EVALUATION ACTIVITY 2: How does my media product represent particular social groups?

How does our product represent particular social groups?

We found that most teenage chick flicks used very stereotypical characters, we decided to do the same and make the geek very stereotypical and the popular girls also stereotypical.

To do this we looked at how people see geeks and other stereotypes to see what we needed to do make sure we followed the same criteria. I would say that our character represent the characters as most people would expect.

We made chandler seem awkward and unaware of her social status.

Where we made bailey and brooke seem bitchy and two faced.

I've chosen to look at Chandler and how she's represented in more depth. Geeks are often portrayed in most films, programmes and even music videos which are aimed at teenagers. I took on the role in the film as they felt I would be better suited to it than the other girls as i'm more outgoing and comical, another factor that made me Chandler was that Yasmin and Camilla both look very similar they both have blonde hair are tall and slim which made them perfect to be best friends and popular.  Pictured above is me in the film and drew Barrymore in "never been kissed" as you can see from the picture there are some similarities for example both are wearing out of date unflattering clothes which make them look even more quirky, individual and uncool. Both also have messy and childish compared to other peoples hair. However although we took inspiration from other film we didn't want it to seem the same so i decided to make Chandler wear a "superdry" jacket which are popular and fashionable. To keep her still geeky i made sure the rest of the outfit was uncoordinated, clashed and looked like it was just shoved on without any thought. We found our inspiration from many different characters, i would say that i found most of the inspiration in Napoleon Dynamite as both Chandler and Napoleon seem outgoing and don't understand that they are in fact unpopular and geeks. 

For example in both films there are dance scenes which show the geeks being completely unaware of how bad they are. I found that in most films/ programmes involving geeks the geeks are usually unaware of them being unpopular and unstylish.

EVALUATION ACTIVITY 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

The opening titles

Before starting our product we researched our genre and looked at different opening sequences and the titles. While researching we looked at what fonts and colours were typically used. So when it came to putting in the titles we knew what types of font would fit in with out category. We decided to use pinks and very feminine colours, for the title of the film we used a pink font which slowly graduated into blue. We wanted it to be fun, quirky and most of all girly, the title has a light up effect and i feel fits in with the genre. Titles like our own can be found in many chick flicks such as 13 going on 30, mean girls and confessions of a shopaholic.

Setting and Location

We wanted to start our story in a girls bedroom which was very girly so that the audience would be able to see what type of girl our main character, chandler, is before we get to know her character. In many chick flicks such as The Lizzy Mcguire Movie start in the bedroom where we usually see the girl/ character getting ready. We decided that we wanted the girl to be in a very pink room which looked like it was for a younger girl. We thought Camillas house would be perfect as it has country lanes which we could use for chandler riding to school.

Costumes and props

we wanted to make sure the audience could tell what character chandler is before she even spoke, I thought the best way to do this was with the use of props in the room and what she was wearing. I chose to be wearing matching long pj's and to have half my outfit on underneath to show the audience she likes things organised, I also wanted it to show she doesnt really care about her appearance as nobody would go to school in what they went to sleep in. We made sure the room only had childish things and I only had minimal make up which wasn't nice or done nicely using brushes. This type of thing can be seen in every single movie, many directors make sure the setting reflects on the character for example in confessions of a shopaholic she lives in new york which is the fashion capital of the world. We also see her appartment is full of clothes and pretty, fashionable things.

Editing and camera work

We deciding that in editing to make our opening flow better and look more professional to add in transitions such as the as the scene blacking out from one to another.

We could see that many films would do this if there were a drastic change in scenery or characters.

Fonts

When introducing the characters we wanted to use the same font but change the colour so that it was obvious that they were different jobs and different roles. We decided to use a simple font that was easy to read and colours which fitted in with the genre but was also easy for the audience to read.

How the opening suggests what genre we have chosen

We followed typical conventions of chick flicks to show what genre we had picked and to make it obvious to the audience. We decided that to do this we really had to make sure the audience could relate to the story and make it funny and enjoyable to watch. To make sure we hit topics that people expected to see I made a questionnaire and handed it out to ten females and males to see what story they would expect hear, what charcters there should be and what age group it should be aimed at this really helped us see what we needed to do to make the opening sequence more successful. The scenes in the room are very important as they show the audience what Chandler is like and what personality she has, as the audience we can see that she is girly and maybe a bit childish just by looking at her room as it is specifically tailored to her taste.

