Reflecive post

I feel as if I am doing ok on the coursework, I have fallen behind on a few task due to my absence and laziness to lessons and therefore I have to catch up this means that I have three task that are incomplete and I will have to complete for the half term holidays, these three tasks are:

• Representation task: identification of stereotypes in teen films
• Audience task 2: analysis of 3 teen movies with different audiences
• Storyline and plot blog - how are binary oppositions established in teen film openings
• Freaky Friday

Other things I must have to complete are the holiday task as I do not want to fall behind anymore, in future I will try to attend all my lessons and do as much as I can in the lessons so I do not fall behind on the tasks.

Representation task: identification of stereotypes in teen films

A stereotype is used to characterise a group of people. It creates an image of a particular group and usually is exaggerated and a distorted representation. To understand stereotype I will be looking at the movie named 'Not a teen movie' in which many stereotypes are portrayed.

The JOCK

In this movie there are many stereotypes shown for example 'The popular Jock' this is the character whom usually has cool hair, is attractive, always catching the attention of the females and normally wears a jock jacket by which he is known. 
In the USA the term jocks refers to someone who is usually good at athletics and is sporty. In this movie the jock is shown to catch the attention of the girls just as he walks by, and looks very vain.

Another teen movie that a jock is shown is 'High school music' in which the stereotype of a jock being athletic is shown, and character is also very popular.





THE NASTY CHEERLEADER
The next stereotype is the 'nasty cheerleader' this character always wears the pink or girly clothing and walks around with the pom pons which are used to wave around and usually has some sort of relationship with the popular jock, they're usually seen outside in the sport grounds and when they walk around, they're usually never alone and always have company. Sometimes wearing short clothes which is shown in this movie and has a lot of attitude. 

THE DESPERATE VIRGIN
Thirdly, the desperate virgin this is the character that always tries his best to get all the attention he wants, in the end he usually gets what he wants but during his build up he goes through a series of challenges for example usually ditching his own friends for someone that is willing to give him what he wants, attending parties where he thinks that he'll get what he wants and always attention seeking.




                          PERFECT GIRL

Next is the so called 'perfect girl' this is the girl that there is someone always after, she usually is very attractive always has her hair out, always has a nice scent which makes people want to attract to her even more, always has a girl costume on most times wearing the color pink and having long dresses sometimes skirts in which some of her cleavage is revealing, and walks around with a handbag in her arm ideally what  a perfect girl should be.


PRETTY UGLY GIRL
Lastly the pretty ugly girl, this is usually the girl who is shown to be ugly for the majority of the movie and at the final stages is decked up and shown as the most prettiest girl in the entire movie, usually gets cakked names at the beginning and at the end people are jealous of her and wish to be her.This girl usually likes the popular jock but knows she'll never get him and in the end finally does, she usually is portrayed to be a toom boy and doesn't act like an ideal girl does that wears dresses and when she finally wears one she catches the eye of not many but nearly of the males.

Representation of Stereotypes

Stereotypes 

stereotypes are a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular group of people or person.
Stereotypes act like codes in films because it's impossible to portray every aspect of an individual in a feature film therefore these stereotypes give the audience a quick, common understanding of a person or group of people. These stereotypes usually relate to their class, gender, ethnicity or race, sexuality and social role.

The Popular Jock

Reflective Blog

All the things I still need to do over the christmas holiday

1. Make sure blog is totally up to date - Up to 4 posts including REPRESENTATION post.

2. Watch a teen movie and write an analysis of it showing how it does or doesn't follow conventions using prezi or slideshare.

3. Write a reflective post about how you think you are progressing and what you need to do to improve.

4. Write about bling ring using Donna's prezi.

Storyline and Plot blog - how are binary oppositions established in teen film openings

The storyline set up in our introduction is about two lovers messing about on the beach. It's based on a musical where teens fall in love back in the 50's. The characters are introduced through animation, and before the introduction transition into real life characters at a high school setting. 
The binary oppositions set in the film introduction are;

• Girls vs Boys
• Authority vs Youth
• Rebels vs Geeks

Mise en Scene of binary oppositions:

The boys body language portrays him to be cocky and over-confident whereas the girls are much more shy and timid which supports each gender's stereotype. 
Some of the characters have cigarettes and this prop portrays them as rebellious. Other characters such as 'Sandy' prefer to obey the school rules.

