticed. In contrast, the Bitch had sharp movements, often standing with her hand on her hip, showing that she was confident and impatient.
Media Institution and Why:
The media institution that we have chosen to distribute our media product is Paramount Pictures. We have chosen this institution because they are considered one of the top-grossing movie studios. Another factor that affected our decision was that Paramount Pictures are a suitable company due to producing many successful films of our genre. Some examples of successful teen romantic comedies that have been distributed by the company are Clueless (1995), Pretty in Pink (1986), Mean Girls (2004) and Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging (2008). All of these films are well known and since the institution has a good reputation within the industry, our media product will have a good chance of having success. By choosing Paramount Pictures, it means that the majority of the money will go to one company, meaning that they will gain more profit, allowing us to do the same, as they are a vertically integrated organisation.
Audience:
Our target audience is females between the ages of 12-16, fitting in with the average certificate for a teen romantic comedy, 12A. (QUESTIONNAIRE) In our questionnaire we asked the audience: ‘In the opening of a teen romantic comedy, would you expect music?’ (IMAGE OF QUESTION) The results showed that each person expected music in the opening of a teen romantic comedy, therefore this helped in our choices of how to create an enigma in an opening, as from our research we discovered that music is often used to do this.
The results of our questionnaire also revealed that an almost equal number of people expected a voiceover in the opening of a teen romantic comedy, compared to those who didn’t. Even though voiceovers are often used in teen romantic comedies, we chose to challenge this convention, as we felt that this would take away from the enigma created by the music.
To allow our opening to captivate our audience’s interest, we decided against showing the faces of the characters as they are first introduced on screen. This created an intriguing atmosphere for our audience, as they can only relate to the characters through their stereotypical props and costume. The first face that the audience see on screen is Nina, identifying her to the audience as the main character. (CLIP)
Technologies:
We used the internet in order to do numerous things - such as researching about our chosen genre and films associated with it, storing information on our Blogger accounts and using YouTube to find music and upload our final pieces of work. By using the internet, it has helped us greatly in the process of constructing our media product, such as allowing us to access media quickly and on a wide basis.
The use of a video camera, allowed to us to film to the best of our ability, using a variety of shots - such as mid-shots, close-ups and long shots. Camera movements aided us in showing continuity in our work and helped create verisimilitude for the audience. Examples of camera movements used frequently in our opening are tilts and pans. (CLIP) As a group we realised the importance of a trip-pod, as it allows our shots and camera movements to be steady and flow smoothly, creating verisimilitude and allow our final product to look professional.
To edit our opening, we used the software iMovie. This allowed us to edit and manipulate our work to the best quality it could be. To allow the music to flow with the shots on screen, we used the software to control where it begins and ends, however we found this quite difficult at first due to our original shots being quite short and fast. However, after re-filming certain sections, we found it easier to stop the music abruptly, creating the idea of a disruption in the opening. (CLIP) We also experimented with reversing a pan of the Geek putting up her hair. However, this manipulation flipped the words on a poster in the shot, which would have made it obvious that the shot had been altered, disrupting the verisimilitude on screen.
Preliminary Task:
The main thing we have learnt through the progression from our preliminary task to our final product is the use of sound. (CLIP) In our preliminary task, it is apparent that the background sounds keeps changing, disrupting the continuity and verisimilitude for the audience. In our final product, we tried to overcome this problem by filming after school, when the corridors and classrooms are empty. Even though we have overcome this issue a lot in our opening, there are still times when the background sound isn’t as quiet as we would have liked, but we feel that this doesn’t distract the audience or disrupt the continuity. When re-filming, we also noticed that the continuity was slightly disrupted by the use of having people in a classroom in the corner of a shot, compared to it previously being empty. However, we don’t feel that this wasn’t very distracting to the audience, as the main focus was still on Nina.
By filming our preliminary task, we found that the angle of which the scenes were shot affected the continuity of the piece. When filming our opening we shot certain scenes from a number of different perspectives, as this allowed us to select which shot was most appropriate and effective when showing continuity.
As a group, we felt that the lighting in our preliminary task wasn’t as effective as we would have liked it to be. (CLIP) Due to this when filming our opening we made sure that the corridors we were filming in were well lit and consistent, with the actors not standing in the shadows that were created by the windows.
Overall, we feel that we have produced a good opening for a teen romantic comedy, which mainly follows the codes and convention of the genre. Although there are some faults with the product – such as the background sound and people in the classroom – we feel that overall our opening is of good quality.
