My name is Ela and my candidate number is 9426. The other members of my group are Amber Mota (candidate number 9114) and Godgift Emesi (candidate number 9044). We are group number 3.
To access my work, please click on the labels on the right, entitled 'AS Research and Planning', 'AS Construction', 'AS Evaluation' and 'AS Preliminary Task' and ignore the rest that is classwork.
My Film Opening Sequence (Group 3: Ela, Gift, Amber) (New Guy)
My Film Opening Sequence (Group 3: Ela, Gift, Amber) (New Guy)
The genre we have chosen is 'coming of age', however we will also incorporate conventions of comedies and teen dramas. Our key inspirational references are "Superbad", "The Breakfast Club" and "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" as they include a social hierarchy and outsiders in a high school environment.
Our genre will be communicated through narrative, segregation of social groups (including minority characters), and character convetions such as their appearance, costume and dialogue. Unlike teen dramas, our production will invert typical ideas about high school students (similarly to "The Breakfast Club" in which five teenagers, each a member of a different high school clique come to realise that they are more than their respective stereotypes). Although, our film aims to be more representative of a British school (such as in "Wild Child").
The main theme of "The Breakfast Club" is the constant struggle of
teenagers to be understood, by adults and by themselves. It explores the
pressure put on teenagers to fit into their own realms of high school
social constructs, as well as the lofty expectations of their parents,
teachers, and other authority figures. This is appropriate for the 'coming of age' genre and these ideas will be adapted for our film, while including elements of comedy, as in "21 Jump Street" and "Pineapple Express".
We chose our genre because it is relatable for most people, therefore attracts a wide target audience. The themes and key characters in coming of age films are generally recognisable which makes the film more realistic. The visual style of coming of age films is well-known and does not only appeal to a niche audience.
To reach our target audience, our opening sequence must incorporate the conventions of the teen comedy genre such as identifiable and relatable characters in a high school. The narrative of our film will take on a similar form to "Mean Girls", "John Tucker Must Die" and "She's The Man" in which a new equilibrium is reached by the end of the film. In all 3 of these examples, a new student joins a school where they must conform to social standards in order to succeed. This will also be included in our production.
As our target audience is teenagers between 15 and 24, a high school setting will address them as it is familiar environment, and the audience can empathise with the main character as they will have experienced starting a new school at some point. The audience will expect to see the conventions of 'coming of age' films and themes typically associated with young people such as partying, drinking, conflict with parents/friends.
Usually, openings of this genre introduce an isolated or alienated character and establish the setting for the rest of the film. ("John Tucker Must Die")
Our film aims to attract young people of both genders although certain themes will be skewed to a male or female audience. For example, the stereotypical cliques in high school films may be more relatable for a female audience (this is effective in "Mean Girls" and "Wild Child"). Portraying the main character as an outsider allows the viewers to sympathise with him. The soundtrack through the sequence will be fast-paced to connote the busy environment in a school and engage the audience from the beginning.
However, the film may also appeal to our secondary and tertiary audiences (aged 25+) , through the inclusion of well-known teenage stereotypes. It will have a similar narrative strucure to, and contain conventions of other genres (comedy and drama) which attract a wider range of ages. Arguing with friends/parents could make the film more relatable for a family audience.
"21 Jump Street" has a similar target audience to our film, and the opening scene creates humour for the audience through the depiction of high school in 2005. This is contrasted with the modern high school that they join undercover, in which most of the social norms are inversed. This is also appealing to our target audience as it defies the stereotypes that you would see in most 'coming of age' films. The style and visuals of "21 Jump Street" and "Superbad" are also appropriate
The opening sequence intends to represent British teenagers in particular (male and female) around age 15-19 of relatively middle-class. As our film is a teen comedy set in North London, the teenagers in our production will share similarities with our target audience members.
Our cast will be grouped into stereotypical social cliques (as commonly exhibited in American films such as "Mean Girls" during the scene in the dining hall). However, in our film, social groups will be altered to fit more British conventions in secondary school. We aim to represent cliques that are less common in most films (similarly to "21 Jump Street" in the car park scene). Also, we will incorporate unconventional social groups that do not fit the American or British stereotypes. Traditionally, social representations of teenagers were limited to generic characters; jocks, cheerleaders, divas, geeks, outcasts, stoners, class clowns and new students. However, an increasing number of TV series and films produced in the last 5 years include characters that challenge these stereotypes and indicate that social status is not necessarily associated with appearance or social groups, (for example, "Daria"). Common stereotypes are often inversed in comedy series or films ("21 Jump Street").
We have chosen to represent the typical cliques in a British school, as they would be relatable for our target audience and fit the criteria for the 'teen comedy' or 'coming of age' genres. The generic themes in the 'coming of age' genre are often presented in a trivial or glossy way. Our portrayal of characters and cliques will be both conventional in some ways, while challenging some stereotypes about school in Britain.