Editing of binary oppositions:

The pace and rhythm 

Sound of binary oppositions:

One of the pink lady says'we're going to rule the school' this implies that she sees herself as superior to the authorities, therefore portrays her rebellious nature 

Camera of binary oppositions:
Both boys and girls are introduced through the use of the pan camera movement. 

The main male character is introduced through a close up. Whereas, the main female character is introduced through a mid-shot. This could symbolise how back in the 1950's (when the film was set), men were more dominant than women.
When 'Danny' first appears on camera the zoom is very fast, however when the 'Sandy' ia first introduced the zoom is a lot more soft. This contrast shows the difference between the two personalities.

Genre and Sub genre task

What is a teen movie?

A teen movie is a movie which is targeted at teenagers and young adults in which the plot is based upon the special interests of teenagers, such as coming of age, first love, rebellion, and conflict with parents.
A lot of genre's are involved in teen movies some usually contain crime, romance, most time drama, action and many times dance movies are also common in teen movies such as Step Up.
Basically, there is something in the market for everyone, some of the movies will be relatable for the teenage audience and other times some teens may watch it for entertainment and for their leisure.


Most times teen movies attract to the audiences because of the well known stars that are included in the movie, for example Channing Tatum will appeal to many not just girls but also boys as he comes action packed. Emma Watson, Taylor Lautner, Adam Deacon, are also popular stars in teen films.
However sometimes it could be better to use different people in movies as someone new may mean something to someone else. As for a teen, their are many phases they go through so therefore it is best if there's new people so they can relate at the different times.

Along with stars of the film, teen movies use certain stereotypes which are appeal to the audiences even more as they help relate to the teens. Some popular stereotypes are:

• Rebel/Leader
• Popular girl/boy
• 'Geek'
• Opponents
• The 'Druggies'
• Cheerleader
• Jock

A good example of a movie which uses stereotypes is 'She's The Man' in which the man is the most popular in the movie, and practically falls in love with the girl who plays two characters in the movie, and therefore ends up just being about the two leading people which a story then is created out of. The so called 'nerd' in the movie which is the girl is payed the least attention and made mock out of.

Another factor which is a big aspect in teen movies is the Sub-Genres, these are things such as;

• Epic adventure films 
• Girls with guns. (Stereotypical)
• Lovers on the run
• Tragedy
• Gay & Lesbian
• Vampires
• Romance

This is because the sub genre determines what the film will be about, the genre is the type of movie it is but the sub genre is what the film will be about and what it is based on, sometimes it could include more then one sub-genre, for example a film such as twilight will include romance as well as vampires and much more. This appeals to a wider teenage audience because it is about more than one type of thing this means that it is not specifically set to a certain teenage audience, the different parts of the movie will be likeable to more then one type of person.

Location is a very important factor which contributes to a teen movie, where it is set usually determines the genre of the movie. A film set normally on the streets and at house parties will automatically link to crime and drama movies which a very good example is Kidulthood, Anuvahood. This gives the audience a feel of what the characters are living in, and sometimes the location it is set is known for the surroundings and it links to teenagers.

Most times the locations are set within the home, for instance the bedroom, the living room, kitchen, bathroom. Some films are set within their school or college in locations such as the classrooms, the hallways, and most times the playground and other areas which they're set are the sports location such as football pitch, basketball court, training areas and finally most teen movies have some sort of 'hang out' location usually the blocks for movies in the genre of crime and drama and sometimes the parks.

Genre and conventions

What is a teen film?

A Teen film is a film that is focused on teenagers and young adults. The plots of these films are usually based upon the special interests and struggles of youths. Serious subject matters that young people go through are presented in a glossy, stereotyped way. Some teen films appeal to young males while others appeal to young females. Teen films appeal to both young males and females but sometimes, just like  any other film genre, they tend to target one gender more than the other.  Films in this genre are often set in high schools or contain characters that are of high school/college age.

Who watches them?

Teen films are watched mainly by teenagers and young adults as this is the target audience for these sorts of films.

What sub-genres are common?

Teen films all stem from sub-genres such as Horror, sci-fi, Romance, Action, comedy, drama, musicals, crime and adventure.

What are the main conventional themes in  a teen film?

