Research:Social Groups and Characters introduced in Teen Drama Films

Sub-Genre conventions 
Plots and storylines/characters and social groups introduced into teen drama films

Semantic: the way the films look = Micro
Syntactic: the stories the films tell = Macro

The main plot of teen films is seen to be the concept of coming of age in some way.

How this concept is told will depend on the sub-genre but is likely to focus on any aspect of the following as a way to represent coming age:

• Youthfulness of central characters 
• Conflict within relationships 
• Conflict with an older generation
• Management of adolescence by families, schools, law etc
• Romance 
• Sexuality and sexually active

The Macro aspects of a film include who produces it, cast, audiences for the film, plot lines, characters and general ideas about the order or way in which, the story is told.

High School Drama

1. Often girl centered but might have a male lead
2. Celebrate the idea of being young
3. Teen relationships at home and school
4. Changes/makeovers/conflict

An example of a High School Drama:

What is the key plot idea introduced in the title sequence?

Cameron James , a new student at Padua High School, is given a tour of the school by Michael Eckman , an audiovisual geek. During the tour, Cameron notices the beautiful and popular Bianca Stratford , and he is immediately smitten with her. Michael warns Cameron that Bianca is shallow and conceited, and that her domineering father does not allow her to date.

What order is the storyline introduced?

• The school life
• As well as the main characters

What characters are introduced?

• The new boy
• The Student Guide
• The bulyThe student guider
• The 'pretty girl' introduced

Social Groups

• The popular girls
• Cheerleaders
• Jocks
• Smart people

Research: Breakfast Club Remake Successes and Shortcomings!

Evaluation of Remake of the Breakfast Club.

Overall i think the final production was a huge success. We had filmed the scenes that we wanted to effectively in he way that we wanted them to turn out. The classroom,hallway and clock were successful but this wasn't the case with every scene. For example in the car scene

We wanted to film this exactly how it was so we found a BMW near the college and filmed what we could.On the other hand finding the BMW was a lenthy process as we couldn't find many cars around our area,though the further we explored we eventually found one. However when it came to editing there were a few problems as the scene didnt flow smoothly. Another thing that didn't really go well was the Father-Daughter scene.Instead of an actual car that we wanted to sit in instead we used a classroom with 2 seats with poor lighting. It wasn't possible to change the lighting in our remake as there was limited time available. In hindsight we were in front of a green screen so we should added a background but like having said that  there was limited time available.

Another issue was not being able to add sound. The sound was quite a problem as it didn't work when we tried to embed it into our movie but i think the remake still looks good what makes it genuine is that we managed to add the credits which included the original cast and crews names.

Despite these downfall we had the success of adding the credits. We had previously learnt how to import text using Final Cut Pro and spent time carefully selecting the colors similar to the ones used in the title sequence. Once we added the credits our finished remake looked similar as we matched the text to the same large yellow font used in the title sequence 

Overall i think our remake was very successful in terms of the content that was filmed but i think in the future we should leave more time for editing.

If i were to re film i would spend more time planning and organizing what is to be filmed and do a location hunt to find the perfect spot to film.By doing this we would have enough time film everything we need and to even add any extra shots needed. Also by scouting the perfect location there would be less externalities ruining the production. With an organised schedule would mean more effective and productive editing session leading to a better quality film as more time and work would go in sound,editing and editing the clip.

-Ogochukwu Anokwuru

Research : Watching Princess Diaries and Analyzing it!

Work over the Christmas Holidays.

Being a childhood favorite,i decided to anaylse Princess diaries. Here is my Prezi on it.

Research : Who actually makes title sequences and where do they gain inspiration?

Who makes title sequences?

It was an extension activity to research who makes title sequences and how they get their ideas. It was suggested that we should look for this information on the artofthetitle.co.uk . Having done this i created a power point presentation. Here.Here are the screenshots of my power point presentation on this task.