Some characters will be presented as disobedient and reject authority, and our film will include references to conventional teenage behaviour such as partying, drug taking, drinking, fighting, gossiping, having conflict with parents etc. (these typical representations of young people are incorporated in "Project X" and "The Breakfast Club"). Establishing these initial stereotypes will prove to be an effective short cut to character introduction for the audience, as they can identify and recognise them as stereotypes. I would expect the audience to become familiar with the characters through the ways in which they are presented.
Through camera movement, soundtrack, dialogue and setting we intend to demonstrate the idea of socially segregated groups, the lack of freedom in a high school environment and a sense of hierarchy amongst the teenagers. This is also conveyed in "Mean Girls" as the students in the dining hall are depicted as "animals" when fighting with each other. This creates humour for the audience as it mocks and exaggerates the nature of young people in social conflict. Our cast will have British accents and use regional language/slang in the opening sequence (as in "The Inbetweeners" and "Hot Fuzz").
Production company: EGA Nationality: British Location: North London Genre: Indie comedy films
Our production company produces independent films and is part of Zodiak Media UK (a group of independent film and TV companies that create and distribute media content). Our production company operates under Zodiak Media's "UK, Belgium and Netherlands" subsidiary company as it specialises in indie films and worldwide TV such as "The Inbetweeners" "Wife Swap" and "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo". Also, the company is based in West London which would be within close proximity of our shooting locations. Zodiak has highly experienced sales teams in London and Paris.
EGA Productions specialises in comedy film and television, but also distributes indie films skewed to a British audience (such as "The Inbetweeners").
Distribution company: Universal Pictures UK
Our distribution company is a subsidiary of Universal Pictures with 29 international websites. It is a UK-based Hollywood studio arm which creates and distributes both mainstream (for example, Johnny English) and smaller indie films (usually British films whereas Universal Pictures US caters more to an American/international audience). It is responsible for the distribution of films such as "The Knife That Killed Me" and "Love Actually".
Brief case study: Shaun of the Dead
Shaun of the Dead is a 2004 British horror comedy about a young man attempting to get some kind of focus in his life as he deals with his girlfriend, his mother and stepfather. At the same time he has to cope with an apocalyptic uprising of zombies. It was distributed by Universal Pictures UK, Rogue Pictures (for US audience) and Mars Distribution (France) and achieved a box office success of $30 million. ITV has recently acquired the company Big Talk which is responsible for British TV shows and films such as Friday Night Dinner, Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz.
Brief case study: Johnny English
A 2003 British comedy film parodying the James Bond secret agent genre. It was produced by Working Title Films and StudioCanal and distributed by Universal Pictures UK. Many of the filming locations were based in the UK (Canary Wharf, Dover, Cornwall) and the 3 main actors were also British.
1. Primary
Our primary audience is fans of teen comedy, teen drama, indie and coming of age films, both male and female between the ages of 15 and 24. The films that we have researched as reference points ("Easy A", "Superbad") have a similar target audience. The certification of our film will be 15, as are other films of the same genre due to their themes. The comedy/drama genre is appealing to young adults and its familiar high school setting is also another way to target a 15+ audience. Although most teen films are skewed to a female audience (such as "Mean Girls"), the main character in our production will be male allowing it to appeal to a wider audience. Our ideal audience member would be a British 16 year old (as the film incorporates British culture in particular) and would enjoy films with similar themes such as "21 Jump Street", "Superbad" and "Project X".
2. Secondary
The secondary audience for our film will be fans of British indie films, such as "Hot Fuzz" and "Shaun of the Dead" and other British comedies such as "The Inbetweeners Movie". These films are aimed at the younger audience (15-30 year old males in particular) as the characters are easily relatable. However, our production will be more skewed to young girls as they are the primary audience for teen dramas. British consumers are our secondary target audience as they tend to watch more indie films than American film fans. Our film will contain similar themes as those in the British comedies above.
3. Tertiary
Our tertiary audiences will be families, fans of other genres, and people over the age of 24. Older audiences could be reached as the high school setting is familiar to all viewers and the stereotypical social groups in school have been portrayed in films for decades. High school is a common experience for all British consumers therefore is relevant to film fans of all ages. To have a wider audience appeal, we have incorporated themes from several different genres. Viewers could also be supporters of the production company, (for example, Working Title Films has produced several British comedies including "Shaun of the Dead", "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and "Johnny English").
We intend to have weekly meetings every Monday between 4pm to 5pm, as well as a 30 minute lunchtime session on Tuesday and Friday (Week 1). In Week 2, our second session will be on Friday between 12 and 1pm.
To exchange ideas regularly, we created a Whatsapp group chat as well as a Facebook page. Our individual research and ideas will be posted on the page before each meeting. Group work is divided between members and we share any additional notes during meetings.
We have agreed to take individual responsibly for knowing in advance when and where meetings are taking place, and to be on time.