Some of the main conventional themes of  a teen film include first love,  rebellion, someone moving to a new school, conflict with parents, teen frustration, alienation, crude forms of horror,  an unpopular person becoming popular and the list goes on and on.

What are the common locations of a teen film?

Bedroom (intimate scenes/ sexual intercourse)
Kitchen (Talking to their parents)
Living Room (Watching TV)
Locker Area (Hot girl walks past e.g Regina George from 'Mean girls')
Classroom (Teens are messing about/ not listening to the teacher)
Sports Field (Basketball court e.g. in 'Love and basketball')
Canteen (Where the new girl/ boy stands out e.g. in 'Mean girls')
Park (Where the gossip happens)
Cinema (Where friends go to chill out)

What type of characters are found in teen films?

Characters in teen films reflect stereotypical teenagers living in our current day. So for instance, in Juno the main character gets pregnant at 16 and in our current day teenage pregnancy rates are rising rapidly. In Mean girls, Regina George and her trio gossip about absolutely everyone in their school so much so that they keep a record of all their mean jokes in a big book. In the real world it isn't uncommon to find bitchiness and bullying amongst girls in high school.

Genre and Conventions

What is a teen movie? 

Teen movie is a movie targeted at teenagers and young adults in which the plot is based upon special topics and themes which appeal to them such as coming of age, romance, rebellion, crime, conflict with parents, bullying.These movies usually feature sex, nudity, drinking and drugs in which teenagers are stereotypically portrayed.These movies also feature popular celebrities to appeal to teenage girls and boys such as Channing Tatum in Step Up, Taylor Lautner in Twilight, Jennifer Lawrence and Liam Hemsworth in The Hunger Games.

Who watches them?

Teen Movies are mainly watched by teenagers and young adults however there may be the few odd pre- teens and adults who might  find that these films appeal to them. The majority who watch these films are teenagers and young adults because they are aimed at them.

What sub-genre are common?

There are many sub genres found in teen films this is because teenagers find different genres appealing therefore by introducing many different sub- genres to the teen movie more teenagers will find it appealing. The most common are romance, fantasy , musical, adventure, action, comedy, drama and adventure. These sub- genres are found in teen movies mainly because they appeal to teenagers and young adults. Teenage girls find the sub-genres romance, fantasy, musical and comedy appealing however teenage boys find action, adventure, crime and drama appealing therefore by mixing different genres together the movie can appeal to both males and females. Another common sub-genre in teen movies are family and personal relationships this is because teenagers find this genre appealing as they can relate to the film with their own personal experiences with family and personal relationships.


Conventional Themes found in Teen movies

• Alcohol and drug addiction or experimentation
• American pop-culture
• Cliques
• High school and Prom
• Social groups
• Parent/child or Girlfriend/ Boyfriend Relationships

Locations

Locations within the home

• Bedroom
• Bathroom
• Living room
• Kitchen  

Locations within school/college

• Classrooms
• Canteen
• Locker room

Sports locations

• Park
• Hall

Hangout locations

• Park
• Canteen
• Living room

Other locations

• Friends house
• Bar
• Car
• Street

Characters in teen movies

Teen movies mostly feature popular celebrities to appeal to teenage girls and boys such as Channing Tatum in Step Up, Taylor Lautner in Twilight, Jennifer Lawrence and Liam Hemsworth in The Hunger Games. These stars appeal to teenagers because they are famous and most of their fans are teen girls and boys.

Research Interviews

Researching target audiences video

Audience Task 2: 3 Teen movies

Audience Task 2

The 3 Teen Movies I have chosen to analyse are:

• Mean Girls
• A cinderella story
• Juno

Mean Girls

Genre: Comedy

Target audience: Teenage girls/ Young adults

Star appeal: Lindsay Lohan is very pretty and it is every young girl’s dream to look like her. She’s also very famous and has starred in many other teenage films so people have warmed not only to her acting but her as a celebrity. Jonathan Bennett has the typical image of every young girl’s crush (dreamy blue eyes, tall, flowy hair…etc.) And so attraction to the characters looks alone can drive potential audiences to go and watch this film. 