Research : Analysis of Kidulthood

Camera,Editing,Mise En Scene-Youth Drama Kidulthood

In class we were assigned different title sequences to analyse. I was assigned to analyse Kidulthood a popular youth drama about teenagers living in London. behaving in a lawless and destructive manner were given worksheets to record everything we saw. I wanted to use a different form of ICT to record my work so i created a a summary PowerPoint Presentation on it.

Extra notes.

Camera. The camera pans at the beginning from each main character to the next. This is done to show which characters are relevant to the story that the movie is telling. Also the movement of the camera moves in a way as such that the camera is like a CCTV camera looking for trouble which is ironic considering the theme of the film.The movement of the camera is shaky giving the impression that this isnt a serious scene and is only informing you on each main character reflecting the instability of the camera. The camera also zooms in on the drill that is shown,signifying that this has a greater purpose in the film that is being told. The camera pans around the whole playground from character to character allowing the audience to see the environment that the charters live in and represents the idea that someone is watching them.

Editing.There is a clear visual filter applied in the opening title sequence. This together with slow motion gives a clear representation of the characters and the environment they live in. I think the faded sepia affect represents the harsh urban life the characters live.

Mise-en-scene. Students are the main personas shown in the title sequence and there is a clear contrast between 'bad' and 'good'students. The good students are seen clearly obeying the dress code by dressing accordingly whereas the 'bad' students are seen with hooped earrings,abrupt colorful trainers undone collars and so on. This is done to represent social groups and to show a separation between the good and bad people in the story. The story kicks of with boys playing football in their school playground,representing the urban atmosphere. Boys wearing hoodies and on BMX bikes also represents this urban atmosphere also.

Sound. One thing that i profoundly picked up on was the exaggerated use of profanity. The use of profanity was prominent and this again is to represent the urban environment they live in. This was also done through the use of 'slang' terms and urban accents.

Research: Breakfast Club remake

Research: Analysis of order of high school drama and summary of diffrences

Analysis of teen titles.
In class we analysed four title sequences making notes on the titles we saw in each,the order they come in,the category of the title sequences that they use,the font or type they use and the type of content we see behind them.

Here is the screen shot of my work.

Summary about the order and type of title sequence in High School drama films

Both High School title sequences were narrative and had very similar orders. Both began with the production company and ended with the directors name. Both were titles on a moving screen where the main character was being introduced whilst the credits rolled

Summary about the order and type of title sequence in Youth Drama film

Both youth dramas start off with the production company and continue with the directions name. However both have a different type of sequence. Juno was a discrete sequence where titles were on a animated background where as 'This is England' was a discrete sequence with titles on a moving image. The order however were both similar.

Main Differences in title sequences from each sub-genre

High school

• More Narrative
• Starts immediately
• Teen settings
• Text over a moving image

Youth Drama

• Less narrative and more discrete
• A more serious tone 
• A layout of slightly more serious issue
• More animation/motion
• Titles not set in film world

Research : What are Sub genres of teen drama films?

What are Sub Genres?

Today we learnt about sub genres to enhance our knowledge on title sequences. We were given work sheets which summarized what learnt on Sub genres

Research : What is Genre and what is a Teen Film

WHAT IS A GENRE

A particular type of category you would place a film in

WHAT IS A TEEN DRAMA FILM?

A teen drama is a type of drama series with a major focus on teenage characters. The genre was relatively non-existent during the first 45 years of television. It came into prominence in the early 1990s, especially with the popularity of the Fox series Beverly Hills, 90210.Here is the work completed in class today.

Research: Group post Blog task 16- Practical Remake Activity

Practical Remake Activity
Planning
The images on the bottom are our story boards for the remake of the film. We watched the clip of ' The Breakfast Club' and wrote down the shots  we noticed in the film and picked the necessary ones that we could recreate. This process made up our story board.