How are the characters introduced

We wanted the opening to reveal the three main characters and show the relationship between the three of them. We looked at everything they needed to know how they would be dressed. We also wanted there to be a very obvious contrast bewteen the two popular girls, bailey and brooke, and Chandler the loser. As chandler is the key character we wanted to introduce her first, we wanted her seem fun and bubbly and a geek who thinks shes cool. We did this by introducing her energetically for example the shot above shows her dancing around to a song and not taking getting ready seriously whereas as Brooke and Bailey would take hours getting ready doing their make up. Both bailey and brooke are introduced together locking a expensive car and walking/ strutting into school with chandler running up behind her.

Special effects

Our film didn't need to use special effects, we found that many chick flicks didn't use any special effects as the stories were usually close to real life and relatable whereas something like an action film uses lots of special effects as things happen in it that don't usually happen in real life.

Time line of our credits and shots used

Timeline of Credits


0.00-0.06 - Bjuicy productions presents
0.28-0.30-  Produced by Yasmin Stageman
0.35-0.38- Directed by Jessica Oxley
0.42-0.44- Camera and Editing by Jessica Oxley and Camilla Gill
0.52-0.54- Music by Camilla Gill and Rebecca Reynolds
1.06- 1.09- Costume by Rebecca Reynolds
1.48-1.50- Rebecca Reynolds as Chandler
1.50-1.52- Yasmin Stageman as Brooke and Camilla Gill as Bailey
2.03-2.07- Sex Drugs and Discoballs.


Shots used
 Chandler lying in bed - Medium shot is used
 Chandler falls out of bed, i'm  is on the floor- Long shot is used
 The camera tracks as Chandler gets up and walks over to the light switch- medium shot is used
Chandler walks over to Ipod docking station- medium shot
Chandler presses play on the ipod- close up
Chandler opens the curtains and picks up her clothes- tracking medium shot is used
Chandler hops across the screen while putting on her socks I do  this twice- medium shot is used both times
Chandler dances around the room and infront of the mirror -medium shot is used
Chandler runs out of the bedroom- medium shot is used
This cuts to me running and then skidding along the hallway- a medium long shot is used
Chandler runs down the stairs and falls- Long shot is used as i get further down the stairs it becomes a medium close up
Chandler grabs the cereal and runs out of the door- medium shot is used
This cuts to me running out the door with the camera on the other side- medium shot is used
 Chandler gets onto her bike- a medium close up is used
Chandler pours in the cereal into the bowl and places the box on a bench and waves goodbye- a medium shot is used
Chandler rides through a puddle- close up is used
Chandler rides the bike along the road- high angle shots and long shots are used, the camera also tracks me along the road
Chandler ride her bike further along- a medium long shot is used
Chandler attempts to blow up her tyres- medium shot is used while tracking me
Chandler wipes her forehead- medium close up is used
Fades into the school scene
Bailey and Brooke lock car and walk into school- medium shot is used while tracking them along
Chandler runs up behind them- long shot is used
Chandler flicks her hair and says hello to the girls- medium close up is used
Fades into the Title

Feedback

After finishing one of our later cuts I decided to show it to a few people so i could receive feedback and see what needed to be changed. I showed it to three different people and underneath are there comments:


Alice: " I thought it was funny and i really liked the Titles used, the story seems to be a bit confusing at the moment."


Amy: " I think some of the shots used are really great and it flows really well, I also like that you've made your own soundtrack which relates to the story."


Ben: " seems quite comical and light hearted, really like the story and the characters, really like the way the titles made it clear who was who."


From the feedback I received I could see what bits might need tweaking and what bits really worked. I mainly received good feedback and could see that the majority of people understood and would want to see this film. From the feedback it was obvious that everyone liked the characterisation we used and the soundtrack.

Changing different parts

After looking at different parts of the latest cut we decided to change different aspects. We all felt it would be better if at the end of the opening we showed Bailey and Brooke's reaction to Chandler, we thought this would show the contrast in characters more and what the two girls both think of Chandler. We also decided to change the credits, we decided that the font and colour would be better if we changed it so it looked more professional. We also changed the order of the titles so that the name of our film came up at the end of the short opening as we found many chick flicks and other genres had a short opening before their title came up.

Changing the certificate

After adding the soundtrack we decided to change the certificate from a 12A to a 15. We decided this would be a better target audience as there is mild/ moderate language used. For example in the soundtrack "bitch" is used. We also felt that it is targeted at 15 and above because of the subjects we will be covering in the film, we also felt that people under this age wouldn't be able to relate to the story line. 

Timeline