Evaluation

Q1: What were the aims of the script and 9 key frames?

The aim of my script was to create a prequel to Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging. The aim to my script was to create a disruption scene that carried on the story from the first film. As the film took on the transition from teenager into turning 16 and becoming a young adult I decided to set my script in the next transition stage of being 18 and at university.  I wanted to see how the different genders cope with this difficult stage of life in their own ways through cinematography. I decided to go down this route because the first film follows a group of teenage girls through their everyday problems and issues that they come across whilst growing up. I decided to explore the cinematography of the film as I thought this would link in great with the age range of the characters when they go through certain scenes such as power struggles.

In my script I decided to keep the most poplar and favouritised characters from the first movie and create a disruption scene using all of them. In my disruption scene I decided to separate the audiences favorite couple Georgia and Robbie. Instead I decided to show that they had separated and were living separate lives. In my scene Jas has returned for a short while and she’s asking Georgia about her relationship with Dave from the previous film. Later in the scene Robbie makes an unexpected appearance in the band Dave and Georgia have gone to see with his new partner Lynesy also from the first film. I decided that seeing as the audience had already built a relationship with these characters that I should keep them in the script and carry on the love battle between Robbie, Georgia, Lynesy and Dave.

I have shown my macro and micro areas in my 9 key frames through the choices of shots I have used to show my disruption scene. In the different shots you can see many different shot types and shot angles.

Q2: What codes and conventions identified in the textual analysis essay were used in the script and 9 key frames?

The main theme I took from the film was the transitions between different life stages. I thought that this would still attract to the same type of audience members as the previous film as well as be appealing to them. I knew the problems in the film should focus on the previous story being told and keep in the main characters as this would help keep the audiences attention and attract them. I decided to keep the theme of girl power struggles and relationships in the film. I decided that with the power struggles I could use some high and low angles to show the power. I also decided to use many close ups on my characters to portray their emotions and show what was going on in the scenes. I decided to set my script in realistic locations based on the ages my characters were set as and tried to keep the look realistic to keep in style with the first movie.  I also decided to try and keep up with the appearance of the characters in the film and portray them with the same style.

 Q3: How was the location report used in the construction of the 9 key frames?

When looking for locations of my scene I knew they would have to be quite simple and cheaper looking as my characters were being set as uni students.  The locations would have to look convincing to fit in the with the style of the film.  I found that by choosing a dull average looking locations I could dress them up in the style I needed. I knew I would have to find a bland large room to look like a dorm room that I could set my scene in and that would be accessible to me. I also found that I needed a bar like location that would be used by uni students, this was more difficult as not many places looked suitable or were available to use. Once I found locations suitable I was able to play around with the script to ensure that the locations were suitable enough and actually worked. The locations also mad me think of what other parts I could add to my script to keep up with the realistic style.

Q4: How successful was the script and 9 key frames in achieving the aims?

I think the two styles of films I chose to analyse and the film I chose to make my prequel for was a good choice as I had characters and a storyline set up for me to continue on.  I think my 9 frames kept in keeping with the style with the first film although some more MES aspects could have helped the realistic look. I think I was able to keep up with the cinematic style of the first film. If I was to recreate my 9 frames I think I would have changed my bar location and used more props and dressed the sets better to make the look more suited to the first film. I would also have my developed my disruption scene more to be in keeping with the first film which would also allow me to use a more cinematic approach.  I think overall the script was more successful with its aims and put across more of the disruption scene then the 9 key frames.

Textual Analysis

Representation of Gender through Cinematography

Textual Analysis – Representations of Gender through Cinematography.

I have decided to look into two similar styles of films and their representation of gender in a coming of age style film. One of the films I will be looking at is Angus thongs and perfect snogging a coming of age film released in 2008, it is a Hollywood production distributed by paramount. The film deals with the issues of a teenage girl as she goes from a teenager into young adulthood. The second film I will be looking into is The Inbetweeners movie, which was released in 2011 and was distributed by Entertainment film Distributers. The film follows the lives of 4 teenage guys who go away before they all leave for university.  The coming of age style has changed quite dramatically in order to keep the teenage audiences entertained. The films take realistic situations and exaggerate them in order to make some entertainment. Most of the styles of films now contain strong language and some nudity, which would have normally been for audiences 18 and over. Films now can show this at a lower age rating as due to the media and how teenage behaviors have changed that this is now considered a normal behavior.

In Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging the main characters are all set within a secondary school and the characters are all friends from this.  The main character Georgia alongside her best friend Jas set out to get the schools newest arrivals Tom and Robbie as well as deal with the popular girl Lindsay. Georgia also has to go through her dad moving away and throwing the best party of the year going against her rival Lindsay. The film is about first loves and popularity. These are all realistic situations that have been exaggerated to ensure they gain an audience.

In The Inbetweeners Movie the film is set as they 4 guys Simon, Neil, Jay and Will are leaving college and are deciding to go away before going on to university. The group decides to go away to Malia to meet girls and get Simon over his breakup with his long-term crush carli.

Through the choice of the characters the age and being able to use school as the backdrop to the films helps teenage audiences relate to the characters and build a relationship with the characters as this mirrors real life and what the audience are or have gone through already. These will help advertise the film to the audience and ensure that the films do get a teenage following. This is all through the exaggerated real life situations the films use.

In Angus thongs and Perfect Snogging the two ‘love interests’ Robbie and Tom are an example of the female gaze. The female gaze is an adaption to the male gaze but now use men for women to look at. The female gaze is used in the film as the film is aimed at teenage girls and so the boys in the film do tend to be sexualized and over exaggerated. The boys are both made to look like ‘models’ dressed in the latest fashions making them seem like the perfect guys.  The female gaze comes in when the girls follow the guys around the area talking about their looks and calling who gets who.