Research: Blog Task 13 - Sub-genre conventions

Sub-Genre conventions - Macro of Youth Drama & High School Drama

• Semantic: the way the films look = Micro
• Syntactic: the stories the films tell = Macro

The Macro aspects of a film include who produces it, cast, audiences for the film, plot lines, characters and general ideas about the order or way in which, the story is told. Teen movies share common plots, story lines and characters.

The main plot of teen films is seen to be the concept of coming of age in some way.

How this concept is told will depend on the sub-genre but is likely to focus on any aspect of the following as a way to represent coming age:

• youthfulness of central characters 
• Conflict within relationships 
• Conflict with an older generation
• Management of adolescence by families, schools, law etc
• Romance 
• Sexuality and sexually active

The two sub-genres of Teen Film will have different ways of representing the coming of age theme, the ways in which the story unfolds through the narrative and the characters or social groups we see.

High School Drama

• Mainly girl dominated, but focuses on one male lead
• Mainly focuses on makeovers, conflict, jealousy and changes in different groups e.g. Popular groups vs the nerdy group.
• The use of socialisation of both young adults and teens in a characters house or college, school.
• They usually have fun and party

An example of a High School Drama:

what is the key plot idea introduced in the title sequence?

- A contrast between the popular (pretty girl) and the alternative girl.

- May revolve around the stereotypical girl (pretty girl)

- The boy new to the school learning new things, Viewing from his perspective.

in what order is the storyline introduced?

- The school life is introduced

- As well as the main characters

what characters are introduced?

- The 'alternative girl' is shown first

- The headteacher + the 'new' boy

- The trouble maker (the new boy and him clashing together)

- The student guide

- The 'pretty girl' introduced

what social groups are represented?

- Smart people, it girl, semi-political people, sporty people 

Youth Drama

• Focuses on the difficulties of the teens/adolescent experience 
• Characters are usually more aggressive, more conflict and more rebellious
• Focuses on social/economic dilemmas

An example of a Youth Drama:

what is the key plot idea introduced in title sequence?

- Difficult lifestyle, council houses

- The life of a teenage girl, her struggles and independence a trouble maker.

in what order is the storyline introduced?

- Main character getting in trouble 

- Conflict/arguments

what characters are introduced? 

- Main girl character

- A group of girls dancing to a group of boys

- A man, (owner of the horse) 

what social groups are represented?

- Competition between the girls (who dance)

- A 'bad girl' contrast 

Research: Blog Task 14 - Group post Sub-genre Conventions (camera, editing, sound & mise en scene)

Here is the Summary of our notes that we done in class today. All of the notes have been done individually by us. As a class we analysed La Haine ,Ogo and Jakub done together Kidadulthood ,Whilst Seren and Lindsey done the Inbetweeners and grease. At the end of the lesson we exchanged notes and Seren wrote them down on her paper and uploaded them.

Blog Task 3 - What is a title sequence?

A title sequence is the sequence at the beginning of the film used to credit the most important people in the creation of the production using visuals and sound that represent the themes of the movie or film. The title sequence is also used to give the viewer a glimpse of what the movie is about, and to set the theme and mood of the production. Some movies have upbeat opening sequences that show that the movie will be full of excitement and action. This allows the viewer to be engaged emotionally by showing you the main theme of the movie. The opening sequence main contain different types of visuals that can be used to show the story or prologue of the movie, by showing what happened before the movie or to give backstory to some parts of the story that were not represented in the main production. Opening sequences usually have dedicated directors as it is their job to produce something that will engage the viewer to view the rest of the movie and not be bored. If the opening sequences is not interesting or engaging, the viewer may not want to be willing to watch the rest of the production or simply have a negative bias towards the rest of the movie. Opening sequences are sometimes considered visual poetry as the music, camera angles or anything visually in the opening sequences usually connotes somethings or a theme in the main production. For example, some films may have fast camera movements as well as upbeat music which can connote action in the production. 

Introduction: Prelim Film

Here is my group's swede production from September


Evaluation.