Storyline:  A new girl goes to a new high school, ‘inexperienced’, and gets caught up a group with the ‘cool’ girls. She falls in love with one of the cool girl’s ex-boyfriends. Once the new girl starts to change and become "one of them", her old friends become more distant and she eventually gets herself in a whole big mess. This storyline appeals to young girls because most young girls can relate to having a crush and not being able to have him and vice versa. The story line also appeals to Teens as well as young adults because many have found themselves in a situation where they go to school/college and their not the most popular. It is most people’s dream to be the most popular person in their school.

Setting:  Licoln Park High School in Chicago. During my research into teen movies I’ve noticed that most teen movies are based in the USA with American characters. This is because it has the ‘Hollywood advantage’ which means it is focused on very a particular kind of moviemaking: films that are entertaining, highly visible, and have broad global appeal. The setting appeals to its target audience as it is set in a high school and therefore would attract those who are in highschool.

A Cinderella story

Genre:  Comedy/ Family/ Romance

Target Audience:  Pre-teen girls

Star Appeal:  The main character (Hilary Duff) has starred in Lizzie McGuire which is a famously known TV show which airs on Disney channel. Disney channel is a platform for young viewers and so many of the young girls who love Lizzie McGuire are bound to be a large percentage of the people who ended up watching ‘A Cinderella story’. Jennifer Coolidge who acts as the evil stepmother in the film has also starred in films such as American Pie, Legally Blonde and American Union which are all targeted at older audiences and so loyal fans of the actress may be inclined to watch the film because of her.

Storyline:  High school senior, Sam Montgomery, lives at the beck and call of her self-obsessed step-mother, Fiona, and her sinfully wicked step-sisters, who treat her more like a servant than a member of the family. With her sights set on attending Princeton, Sam finds her less-than-sparkling social life wonderfully complicated when she meets her prince charming online. However, when her anonymous cyber soul mate turns out to be her high school's uber-popular quarterback Austin Ames, Sam makes a mad dash back to reality, leaving her cell phone behind just before the clock strikes midnight. Fearing rejection if her secret is revealed, Sam dodges Austin's relentless efforts to discover the identity of his princess. Her chance at "happily ever after" lies in the hands of fate.

Setting: The film was filmed in California, USA.

Juno

Genre: Comedy/ Drama/ Romance

Target Audience: Juno's target audience would be 16-25 year olds as the majority of the characters are teenagers making it appealing to the youth market. However, it may also appeal to an older audience as its script shows it to be far from the usual teen movie.
Star appeal: The director, Jason Reitman, has been very successful with his films, five of them being nominated for oscars (including Jun itself). Also, the main character Ellen Page has been in globally succeessful films such as Inception and X-men.and starting recieving awards for her acting from as early on as age 10! Many young people interested in acting will not only see Ellen as a star but a role model. 

Storyline: This film is about a 16 year old teenage british girl who ends up having an unplanned pregnancy and wants to abort the baby but soon changes her mind and goes in search of people to adopt of her baby. She lives with her younger sister, mother and step-dad. She has her parents full support and the film tackles a very stereotypical yet common scenario found amongst the youths of today - Teenage pregnancy.

Setting: The film was set in various locations within Canada.

Audience task 1: interviews with audience members edited in camastasia

three posts

  Researching Target Audience

ADULTHOOD

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhrJBUMxNMQ

Adulthood is a teen movie which encompasses many different themes such as crime, violence, drugs, sex and prison. These themes appeal mainly to young males. The movie portrays young men in a stereotypical manner as being violent and involves in drugs and crime. The movie is a coming of age film as the young people are growing up into adulthood hence the name of the film 'Adulthood.' This genre appeals to adults who can relate with the film due to their personal experiences of growing up and becoming adults. Adulthood is also an urban film which is set in a typical urban city which relates to young people because they live in towns as the one in the film and is relative to the 21st century cities.

THE HUNGER GAMES

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4S9a5V9ODuY

The Hunger Games includes many genres such as romance, adventure, fantasy and action. The film targets both genders male and female because of the action and adventure which appeals to males and the romance and fantasy which appeals to females. There are many star appeals in the hunger games such as Jennifer Lawrence who appeals mainly to males and Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth who appeal to females. The storyline also contrutes to the appeal to males as the plot is about the tributes fighting till death 'survival of the fittest' is the main theme in the film.