However in The Inbetweeners Movie both the female and the male gaze are used to ensure the film attracts both male and females. The 4 boys are the typical looking boys who look realistic and the girls they meet on holiday are also the typical realistic looking girls so there is something for both the male and the female audience to look at.  The film is the continuation of the story from the TV series The Inbetweeners so already had an audience and had already established the use of both male and female gaze.  The scene where this is best portrayed is the scene where the guys try and attract the girl’s attention in an empty club by showing off their dance moves. This technique has been adapted to be used for both female and male use where as in earlier years would only have been used to attract a male audience.

The use of different camera shots and camera angles on the girl in Angus thongs give them the power and make them look bigger than the male characters in the film.  As the film focuses around the girls trying to get the popular new girls in the school the camera angles tend to be high angle shots and close ups making them look powerful and in control of the situations around them. This also attracts to the young female audience members as this is how girls feel in real life situations and its said that girls play the games so for them to see a film that empowers this it will make them relate to the characters and return to see the film again as there are not many films that celebrate this. The film also focus on the power battles between different types of girls, the popular and confident girls against the geeky under confidant girls.  This is again shown with conflicting camera angles where the high angle shots change from character to character. In one scene Georgia and Lynsey fighting over Robbie the high camera angle changes from Georgia to Lynsey as she is more popular and confident, but at the end of the film where the argument comes around once more the low camera angle stays on Georgia as she has become more popular than Lynsey and “taken her down”.

In The Inbetweeners movie the camera angle changes between the groups of characters as it changes from high angle and low angle shots depending on what is happening from within the scene. In some scenes the camera angle will be low on Will as he saying something smart and superior to the others and so the camera angle will be high on the group and will change to another character as they battle to be cool and popular. In both films there seems to be a constant battle of popularity and this is shown through the high angle and low angle shots.

In both Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging and The Inbetweeners Movie the representation of male and female gender through the use of cinematography has shown that both genders are equal. The films show that the gender groups go through the same battles with relationships and friendships being tested. The cinematography in both films show that not one of the genders are superior to the other and that even within the same gender there are power struggles and so at the end everyone is equal. Although other media texts will show one gender as being stronger or better than another this just a battle for advertisements to draw in specific audiences such as all female audiences or all male audience but by breaking down the different structures we can now see programmes that show that the genders are actually equal and that there are no set structures for male characters or female characters are their stereotypical representations but they can actually be shown the same. 

9 key frames

Shot 1:
shot  2:
Shot 3:
Shot 4:
Shot 5:
Shot 6:
Shot 7:
Shot 8:
Shot 9:

location recce

This is the location I am hoping to use for my union bar scenes in the script.

LOCATION REPORT:
Address:
Brent School Old Boys Social Club

London Rd, DA2 6BA

I decided to plan the route from the school as I hope my actors will all be students from the school.

The route directed by the map can be followed either via car or foot.
The distance to the club/pub takes 5 minutes via a car or over 20 minutes via foot.

PERMISSION FOR LOCATION:
I have gained permission from the owner to use the location and we are currently working on a time when the area will be available that suits us all.
The location is easily accessible as it is located on London Road. There are a main set of doors to the building and side doors for the area I am using.

HEALTH AND SAFETY:
As there will be general people in the room adjacent to the room we will be using people will need to take care when entering and leaving the building. The room next door has a bar so the noise levels will need to be kept down.
There are steps leading into the building so take care when entering and leaving, watch your step.
Be aware of any glasses of drinks that people may be using as props, clean up any spillages a.s.a.p.
Be aware of any wires on or around the stage for the speakers and instruments watch your step.

GENERAL:
This is the location that I am using for my disruption scene. I feel that this location works well as this is going to be a uni bar and therefor would not be high quality. I feel that this location suits the look I was going for. I will dress my location with posters advertising the band and some posters advertising drink deals for uni students.

There will be some noise from the crowd and from the band when they play a song which we are currently deciding on as we hope that the band will be able to play the song themselves. Most of the sound will come mainly from the dialogue.

2nd LOCATION:

I decided that a suitable location on to use for the dorm setting would be a room within in the Travel Lodge that I could dress up to suit my scene.


Address:
Charles Street
Off Crossways Boulevard
Dartford
Kent
DA9 9AP

I decided to plan the route from the other location in case we are able to shoot in 1 day. If this is not the case on the day there are some other clear places near to the hotel to go to and find your way such as dartford station. The nearest known location to the hotel is bluewater which is 5 minutes away or a short walk away.

PERMISSION FOR LOCATION:
I have gained permission to use this location by staff as long as the room is left as we found it and we cause no permanent damage. The hotel is easily accessible off a duel carriageway.

HEALTH AND SAFETY:
As this is a hotel and there were will staff and guests around we must take care when entering and leaving the room/building.
As the room is quite compact and there will be a few people in the room everyone must ensure that they pick up all belongings and put them somewhere safely and out of shot as so no one falls over them.
Across from the hotel there is a fast food restaurant so when leaving the hotel or entering people must be aware of cars entering to go into the restaurant, as the hotel and the restaurant share an entrance.

GENERAL:
The location I have decided to use for my dorm room I feel is suitable as dorm rooms tend to be quite small, compact bland rooms. By using a room like this I can dress up the room with posters and clothes, books etc to make it look like a typical teenage girls dorm room.
One problem with this location is because the room will be small we will have to be careful with where people stand as we don't want them in shot or blocking any light, this will need to be arranged before each shot.
Most of the noise within the shot will come from the characters speech although we may play a cd in the background as this is typical teenage behaviour.

annotated script

script