Its interesting looking back seeing the amount of skills have gained since September. The sharp contrast between the quality of the content that i am making now is intriguing and satisfying.

Research: Blog Task 2 - Prelim film (from September)

This was our group's swede back in September on 21 Jump Street.

Research: Blog Task 11 - What are sub-genres of Teen Drama Films?

Research: Blog Task 12 - The order of Title Sequences for HSD & YD, and the differences

The order of the Title Sequences for High School Drama & Youth Drama

The Differences of the title orders

Research: Blog Task 12 - The order of titles for Youth Drama Juno

The EMBED link to my timeline link. Youth Drama (Juno)

Direct Link
http://www.timetoast.com/timelines/youth-drama

                                                                        Screenshots

Research: Blog Task 12 The order of titles for High school Drama Grease

This is the EMBED link of my timeline. High School (Grease).

Direct Link
http://www.timetoast.com/timelines/high-school-drama

                                                                       Screenshots

Research: Blog Task 10 - Target audiences research activity

TARGET AUDIENCES

Every media product has a variety of target audiences, divided into 3 main sections.
1) Primary audiences - the main audience the direct interest of the product (film).
2) Secondary - the product is not designed for them, however they can view it because of their family, friends or children and many more factors.
3) Tertiary - they would slightly be interested in the product because of a particular factor e.g. their favourite actor/actress stars init, but would not usually see or read it.

Target audiences will include the following:
1) Age
2) Gender
3) Class
4) Ethnic Group
5) Interests

What is an audience?
A group of people or listeners at a public event e.g. a film, play or a concert.

What is a Target audience?
A target audience is a particular group at which a product such as a film or advertisement is aimed.

How do we define a target audience?
1) Where your target audience is located.
2) Are they female, male or both.
3) Their age.
4) Their common interests.
5) Their income range.
6) Their common values.
7) Attitudes 

Why is it useful for a film to have a target audience?
Its is useful for films to have a target audience because, it will be easier to know which category you are trying to appeal to. As well as determining the content of your film and to be able to engage the target audience to have something they can relate too.

Which audiences do i think teen dramas appeal to?
I think that teen dramas primary audience, for teen dramas is teenagers from ages 13-19. Teen dramas can appeal to both male and females who have similar interests which the product contains e.g. actors/actresses, romantic interests, the music type etc. The product can also persuade secondary audiences to view it e.g. by friends, families or their own children.

Blog Task 11 - What are the sub-genres of Teen Drama films?

The Social Network timeline - High School Drama

• In high school drama films we usually see many cast members and extras such as costume designers, production, casting and the writer and director, etc. They are typically narrative and the title is in front of a moving image which give the viewer a glimpse of the typical high school life/the life of a teenager attending high school and experiencing the coming of age.

Submarine timeline - Youth Drama

• Youth drama films are similar to high school dramas in terms of the titles seen and the order they're usually seen in, for example: the production company first, title, main cast and so on, however they're not usually typical regarding the category/type of title. For example, Juno featured titles in front of an animation which was stylised and This is England incorporated the title in front of moving images, however was discrete and not relevant to the actual movie (not narrative). 

Overall, the differences between youth and high school drama are clear - youth dramas are often less focused on narrative and free to be more discrete/stylised, generally with more creativity, also obvious in the alternative fonts used. They are also, most often, independent films with many production companies, aside from this, their main focus is generally on a teenage boy/main character and his experiences, in contrast to high school dramas; focusing on one (or several) teenage girls' lives and their experiences at high school, narrative and following what they do, with many different cast members featured in the credits in the title sequence. 

Research : High School Titles - The Social Network

High School Titles.The Social Network is a High School Drama. The film portrays the founding of the social network site Facebook and its resulting lawsuits. Using the website TimeToast i created a timeline of the titles in the opening sequence It was a very lengthy process having to watch the opening of the title sequence and frequently pause it to note down the titles of of the cast and crew and paste them in TimeToast. Nevertheless here are the screen shots of my work.