Evaluation

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? Compare and contrast your own sequence and one which you think has generically influenced you.

Our main influence for our opening sequence was 'Mean Girls' as we thought that our chosen genre, teen romcom, investigate the stereotypes within teenagers.

Mean Boys

Here is our finished product 'Mean Boys'

Rough Cut Feedback

Today our rough cut was evaluated by other members of our media group, they made notes on mise en scene, camera work, editing, sound and generic conventionss. From these notes we were able to see our strong points and areas where we needed to improve.

Good points:
For mise en scene other groups said that the costumes are appropriate for the location, and the location is appropriate for the genre. In camera work they said we used a good variety of shots and good close up of 'Hugo's' shoes. In editing we used a good use of slow motion, the shots were cut down well timewise. Our music was liked. And finally our comment on the generic conventions was 'the genre is chick flick this is communicated as it;s a college set and it's about one person and everyone is talking about him'

Areas of improvement:
In outr mise en scene it was noted that most of our shots were quite dull and plain and need to be made lighter, we are currently working on this. Our camera work could have had a wider shot range. In editing other groups said that it's needs to be longer overall as it is under 1 minute, the shots needs to be in better order and transitions between shots would work well. In sound we need to make the non diagetic sound quieter as it drowns the actors voices out.

What we're going to do in the next 2 lessons to improve our opening:

• Make the lighting lighter
• Add some transitions between shots
• Re-order our shots
• Turn down our non diagetic sound
• Add titles

Rough cut

Film Opening Analysis

High School Musical is a musical which is aimed at young children, mainly girls up to teens. There are three of the movies and have become a worldwide success. It is based around two protagonists 'Gabriella' and 'Troy' and shows how they meet and develop a relationship. I will be analyzing the micro-elements which are present in the opening sequence e.g. mise en scene, sound, editing and camera work.

The scene starts with an establishing shot of the lodge where the main protagonists are staying. Then shows Gabrielle doing what her character typically does, reads, and then her mother comes and tell her to go to a children party, then switches to Troy doing hat his character typically does, basketball, and then his mother comes and tells him to go to the party. At this moment in time Gabriella and Troy are both totally unaware of each other. there is then a series of medium shits which show the two characters walking around the party by themselves, not wanting to be there, there are individual close ups which show that they are perhaps a bit disorientated and the viewer can tell this by their facial expressions and awkward body language. They are then brought together into one shot when they are made to get on stage, this introduces the protagonists first meeting.

Most of the sound is diegetic with the sound of spoken dialogue and then when they're at the party, the sound of the karaoke is in the background. There are is non-diegetic sound when Gabriella is introduced, the sound sounded quite magical and girly, and as the film is aimed at young girls, the sound fitted in well. Not much non-diegetic sound was probably used because as it is a musical, the tracks were most likely wanted to be distinct and for there still to be a sense of storyline in the film.

The editing is quite normal paced and naturalistic. There are two shots when the protagonists are both individually framed, there are two spotlights and they both seperatley higlight Troy and Gabriella, this cleverly shows that they have been brought together. There are no special effects and the lighting is natural, however there is quite a magical feel to it because there are various decorative lights which all create a young, girly image.

These elements create the mise en scene, which is a girly, magical atmosphere. The fact that it is at a childrens party which is all lit up with kareoke makes it very girly and child friendly. It creates a very positive tone as when the two protagonists meet lively music is present.

Teen Romantic Comedy

Romantic comedy films, colloquially known as romcom, are movies with light hearted, humorous postlines, centered on romantic ideals such as a true love able to surmount most obstacles. Romantic comedy films are a sub-genre of comedy films as well as of romance films. Because of their appeal to women, romantic comedies are sometimes called 'chick flick'

There are usually 2 protagonists - man and women meet, part due to arguement or some form of conflict and eventually reunite. Sometimes throughout the film the 2 can be hesitant to become romantically involved but the screen writer leaves clues that suggest that they are attracted to eachother.

Our film opening might not necasserily show the two protagonists together and any issues they may be facing, however we do hope to introduce them to the viewer, showing their particular style or place in their society. Stereotypes are commonly used in teen romantic comedies and the characters are very distinct and obviously split into different social groups, we decided this would enhance our film opening so we are introducing many different people that are in a college from different social classes. We were heavily influecned by Mean Girls.

Animatic

Drawing and editing by Shaun Kaba
Music by Emily Tofts

Discussion of all the 5 scenarios

1. A supernatural thriller with a strong female lead.



The Skeleton Key is an example of a supernatural thriller with a strong female lead.
Supernatural thriller - In which the conflict is between main characters, usually one of which has supernatural powers. Carrie by Stephen King and Unbreakable by M. Night Shyamalan and Torchwood are notable examples of this genre. This type of thriller combines tension of the regular thriller with such basic horror oriented ingredients as ghosts, the occult, and psychic phenomenon; the supernatural thriller combines these with a frightening but often restrained film. They also generally eschew the more graphic elements of the horror film in favor of sustaining a mood of menace and unpredictability; supernatural thrillers often find the protagonists either battling a malevolent paranormal force or trapped in a situation seemingly influenced or controlled by an other-worldly entity beyond their comprehension.


2. A British social realist drama.

Kitchen sink realism was an English cultural movement which developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s in theatre, art, novels, film and television plays. It used a style of social realism which often depicted the domestic situations of working class Britons living in council flats and spending their off-hours in grimy pubs to explore social issues and political controversies



This Is England is a very good example of a british social realist drama, you can see this from the opening sequence as it shows a series of footage from that time in Britain, it mainly shows the negative events but also has a few positive celebrations of the time showing a non biased angle on Britain.


3. An adventure story for younger audiences.



Usually have a hero that saves the day, has a comical slant on the situation making it an enjoyable experience for children. The Incredible's is a really good example of this.


4. A teenage romantic comedy.
Romantic comedy is a hybrid genre in which a story about romance is presented in a comedic style. Works in this genre are generally considered light-hearted, and are sometimes associated with the vaguely derogatory terms "chick lit" or "chick flick", meaning "primarily aimed at a female audience".



5. A crime caper with an ensemble cast.

A crime film, in the most general sense, is a film that involves various aspects crime and the criminal justice system. Stylistically, it can fall under many different genres, most commonly drama, thriller, mystery and film noir.