TWILIGHT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edLB6YWZ-R4

Main genres in Twilight is young adult, fantasy, gothic and romance these genres appeal mostly to females. Star Appeal; Taylor Lautner, and Robbert Pattinson which appeal to females as they are portrayed as 'sex objects.' The plot includes Bella a newcomer to the town falling in love with Edward who she comes to know he is a vampire. The pair fall in love and she is introduced to his vampire clan, however she is later targeted by other vampires and Edward comes to the rescue. This portrays a typical love story were the male is the hero and protective of his female who plays the damsel in distress. This appeals to females because of the nature of the plot which is growing up, meeting new people and falling in love, being saved by your crush and having a perfect happy ending.

Audience task 2: Analysis of 3 teen movies with different audiences

What is a teen movie? 

A teen movie that is aimed at the stereotype teenagers, which usually features the popular football player or cheerleader falling in love with their supermodel-wannabe dream lover. These movies features crappy jokes, keg parties, sex, and everything else that most teenagers never experience in their high school years. Much like the Barbie, it perpetuates a false image of the typical teenager lifestyle and can only be realized during a drug induced dream. 

KIDULTHOOD

The first teen movie I will talk about is Kidulthood, this is a crime and drama based film which comes in series, This appeals to many teenagers for many reasons. Firstly, some teenagers can relate to it as it's set on the streets and this is where most crime happens. Secondly the fact that it uses the language that most teenagers often use at the age it is set in, for example it takes place in a school and the crime happens at a party this is where it usually happens in a real teenage life. Therefore it relates to it's audience which is very effective for a teen movie for it to just attract to the audience. The use of drugs is a stereotype given to hooded teenage boys and it is shown in this movie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdoKD4gTQ2c

THE HUNGER GAMES

The second movie is The Hunger Games, this is more like an Sci-Fi, romance, adventure movie. This appeals too teenagers as the main characters are of those teen ages and the movie is about teens fighting to survive, this appeals to both audiences in many ways this is because the female in the movie Jennifer Lawrence who is the most important in the movie is a female, and takes herself through a series of challenges. This can relate to a female of never giving up as she goes through a lot of struggle in order to survive. Secondly for males as the movie is set in rough locations such as forests and usually boys are stereotyped to protect themselves from things like that as they grow up, hunting and being able to find confidence. Josh Hutcherson who stars in the movie is also a actor who attracts many female girls and him playing a vital role sets an example for many people.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4S9a5V9ODuY

INBETWEENERS

Lastly, the inbetweeners this is a comedy film 
the original tv shows is aimed at 16+ because of the sexual scenes and reference in the film but originally it is an 18+ movie. The film is based on four teenagers who have left school and try enjoying themselves along with their mates. However because it is four guys does not mean it relates to only males, it relates to both genders this is because the guys do not do the thing which usually stereotype men such as play football in fact they go partying which most girls usually do and girls can also see in this movie what some guys do after they have finished school. In the end they find themselves regretting a few things which is when many people can relate.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3HzTKbsqsY

What happens at the start of a film?

Game of Thrones (2011) — Art of the Title

The establishing shot is of an astrolabe

What happens at the start of a film?

    Great Expectations (2011) — Art of the Title

• The film starts with an image of shell which then starts to crack.
• Shortly after names of the characters start to appear.
• The establishing shot shows the setting/location
• The music is introduced gradually getting louder, with new instruments coming in as time passes.
• All the people working behind the scenes (screenplay, producer, director etc) are shown
• The title and author are both revealed at the end of the clip.
• Throughout the start we see the process of a caterpillar turning into a butterfly, making us think about the storyline set ahead.

What happens at the start of a film?

21 Jump Street (2012) — Art of the Title

For example, in this movie it shows the leading man of the clip at the beginning, and leading up to the process it shows images mainly of what the film consists of, with background music at the back.


The opening of a a film:
Usually contains a brief idea of what the film will be about, sometimes revealing images of the leading person or even images of the types of setting and the story plot the film will be based on.
Usually includes music, to start of the setting of the movie.
Narrator, sometimes giving a brief quote or starting it off.
Main characters are introduced.
Tittles, and sometimes who the film stars.
Setting and location the film may be based in.
Occasionally contains a flashback which is re-visited in the later stages.
Establishing shots.
Film Identity, 20 Fox logo ETC, showing the big company behind the production of the movie.